This research project focuses on the history of ethnomusicological minority research at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (mdw). The Department of Folk Music Research, founded by Walter Deutsch in 1965, focused in its first 20 years primarily on Austrian and European instrumental and vocal music within the tradition of European folk music research. During the late 1980’s, however, this focus began to expand beyond expressions of ‘national’ folk music, considering other ethnic and religious groups within Austria. Beginning with a series of externally funded research projects, more resources were dedicated to the study of minorities and to engaging in international networks of minority music research. Gerlinde Haid’s leadership of the department (1994–2011), and in particular the hosting of the international symposium “Traditional Music of Ethnic Groups / Minorities” in 1994, were firm steps in this direction. By 2002 the newly renamed Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (IVE) had become a major center of ethnomusicological research, and a central hub in international networks of minority music research. Ursula Hemetek’s pioneering and significant body of research, her founding and longstanding leadership of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities, her extensive mentorship of scholars, and her leadership of the department from 2011 until 2022 stand as significant and long-lasting contributions to the broader field and in particular to the IVE.

This project considers multiple approaches to framing the history of a scholarly discipline as well as the institutional reflections of such change, addressing the following questions: how does minority music research fit into the history of the mdw and how does it fit into international ethnomusicological discourses? Does minority music research represent a paradigm shift, or rather a natural development of the scholarly theories and methods used throughout the history of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology? How does the department’s archive reflect the scholarly shift in focus?

This transformation is examined primarily through three areas of inquiry: generational changes and mentorship, scholarly networks, and theoretical developments.[1] These three areas will be researched through engagement and analysis of the archival holdings of the IVE, the collection and analysis of oral history interviews, as well as engagement with the robust scholarly output of the department. This project situates these developments within the wider frame of Austrian political and cultural developments and discourses, considering the relationships between minority music research and political advocacy.

 

[1] Bolz, Sebastian, Kelber, Moritz, Knoth, Ina and Langenbruch, Anna. 2016. “Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Eine Einleitung.” In Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Generationen – Netzwerke – Denkstrukturen, edited by Sebastian Bolz, Moritz Kelber, Ina Knoth and Anna Langenbruch, 9–20. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839432570-001