Pictures Worth a Thousand Words. Musical Images of the Middle Ages.

In the Middle Ages, as in our own times, music was understood to be a constituent part of the self; musical performance was central to the formation of community and the articulation of identity. Medieval images of music reflect the cultural and societal values associated with performance. Recent research on the visual representation of music in the Middle Ages encompasses a broad and steadily expanding range of approaches. These include the interpretation of images depicting musical performance and the multidisciplinary analysis of built environments in which music was performed. Using new digital resources to study musical images and spaces makes it possible not only to explore diverse cultures and places, but also to discover meaningful connections among them.

Dr. Susan Boynton is an award-winning author, teacher, and leading researcher on the liturgy and music in medieval Western monasticism, particularly the abbey of Cluny; manuscript studies; music in the Iberian peninsula; music and childhood; and intersections of music with the visual arts. Dr. Boynton is Professor of Music (Historical Musicology) at Columbia University in the City of New York.

View the lecture live here.