Music Theory Laboratory

The Music Theory Laboratory is a new project of the Department of Music Theory with an open and flexible formula. These include scientific meetings with interesting figures from the world of music theory, musicology and music criticism, promotional meetings with authors of books, as well as with representatives of the wider world of music. Thus, the Music Theory Laboratory is intended to  function as seminar-conservatory type of setting. Whereas, “Laboratory," also suggests the experimental value of music theory as a specialty.

Three meetings of the Music Theory Laboratory, held in the 2022/2023 academic year, introduced us to the world of three diverse issues: the fractious youthful diaries of the outstanding Polish harpsichordist, pianist and composer Wanda Landowska, the subject of which was presented by the researcher of her life and works - Dr. Inès Ruiz Artola; the life and works of Stanislaw Moniuszko seen from a popular science perspective, told by Dr. D. Ignacy Zalewski, prof. of the UMFC – an author of a book about the composer (its publisher is Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne), and at the same time dean of the UMFC Department of Composition and Music Theory; while the head of third meeting was Prof. Katarzyna Szymańska-Stułka, who focused on the issue of space in music - an author of two books on this subject published by the UMFC Publishing House - Chopin University Press.

Among all of the laboratory meetings in the 2023/2024 academic year, the first, led by Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Szymanska-Stułka, was dedicated to the exchange of reflections on what music theory is - reflections between educators and students of the Music Theory major at UMFC. The guest of the second Laboratory, focused on the theory of rhythm in music, was Prof. Dr. Mieczysława Demska-Trębacz, Honorary Professor at UMFC.

The first scientific meeting in the New Year 2024 as part of the Music Theory Laboratory series was devoted completely to UMFC music theory students. First-year undergraduate students performed: Adrianna Michalska, Nikodem Pelc and Miłosz Rybarski. They delivered very interesting lectures based on their undergraduate theses. They concerned Arvo Pärt's Piano Concerto "Lamentate" (A. Michalska), the construction and problems of compositional technique of the final fugues in Karol Szymanowski's piano sonatas (N. Pelc) and a review of their own compositional work (M. Rybarski).