The Este Soundscape Project: A Methodological Proposal

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, 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-localized 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.