Die Einleitung beschreibt das Konzept des Symposions und des Buchs zusammen mit Grundlinien der Situation der Musikdidaktik bzw. Musikpädagogik in Deutschland. Ein zweiter Abschnitt gibt Zusammenfassungen der Beiträge und zeigt Querverbindungen, ein dritter Abschnitt skizziert die Themen und Struktur der drei Diskussionsrunden („Fishbowls“) zwischen jeweils 3-4 Autoren des Buchs und der letzte Abschnitt gibt Anregungen für die Arbeit mit dem Material, insbesondere den DVDs (die jede Stunde aus drei Kamerawinkeln zeigen). / The introduction describes the concept of the symposion and the book together with some baselines of the situation of music didactics in germany. A second part gives summaries of the articles and connections between them, a third part is about the three discussions (“fishbowls”) between the authors of the book and the last part offers suggestions how to work with the material, specially the DVDs (which show each lesson with three camera-angles).

While most orchestral instruments reached their final design in the 19th century, the expansion and redesign of traditional instruments have become increasingly common in experimental contemporary music. This dissertation explores the deep interconnections and reciprocal relationships between musical instruments, their historical, conceptual and technical frameworks, and the contemporary practice of instrumental expansion. It argues that musical instruments are both socially and historically saturated objects, deeply enmeshed in genealogical traditions that continue to influence their roles and possibilities. As a result, they function as aesthetically regulative devices. Through a critical analysis of instrumental expansion and the examination of two key works representing different philosophies of expansion, this paper seeks to problematize the implicit restraints inherent to musical instruments and magnify the moment of instrumental expansion, shedding light on the inner workings of this process. The dissertation is structured into four chapters, with each of the first three posing a fundamental question concerning instrumental expansion. The first chapter, "Why Expand?" draws from Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault to contextualize musical instruments as territorial entities that demarcate and regulate a technical as well as conceptual field, rendering latent aesthetic values. These values, I argue, are perpetuated by the interaction between performer and instrument, which is codified according to pre-existing aesthetic standpoints. The second chapter, 'What is Expanded?', traces examples from the historical evolution of instrumental ideals, which, I argue, conflate the technical domain with changing notions of beauty. The third chapter, "How to Expand?" presents two contrasting case studies, representing different philosophies of expansion: Mauro Lanza and Andrea Valle’s Systema Naturae, and Lisa Streich’s Pietà. Rather than providing an exhaustive analysis of each piece, this chapter focuses on specific moments to explore their poetic and technical approaches to instrumental expansion. The fourth and final chapter offers a macro perspective, reflecting on history’s unrelenting grip on the present and its connection to the current stagnated cultural, social, and political moment. The dissertation concludes with a brief contextualization of three of my own works, Bricolage, Inquiline, and Relics of Movement, which are inextricably linked to the themes explored in this paper.

Making Sense of Things is a piece composed through consideration of the relationship between music, meaning, and materiality. The piece, written for voice, flute, percussion, and live electronics, explores topics of the "sensible" and "nonsensical" in music, moving through a variety of sonic episodes that feature different notational approaches, electronic textures, technical instrumental practice, and theatrical elements in order to explore a variety of expressive possibilities while unified around the central musical ideas of scratching sounds and metal bars. The critical essay examines the relationship between the piece and the theoretical writings which inspired it. Reading through the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, I examine the relationship between Making Sense of Things and new materialist discourses, affect theory, and semiotics.

This essay uses existential ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre to provide a philosophy of college piano performance teaching which includes awareness of freedom, abandonment and responsibility as a prerequisite for student-teacher interaction. To set the stage for the interaction the study uses Sartre's philosophy, illustrated with concrete examples from the world of piano teaching and performing, to describe what it means to be human. The author applies Sartre's writings about literature to support the idea of an engaged performance, relating it to existential psychoanalysis, making the performer and audience member realize freedom through choice, while addressing ideas of abandonment and performance anxiety. Sartre's philosophy is used to identify the roles both teachers and students play in the college environment as people and as performers. The study with the help of existentialism, describes the interaction between the different elements: teacher, student, performer, and human being, and provides a better understanding of the complexity of the pupil/professor relationship in the college piano performance program.

