Baroque in Salzburg

Abstract

The Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music has grown steadily in size and stature since its inception in 1984. The 16th conference, held at the Universität Mozarteum, Salzburg, on 9–13 July 2014, was co-ordinated by Thomas Hochradner (Universität Mozarteum) who, with the organizing committee, directed proceedings in an efficient and stylish manner. Featuring the largest number of papers in the conference’s 30-year history, the programme was formed of six parallel sessions and was punctuated by excellent concerts, guided tours and a memorable dinner at the Festung Hohensalzburg (Hohensalzburg Castle). There were 192 papers and one round table, presented by scholars from Europe, North America, East Asia and Australasia. The papers (all of which were given in English) ranged far and wide in theme, scope, geography and methodologies; a number of presentations took the form of lecture-recitals, for which the ample and spacious lecture halls of the Mozarteum provided excellent venues. Although no single report can do justice to the wealth of variety in the entire programme, in what follows we discuss some particularly memorable papers that were representative of the scholarship presented at this conference.