March 13 - 17, 2006. The Evolution of Musical Behaviour
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Sessions
Monday - Friday 10:00-12:30 and 15:00-17:00
Dr. Suzann-Viola Renninger - Human Science Center, LMU Munich
Prof. Dr. Wulf Schiefenhövel - Human Ethology Group in the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Medical School of LMU Munich, and Human Science Center, LMU Munich
Prof. Dr. Dr. Lorenz Welker - Arts Department, Institut of Musicology, LMU Munich, and Human Science Center, LMU Munich
Course Descriptions and goals
Musical behaviour is an anthropological universal - there is no civilization without any kind of music. Basic forms of musical communication such as singing and production of distinct rhythms by drumming or hand clapping can be found even in the supposedly most ancient cultures. However, human singing and drumming is clearly different from analogous behaviour in other species, even in non-human primates. Musical behaviour arose, as can be assumed, at an early stage of human phylogeny, and indicates, similar to language, a clearly cut borderline between early humans and non-human primates.
The evolutionary approach to musical behaviour is a very recent field of research, after first attempts in the early decades of the 20th century. It requires a close cooperation of several disciplines of the sciences and humanities, such as evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, human ethology, musicology and philosophy. The results of such an interdisciplinary cooperation and the acknowledgement of music's biological roots allow a deeper understanding even of highly sophisticated music as works of art. A first major step towards such an interdisciplinary research was the publication of Wallin, N., Merker, B. & Brown, S. (eds.). The Origins of Music. Cambridge MA: MIT Press 2000. A second important step was an international and interdisciplinary conference on Evolutionary Musicology, Seewiesen, 17th to 19th June, 2005, organized by W. Schiefenhövel and L. Welker together with Chr. Lehmann. Articles in the book by Wallin et al. and papers read at the Seewiesen conference will form the point of departure for the seminar.
The seminar aims at advanced students of musicology, medicine, biology, philosophy and related disciplines. The six topics to be discussed cover:
- transcultural universals in form and function of musical behaviour
- structural and functional analogies of music and language
- innate and learned components of music production and reception
- possible modes and levels of selection in the evolution of musical behaviour
- vocalisation and other forms of musical behaviour in the early history of humankind
- vocalisation and protomusical behaviour in nonhuman primates.
The goals of the seminar are to acquire familiarity with current theories of music evolution, to develop an distinct personal point of view within the current discussion, and to learn methods and strategies for an interdisciplinary dialogue between the sciences and the humanities.
Contact
Chiara Bianchini
Tel. + 39 041 2719511
Fax. + 39 041 2719510
