The Este Soundscape Project. A Methodological Proposal

During the 17th century, Modena became an important musical centre thanks to the Este family. The court entertained various relationships with some city institutions, contributing to the cultural growth of the city and its musical identity. The comparative study of sources of different types (musical manuscripts, historical maps, archival sources) is particularly useful to grasp the multiform relationships between court, city and territory, offering many details on local traditions and the complex relationships between sound and space within of the urban context. Inspired by a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to historical research, our project aims at creating a digital platform through which to explore and study the soundscape of the ducal city of Modena. Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art web development tools and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the platform will feature an interactive search and navigation environment, plus an interactive map with geo-localized objects and events. This will offer the chance to have new points of view to study a city and its historical and spectacular development. Moreover, investigating the soundscape will make possible to rediscover the centres of musical production and musical events from a wide-ranging contextual perspective. The city of Modena became an important musical centre during the seventeenth century thanks to the Este family. The Este court entertained relationships with various city institutions, contributing to the cultural growth of the city and its musical identity. The comparative study of sources of different types (musical manuscripts, historical maps, and archival sources) is particularly useful for an understanding of the multifaceted relationships between court, city, and territory, offering many details on local traditions and the complex relationships between sound and space within the urban context. Inspired by a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to historical research, we have created a digital platform through which to explore and study the soundscape of the ducal city of Modena. Thanks to state-of-the-art web development tools and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the platform will feature an interactive search and navigation environment, plus an interactive map with geo-localised objects and events. This will offer new points of view from which to study the city, its history, and the music and performances that took place there. Moreover, our investigation of Modena’s soundscape offers a new and more complete view of the city’s centres of musical production and musical events.