Fragmented Musical Cultures c.1150–c.1350: International Conference of the European Research Council Project BROKENSONG
Department of Music/Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth University
15–16 May 2026
We are very pleased to announce the final programme and list of presenters for the ERC-BROKENSONG conference ‘Fragmented Musical Cultures c.1150–c.1350’, which will take place at Maynooth University on the 15th and 16th of May 2026.
Fragmentary musical sources extant from c.1150–c.1350 hint at stories of music practice and creation different from those suggested by the highly curated anthologies that survive from continental Europe, and around which the history of western music was constructed. This conference examines the relationship between music’s material culture and processes of music creation in the later Middle Ages and contextualizes the fragmented survivals of music writing within specific music communities. Centring on the materialities of music-making between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, several of the papers focus on Insular communities of practice, while others offer comparative perspectives that look beyond Britain and Ireland. The contributions coalesce around the following themes: 1) fragments as evidence for liturgical communities and cultural exchange; 2) the intervention of literate musical culture (and notational technologies) in musical practice and the creative process; and 3) fragments as material evidence for the production of music books, the roles of individuals and institutions in this process, and the afterlives of music books.
The full programme is available at this link.
If you wish to attend in person, please email us at brokensong@mu.ie by 10 May 2026. There is no registration fee, but we need to know the attendance numbers in advance.
List of presenters:
Alison Altstatt, University of Northern Iowa
Jennifer Bain, Dalhousie University
Fiona Baldwin, University College Dublin
Jemima Bennett, University of Kent
Eleonora Celora, University of Notre Dame
Lisa Colton, University of Liverpool
Mark Everist, Paris; Charigny, Côte d’Or
Jared Hartt, Oberlin College
Emily Korzeniewski, University of Cambridge
Jeremy Llewellyn, University of Vienna
Peter Lefferts, University of Nebraska
Philippa Ovenden, University of Cologne
Áine Palmer, Yale University
Holly Smith, St Anne’s College, Oxford
Jack Stebbing, Jesus College, Cambridge
Kate Kennedy Steiner, University of Waterloo
Matthew Thomson, University College Dublin
Oscar Verhaar, Haute école de musique de Genève
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Call for Papers [CLOSED]
What does it mean for a culture to write its music down? The five-year ERC Consolidator Grant project BROKENSONG (2023–2028), led by Karen Desmond, examines polyphonic singing in medieval Britain and Ireland during a transformative period of western music history, c.1150–c.1350, when written books devoted to polyphony begin to proliferate. The Insular polyphonic sources extant from this period—just over one hundred and forty mostly fragmentary codices and rolls—hint at stories of music practice and creation different from those suggested by the highly curated anthologies that survive from continental Europe and around which the history of western music was constructed. BROKENSONG examines the relationship between music’s material culture and processes of music creation in the later Middle Ages and contextualises these fragmented survivals of Insular music writing and practice within specific music communities.
This two-day conference seeks to stimulate discussion centring on the materialities of music-making between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. While BROKENSONG focuses on Insular polyphonic sources, we welcome comparative perspectives that look beyond Britain and Ireland and/or draw upon non-polyphonic traditions. We invite proposals that engage with any of the following themes in the period c.1150–c.1350:
- Music fragments, their afterlives, and their reconstruction
- The intervention of literate musical culture in communal ritual activities, musical practice and/or the creative process
- The production process for music books (and the roles of individuals, institutions and patrons in the making of music books)
- Documentary/archival evidence for musical communities
- Notational technologies
- Correlations between musical notation and musical style
We accept proposals for individual papers of 20 minutes. Please submit a 250-word abstract to <brokensong@mu.ie>. BROKENSONG anticipates providing accommodation for two-three nights in college for all presenters. The project also has funds to offset a portion of travel costs for presenters (pending budget approval, which will be confirmed upon paper acceptance).
The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 24th, 2025. Notification of acceptance will be given by Monday, December 1st, 2025. The conference will take place (in-person only) at Maynooth University, Ireland.
Programme and Organising Committee:
Dr. Eric Nemarich (Post-doctoral researcher, BROKENSONG)
Dr. Johanna-Pauline Thöne (Post-doctoral researcher, BROKENSONG)
Prof. Karen Desmond (PI, BROKENSONG)
Conference Assistant:
Inês Nunes Trindade (PhD student, BROKENSONG)
