Couples and strategies of partnership in 19th century musical culture

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Melanie Unseld
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2015 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 265443355

The project deals with possible public-professional activities by couples and with the negotiations of partnership concepts in exchange with musical cultural phenomena in the (especially in german speaking countries, with possibilities of European scope) music culture of the 19th century. The project's working thesis is that additional to specific education and a gendered cultural sphere of musical activity, also a specific negotiation between the partners, who - in constant confrontation with social expectations - negotiated about common or contrary spaces was needed to allow both partners public-professional practice. It's assumed that phenomena of the music culture, which were intensely gendered in the 19th century (such as rooms, publicity, interpretation versus composition etc.), had a considerable impact on the partner's spheres of activity. This will be explored by different examples. The choice of couples will show the range of these strategies in its diversity. Their professions cover a broad variety of possible music employments and the constellations of partnership will also illustrate the wide range - from ideal to its opposite. The project's primary sources are unpublished archiv materials, which will be evaluated posing the question of partnership/conception of partnership. Public negotiations by and about the couples (in biographies, common performances, visual documents or public statements to the question of artistic partnership) will also be analysed by comparison.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria