Two-day international symposium “Philippe de Monte at 500”

the year 2021 marks 500 years since the birth of the Flemish composer Philippe de Monte (1521–1603), who spent the last two decades of his life in Prague as the chapelmaster of Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576–1612). Despite being one of the most prolific and renowned composers of his time, today he stands in the historiographic shadow cast by his contemporaries Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. This year’s quincentenary anniversary presents an opportunity to revisit de Monte’s life and works, situating his career and output in the context not only of the cosmopolitan Imperial court, but also the rich musical culture of late Renaissance Europe more broadly. 

The two-day international symposium “Philippe de Monte at 500” organized by the research centre Musica Rudolphina, the Archbishopric of Prague and the Association for Central European Cultural Studies will take place in Prague on 19–20 August 2021. The conference committee welcomes papers engaging a wide range of research areas and diverse methodologies, including but not limited to the following:

• the biography of Philippe de Monte
• the compositional output of Philippe de Monte
• musical life at the Rudolfine Court
• the musical culture of Rudolfine Prague
• the late 16th-century motet in Central Europe
• the late 16th-century parody mass in Central Europe
• the late 16th-century madrigal in Central Europe
• madrigali spirituali and early modern piety
• music and liturgy in Catholic Central Europe
• music transmission in late 16th-century Europe
• music libraries in late 16th-century Central Europe
• composers and epistolary networks in early modern Europe

Proposals (max. 200 words) should be sent to Tato e-mailová adresa je chráněna před spamboty. Pro její zobrazení musíte mít povolen Javascript. no later than 15 February 2021. Conference languages: English, German.

Conference committee:

Jan Bata (Charles University, Prague)

Jan Bilwachs (Charles University, Prague)

Petr Danek (Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava)

Erika Supria Honisch (Stony Brook University, New York)

Christian Thomas Leitmeir (Magdalen College, Oxford)