As part of the teaching project “Partisan Notes @ Donaueschinger Musiktage”, a group of students from Goethe University and Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) explored different ways of engaging with and communicating contemporary music.
When students from two universities come together at a festival: “Partisan Notes @ Donaueschinger Musiktage” was organized in cooperation with the HfMDK, building on previous excursions that introduced students from both institutions to contemporary music festivals, such as the Frankfurt Cresc Biennale. Last fall, a trip to the Donaueschingen Festival was on the agenda. “Donaueschingen is one of the most prestigious and renowned festivals for contemporary music worldwide,” explains lecturer and research associate Jim Igor Kallenberg, who coordinated the QSL-funded teaching project. Together with students from both universities, he also attended the festival’s “Next Generation” accompanying program, which explored various teaching and discussion formats on music. The Frankfurt group actively contributed to the debate with their own discussion format. “What’s special about this excursion is the coming together of Goethe University students, who study music from historical and theoretical perspectives, with composition students from HfMDK. This exchange between the academic and creative poles of the field is incredibly valuable. The students also had the chance to engage in discussions with peers from other universities,” Kallenberg emphasizes.
Explaining Artistic Boundary Crossings
Contemporary music performed at festivals is often complex and requires contextual understanding. “It’s not primarily about whether the music is pleasing – as might be the case with other genres – but rather about the underlying aesthetic approaches, ideas, and questions expressed through music. To explore these, we also spoke directly with the composers, for which we of course prepared in advance. Our students contributed their knowledge of music history, while the HfMDK students provided their compositional expertise.”
In musicology studies, students learn the “language of music” within two to four semesters, including harmony, counterpoint, and musical form. While these tools help interpret music dating back to the 14th century, contemporary music complicates matters: Today’s modern avant-garde intentionally breaks with standardized musical language to express new ideas. “Students need to experience firsthand this challenge to traditional musical languages through new forms of expression.”
Kallenberg highlights the example of African American composer George Lewis from Columbia University, who presented an orchestral work in Donaueschingen featuring a self-playing AI piano. This raised questions about the role of the contemporary composer, the freedom of art, and the impact of new technologies. “It’s always also about crossing boundaries: What still counts as art? What might be ‘just’ noise? How does a work of art – and the artist – interact with the audience? At what point does the audience become part of the performance?”
Career Paths for Musicologists
For Goethe University students in particular, encountering today’s generation of musicians is invaluable, Kallernberg says. “They get a sense of what it means to not only analyze music but to think about each note individually.” Beyond the academic exploration of aesthetics and history, students also considered how to describe and communicate sound-based art in an accessible and accurate manner. Kallenberg emphasizes that the texts developed during the excursion were not intended primarily as scholarly writing. “We see these texts as music journalism – or criticism. Music journalism in radio, print, or online media is a viable career path for our students. Another potential path is dramaturgy: many opera and concert houses employ musicologists to write program notes and give introductory talks.” A festival like Donaueschingen itself also hires dramaturges, cultural managers, and artistic directors. So, different future career paths also were topics of the excursion.
Kallenberg recalls how he himself benefited from cooperation with HfMDK during his studies. “It was Goethe University Professor Marion Saxer who initiated this fruitful collaboration back in the day. It was through that program that I first met people who were composing the very things I was studying in theory. This is what first gave me a sense of the vibrant composition scene in Frankfurt. Working together on projects led to the formation of long-lasting connections. There also exists a close partnership with Verein der Frankfurter Gesellschaft für neue Musik [Frankfurt Society for New Music].” Kallenberg studied musicology at Goethe University, continued his studies in Vienna, and returned to Frankfurt for his doctorate under Professor Magdalena Zorn. His dissertation topic is “Richard Wagner in Darmstadt.”
The online platform „Partisan Notes“, co-run by Kallenberg and two fellow musicologists, creates a space for publishing student writing and contributions from other music enthusiasts. The goal is to make such reporting, from the festivals and close to the contemporary music scene, accessible to readers. “It doesn’t have to be a deep, theoretical essay – we don’t exclude any text format,” he says. Numerous student articles about the Donaueschingen Festival are already available on the platform, with more currently in the works.
The excursion was funded through the QSL project “Partisan Notes @ Donaueschinger Musiktage”, which seeks to improve the quality of teaching and study conditions. This allowed participating students to be reimbursed for travel, accommodation and ticket costs.
Student contributions
