SACRED SOUNDS SACRED SPACES: the Occidental Mediterranean

DESCRIPTION: Students will learn to understand the acoustic phenomena in performance spaces, and learn to appreciate the acoustics in sacred places. Students will have the opportunity to conduct acoustic data collection (recordings and acoustic measurements) of the natural acoustics of places of significance. Students will listen, record and work with sounds in the natural landscapes. They will also explore the roots of Mediterranean music history by connecting sounds of all times to actual technologies of sound treatment and design. SCHEDULE: WEEK 1: Madrid-Tübingen (13/06/23) - Pre-Roman and Roman archaeomusicology in the Iberian Peninsula: vocal and local environments, according to archaeological, iconographical and textual sources - Medieval liturgical repertoires in the Peninsula, such as: Codex Calixtinus, Codex Las Huelgas, Sacred Marian Chants of the Cantigas de Santa Maria WEEK 2: Athens-Glasgow (20/06/23) - The science of the singing voice in sacred spaces. Byzantine singing in sacred medieval spaces. Augmented choir in historical spaces. Modelling singing voice, virtual acoustics and the sound of cicadas - Relationships between music and soundscape, sound mapping, planning, conservation and reconstruction. Recording, editing and spacialization of sound WEEK 3: Madrid-Casablanca (27/06/23) - Music and soundscape, acoustic ecology, ecological aesthetics, everyday sonic experience and cultural heritage issues around architecture, soundscape reconstruction, simulation and modelling - Incorporate the sacred spaces of Magreb through sound and music, as well as the cultural interconnections between both shores of the Mediterranean through ancient and traditional music and soundscapes. Analysis of the religious oration and ceremonial spaces of the sufi jewish and musulman music Reconstruct the past auditory experience and the acoustics phenomena of sacred performance spaces of the Iberian Peninsula & learn to appreciate its ancient and contemporary soundscapes

Application Deadline

Virtual Part starting date 2023-06-13

Virtual Part closing date 2023-06-27

Total student workload 90

Specific field of studies Sound Art, Classical and Medieval Studies, Archaeology, Musicology, Architecture, History

Pre-requisite for selection CV Motivation Letter

Academic pre-requisites for applicants English language (B2/C1 expected). Open to different disciplines, such as Music, Musicology, Archaeology, Philology, Architecture, Urban Studies, Scenic Arts, Audiovisual, Arabic Studies, etc., treated from an interdisciplinary approach, combining science, arts and technology

Physical Part starting date 2023-07-10

Physical Part Description This is the programmed schedule for the working week in Madrid, with the description of the activities of each day: DAY 1: - According to last edition of Sacred Sounds, Sacred Spaces (Greece, July 2022), this time pre-Roman and Roman music in actual Spain will be researched and recorded in different archaeological venues. Therefore, lectures and practices will be held on Celtic and Iberian, as well as Roman, iconographic representations and literature on music and dance, during a span of time that lasts from aproximatedly VI BCE to the IV/V CE. DAY 2: - Tübingen will carry on developing in major detail different aspects of some of the questions treated in his virtual session. A historical space will be selected in Madrid to work in and present the above-mentioned repertoire, as well as recorded by the students, assisted by the teaching staff, with auralisation techniques in order to prepare a measurement of this church and subsequent virtual acoustic reconstruction. Analysis of the singing voice related to historical spaces DAY 3: - Glasgow will offer seminars exploring in further depth topics including: • Acoustic ecology and ecological aesthetics: human and natural soundscapes as compositional context • Music as a spatial practice • Soundwalking - sonic experience and personal listening • Living the acousmatic: immersive sound in performance • Media archaeological approaches to soundscape • Improvisation, body, voice and space • Virtual audiovisual spaces - transperceptual perspectives • Theories of listening and immersive media reception DAY 4: - On-site studies. Soundwalk “The case of the Paisaje de la Luz. Prado-Retiro area” (World Heritage Site by UNESCO). Workshop by Cristina Palmese and Ricardo Atienza. Presentation of works on the reconstruction of historical soundscapes of Madrid and acoustic modelling studies “The case of the Jerónimos Cloister” and “Prado Museum: soundscapes in time. Relationship between painting and soundscape”. How sound changes the experience of looking at a painting in the Museum. DAY 5: - Students, assisted by the teaching staff, will create their artistic and scientific projects from the data collected during the week, and will defend them in public.

Physical Part closing date 2023-07-14

Language level required B2

Field of studies related to the course Social Science and Humanities Computer Science and IT Art Design and Media Environmental Sciences Urbanism and Geography

Course location Madrid, Spain

Course language English French German Greek Italian Spanish