Music and Sound in European Theatre

The need for a research volume on European theatre music and sound is almost self-evident. Musical and sonic practices have been an integral part of theatre ever since the artform was first established 2,500 years ago: not just in subsequent genres that are explicitly driven by music, such as opera, operetta, ballet, or musical theatre, but in all kinds of theatrical forms and conventions. Conversely, academic recognition of the role of theatre music, its aesthetics, creative processes, authorships, traditions, and innovations is still insufficient. This volume unites experts from different disciplines and backgrounds to make a significant contribution to the much-needed discourse on theatre music. The term itself is a shapeshifter that signifies different phenomena at different times: the book thus deliberately casts a wide net to explore both the highly contextual terminologies and the many ways in which different times and cultures understand 'theatre music'. By treating theatre music as a practice, focusing on its role in creating and watching performances, the book appeals to a wide range of readerships: researchers and students of all levels, journalists, audiences, and practitioners. It will be useful to universities and conservatoires alike and relevant for many disciplines in the humanities.

David Roesner is Professor for Theatre and Music Theatre at the LMU Munich, Germany. Tamara Yasmin Quick works as a Munich-based dramaturg, lecturer, associate researcher, and project coordinator at various academic and artistic institutions.

Part 1 Setting the Scene 1. What Is Theatre Music? 2. More Connecting Than Dividing Features? On Historical Precedents of Contemporary Theatre Music Part 2 Theatre Music and Musical Heritages in Transition 3. 'For Your Time Draweth Fast, If Ye Will Saved Be': Ephemerality, Materiality, and the Challenges of Archiving the Theatre Music of the Play Jedermann 4. Kilam as Theatre Music in Kurdish Theatre in Turkey 5. Ways of Listening: Maqam Music on the Contemporary Stage 6. Mixtape Dramaturgy: The Case of Jan Klata Part 3 Theatre Music and/as Performance 7. Theatre Music as Theatrical Scene: Reflections on a 'Disciplinary Dilemma' 8. Staging (Theatre) Music Reception: Voicing Unacoustics in Sophocles' Trackers 9. More Than Unseen Sounds: Foley on Stage. Performing Live Sound Effects as Musico-Theatrical Practice Part 4 Theatre Music and/as Experience 10. Overwhelmed by Sound? Staged Effects of Sound and Music on the Audience 11. The Tempest (2016) at the Royal Shakespeare Company: Music and Sound in a Literary Theatre 12. At the Interface of 'Theatre Music' and 'Music Theatre': Monika Roscher's Music for Ulrich Rasche's Stagings in the Mirror of Reviews 13. The Relationship between Storytelling and Sound Experience in Theatre for Young Audiences Part 5 Theatre Music Between and Beyond Genres 14. Performance Worlds? Reflections on Music Theatre Scenes Formerly Called Diegetic 15. Inside Yellow Sound and the Vibrations of the Audience's Soul 16. Narrating Exilic Stories Through Composed Atmospheres: A Cognitive-Narratological Investigation of Music and Dance in Singulière Odyssée Part 6 Theatre Music and Training 17. An Ethnographic Account of Learning and Training Theatre Music in the Czech and Slovak Independent Theatre Scene 18. The Shaping of "Good Sound" in Handbooks for Theatre Sound Creation