58th International Musicological Colloquium Brno, November 4–6, 2024
Music Culture in Czechoslovakia and Its Ruins 1934–1944
(Department of Musicology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic)
When several composers’ anniversaries were celebrated across Czechoslovakia in 1934, not many people
foresaw that there would be a major turning point in a few years when it comes to the development of the
young republic, which would be robbed at first, followed by a German troops occupation and eventually
forced to submit to the Nazi totalitarian regime. The far-reaching political and social changes caused by the
consequences of the Munich Agreement, the secession of the Slovak State and the establishment of the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia on the ruins of the former Czechoslovak Republic had a profound
effect on cultural and music life. Therefore, the colloquium aims to capture this multifaceted and substantial
transformation of Czechoslovak musical culture.
Particularly, contributions exploring the influence of politics and social transformations on Czechoslovak
music culture within the given period are welcome. Furthermore, the contributions may deal with the
Czechoslovak music institutions and associations functioning against the background of social and political
events, the life and work of Czech and Slovak music personalities in a broader contemporary context, the
interpenetration and confrontation of Czech and German music culture in Czechoslovakia, the significant
international impact of Czechoslovak music culture (e.g. the Prague ISCM festival in 1935 or the founding of
the International Society for Music Education in 1936), the specific position of composers and musicians of
Jewish origin in the Protectorate, musical life in the Terezín ghetto, the activities of Czechoslovak musicians
in concentration camps, the manifestations of Czech national identity during the occupation done through
large music festivals and celebrations of the anniversaries of Czech composers, and last but not least, the
contemporary development of Czechoslovak film and popular music.
Invited participants should plan for twenty-minute presentations in English or German, followed by a short
discussion. Abstracts (in the language in which you will be presenting and up to 2000 characters in length)
and short CVs (up to 500 characters, including institution, country, and e-mail address) should be sent at
colloq@phil.muni.cz
no later than
June 9, 2024.
Proposals should be submitted as attachments by email as a Word file (.doc, .docx).
We sincerely ask to respect the deadline, thank you.
Organisation: Jiří Čevela, Ondřej Pivoda, Jiří Zahrádka
Secretary: Vladimír Maňas
April 10, 2024: public announcement of the conference and opened Call for papers
June 9, 2024: Call for papers deadline
June 30, 2024: announcement of the results, a preliminary schedule to be sent
September 30, 2024: a final schedule to be sent
November 4–6, 2024: the colloquiu