This conference brings together musicologists, modern linguists and cultural historians to examine the work of four major poets – the Persian Hafiz, the German Heine, the American Whitman, and the French Verlaine – and how their verse has been set to music by a wide range of composers. Most crucially, this conference looks at how poetry and song exist not just within individual national traditions, but across national, linguistic and cultural boundaries through acts of creative translation, transposition, imitation and performance. At the heart of the conference is an emphasis on song’s mobility and malleability – and its power to challenge pervasive accounts of music’s role in the formation of exclusively national cultures.

The conference is supported by the British Academy, TORCH, and Creative Multilingualism.

Tickets

Standard:
£60 both days, £30 one day (includes lunch and refreshments)

Concessions:
£40 both days, £20 one day (includes lunch and refreshments)
The concession rate applies to: unwaged/retired/early career academics (within three years of completing PhD)/students. Free entrance is offered to companions or carers of disabled visitors.