This thesis offers a technically informed examination of Plato's pervasive, though not innocent, use of musical theory, practice and musical concepts more generally within the ambitious ethical project outlined in many of his dialogues: fostering the ‘excellence' of the soul. Starting from Republic 3, Chapter 1 will focus specifically on music stricto sensu in order to assess Plato's interpretation of the basic ‘building blocks' of musical performances, creating a core repertoire of musical concepts that will prepare the way to analyse Plato's use of musical terms or categories in areas that, at first sight, do not appear to be immediately connected to this art, such as politics, ethics and psychology. Chapter 2 examines a selection of passages from Laws 2 concerning the concept of musical beauty and its role in ethical education, demonstrating how Plato's definition is far from being moralistic and, instead, pays close attention to the technical performative aspects of dramatic musical representations. Chapter 3 looks first at the harmonic characterisation of the two central virtues of the ideal city, sophrosyne and dikaiosyne, showing how their musical depictions are not purely metaphoric: on the contrary, Plato exploited their cultural implications to emphasise the characteristics and the functions of these virtues in the ideal constitution. The second half of Chapter 3 analyses the Platonic portrayal of musical παρανομία, studying both its educational and psychological repercussions in the dialogue and in relations to contemporary Athenian musical practices. Chapter 4 looks at how different types of music may be used to create an inner harmonic order of passions in the soul in different contexts: the musical-mimetic education outlined in the Republic, the musical enhancement of the psychological energies in the members of the Chorus of Dionysus in the Laws, and finally the role of the aulos in the Symposium.

This thesis deals with relationship of music and theology. It stems from history of development of the philosophic judgement on the notion of ?musica? in antiquity as well as from the contemporary conceptions and definitions of music. Subsequently it proceeds to the presentation of selected writings of both historical and contemporary theologists? dealing with the subject of the art of music. Based on their analysis this thesis comes to the conclusion that a relationship between theology and music indeed exists and their dialog mutually enriches both of these disciplines. Music transcends the limited capabilities of speech and with its own instruments it speaks about the infinite God. This central thought at which the thesis arrives, is concretely documented in musical activities and pieces of work by selected composers of classical music.

Es besteht Einigkeit darüber, dass über „die Wahrheit“ im Allgemeinen und in der Musikpädagogik im Besonderen keine Einigkeit besteht. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt der Text das Verhältnis zwischen einer nationalen Sprache (Deutsch) und Englisch als Lingua Franca in der Wissenschaft allgemein, der Musikwissenschaft und der Musikpädagogik dar. Der Text schließt mit dem Bedarf an Kommunikation und der Skizzierung einiger „Bojen“ zur Verständigung in internationaler Musikpädagogik. / Realizing the common sense of having no common sense about the truth, the article presents the relation between a national language (German) and English as lingua franca in international practices of science in general, musicology and music pedagogy. It concludes with the need of communication and some buoys of understanding in international music education.

This summary connects parts of nearly every chapter of the book with a thick brush regarding normative constellations. Comparing the constellations shows both, how practices within lessons are normatively connected with practices in other social fields, and that there are fractures that show a need for further research. In conclusion I sketch a model for comparative praxial music education.

Video-recorded music lessons (on multi angle DVDs) were used to inspire and improve understanding among experts from different cultures and discourses of music education. To make the process manageable and focused we developed the Analytical Short Film (2-3 minutes) to address particular areas of interest and starting points for debate. We asked selected music teachers from seven nation-states to allow a typical and (in their opinion) good lesson to be recorded. We also asked the students and their parents for permission. At a symposium, national experts and researchers presented views on „their“ lessons through Analytical Short Films. Discussion included implicit and explicit comparisons. The presenters also used a lesson from one of the other countries to stimulate discussion about assumptions in and challenges to their own views. We documented all comparisons made and compared these to derive cross cultural categories (tertia comparationis). These categories should be relevant for understanding what makes a music lesson „good“. The different perspectives and discussions offered by the authors in this book provide rich and diverse material for researchers, teachers and teacher educators.