Project presented at European Music Analysis Conference

Barcelona: Pontio, Poster, Tapas

From 7 to 10 September 2026, the 11th European Music Analysis Conference (EuroMAC) brought music analysts from across Europe (and beyond) together in sunny Barcelona. This year, the focus was on various analytical approaches, and one of the questions raised concerned how to address this diversity, which has also led to a broad categorisation into six distinct strands – deliberately kept general in nature – under which the various presentations were grouped. The conference covered a wide range of topics: from teaching methods to the history of music theory (with a particular focus on 17th-century French theory and partimenti), Schenkerian analysis, musical hermeneutics, new applications and technologies for learning, new perspectives on the study of rhythm and metre, and much more.

Representing the project Musico Pratico – Pietro Pontio’s Dialogues in Translation, Digital Analysis, and Critical Reception were Giulia Capecchi and Adrian Nagel – armed with a poster, a presentation, and, presumably, a reasonable tolerance for coffee.

On Monday evening, our team’s poster was presented to the conference audience. For one hour, participants were invited to inspect our work, ask questions, and find out what exactly we are doing with Pietro Pontio and his treatises. The poster,¹ carefully prepared by the project team, proved to be a useful conversation starter – and perhaps also a welcome opportunity to stand in one place for an hour after a long conference day. This was a wonderful place where to exchange ideas with other scholars working on digital editions and the history of music theory, and to publicise the project. There was considerable and varied interest, not only from colleagues at the GMTH but also from Polish and French colleagues working on very similar projects. We were delighted to note that, particularly amongst our German colleagues, our work was already well known!

Tuesday brought another project highlight: Adrian Nagel gave a paper entitled “Simultaneous Models in the Si bona suscepimus Complex.” The paper focused on a motet by Dominique Phinot featuring a case of double borrowing – the compositional technique of musical borrowing is also discussed by Pontio. Between these two project events, Giulia and Adrian took part in a wide range of conference activities, including lectures, keynotes, workshops, and a concert. And, as is customary at conferences, some of the most productive exchanges took place not in the lecture rooms but over coffee breaks, where conversations with fellow researchers could continue. Of course, Barcelona offered a few distractions from music analysis. There were tapas (essential research fuel), the Sagrada Família (a reminder that complicated structures can be impressive), and a sunrise by the sea – a particularly convincing argument for staying up late or getting up very early.

All in all, EuroMAC 2026 combined musicological discussion, fruitful encounters with colleagues, and the undeniable advantages of doing academic work in Barcelona. The atmosphere was relaxed and conducive to discussion. What’s more, Barcelona – a city that never sleeps – also gave us the chance to enjoy ourselves, thanks to its history and its dynamic, youthful culture and way of life.