Perspectives on Sylvano Bussotti: International Conference on the Occasion of Sylvano Bussotti’s 90th Birthday

Online via Zoom: Hosted by Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Musikpädagogik, with the patronage of Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali

In the 1950s, with his graphic scores, Sylvano Bussotti (1931–2021) was significantly involved in the critical deconstruction of standardised notation. During the Darmstadt Summer Courses of 1958–61, he shocked his peer composers not least with his open homosexuality. With La Passion selon Sade (1965), he presented a work that was characterised to a previously unknown extent by an erotic physicality. And in the decades to come, within the exceptional personal union of composer, director, actor, stage and costume designer, he consistently explored the boundaries between different genres and medially differentiated art forms.

Yet, in the research discourses on 20th-century music and music theatre, Bussotti’s oeuvre has a very limited presence; a detailed study of the majority of his works is still pending, and the hitherto available archival material has been examined only partially. These diagnoses are in striking disproportion to the historical importance of the Italian composer. The envisaged conference responds to this desideratum and takes the composer’s 90th birthday as an opportunity to bundle recent approaches and break new ground in research on Bussotti, and to stimulate a broader debate on his oeuvre and aesthetics. We also hope that the conference’s output will foster an increased practical engagement with Bussotti’s rarely performed pieces.

With great sadness we received the news that Sylvano Bussotti passed away on 19. September 2021. We dedicate this conference to his memory.

The conference programme and a detailed programme booklet (with abstracts) are available on the conference website: https://bussotti2021.wordpress.com/programme/. 

The conference will take place online via Zoom. To access the digital conference space, please klick on the following link (which will be valid for all three days and all sessions):

https://zoom.us/j/95144078066?pwd=SlZBclFVMzlyckFWOTZiRzAxU3FQUT09

Meeting-ID: 951 4407 8066
Kenncode: 308972

The conference language is English.

The attendance of the conference is free of charge. All interested persons are very welcome to attend and to zoom in for individual papers!

Julia Freund, Federica Marsico, Matteo Nanni.