Conference Report: Inaugural Meeting of the Russian Society for Music Theory (OTM)

[1] The inaugural conference of the Russian Society for Music Theory (Obshchiestvo Tieorii Muzyki or "OTM") was a huge success.(1) The conference, held from September 30 to October 2, 2013, took place in one of the world's most stunning cities, St. Petersburg, in two of its most distinguished institutions: St. Petersburg State University and the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. Coming from as far afield as Australia, Azerbaijan, England, France, Israel, Florida, and Texas-and with a strong showing from Russia's two historic capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg itself-participants were treated to a smorgasbord of events that showcased the uniqueness of music theory as practiced in the Russian Federation. With five plenary talks, some 70 paper presentations of 30 or 45 minutes running in three or four concurrent sessions, spirited and sometimes heated Q&As, two concerts of Russian folk music and dance, a presentation of publications from St. Petersburg Conservatory Press, a lively business meeting, coffee breaks, collegial meals, and a long, jubilant closing session, the conference represented a historic step forward for Russian music theory.[2] In a sense the Russians are late to the game. The French society of music analysis began in 1985, the Italian in 1989. The British began the Society for Music Analysis in 1992, the Dutch-Flemish society began in 1999, and the German Gesellschaft started in 2000. With their rich theoretical tradition, it was logical for the Russians to begin a music theory society. Notably, the Europeans also launched journals as they began their societies, and the Russians have as well. At the OTM business meeting, editor of the Russian Journal of the Society for Music Theory, Olga Loseva (Moscow Conservatory), discussed this new publication, which has already launched its first issue (www.journal-otmroo.ru).(2) Though not yet apparent on its website, the interface will ultimately be available in English as well as Russian, and, more importantly, the journal will accept submissions in four languages: Russian, German, French, and English.(3) Marina Karaseva (Moscow Conservatory) also announced, at the opening session, the launch of a new social network, SPLAYN (www.splayn.com). A combination of three words-sound, play, and network-this site allows musicians and aficionados alike to freely exchange ideas in a social-network environment. Finally, OTM is now part of a larger federation of European societies of music theory and analysis, which includes the French, Italian, Dutch-Flemish, British, and German Societies. OTM will be taking part, therefore, in the next quadrennial EuroMAC conference in Leuven, Belgium, in September 2014, as a full-fledged member of that federation.(4)[3] The opening of the conference took place in the historic Petrovsky Hall of the university, a splendid, intimate, ornate chamber from the 18th century with original paintings and artwork.(5) Before a standing-room-only crowd, the president of the society, music theorist Alexander Sokolov, opened with a keynote address about Russian music scholarship in light of recent arts initiatives of the Russian government. This might sound strange coming from a theorist, were it not for the fact that Sokolov is the rector of the Moscow Conservatory and a former minister of culture (from 2004 to 2008) of the Russian Federation! Music theory topics started in earnest with the two keynote speeches immediately following Sokolov's address: Hermann Danuser (Humbolt University, Berlin) spoke about metadrama and metamusic in Wagner's Die Meistersinger, and Fred Lerdahl (Columbia University, New York) spoke about generative music theory in relation to the Schenkerian and Riemannian traditions.[4] Remarkably, the OTM organizers provided either written or oral translations for all presentations of the conference, into Russian or English depending on the need. For the roughly seventeen foreign participants who did not know Russian, about six young women from the university's philological department were available to interpret simultaneously. …