Date
15/01/2026

As part of MUSTALKS, the School of Applied Arts (ESART) of the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB) hosted a lecture on 13 January entitled ‘Performing Musical Topics’, led by Márcio Páscoa, followed by a discussion with the professor from the State University of Amazonas (Brazil) and researcher at CESEM – Centre for Music Studies (Universidade Nova de Lisboa).

In the last session of the series of talks on music, the guest sought to demonstrate how musical analysis can facilitate the interpretation of a work, helping the performer in their approach to the piece in question. To this end, he focused on Leonard Ratner’s theory of musical topics, that is, according to the definition, the types and styles used in contexts other than the original ones. This methodology has been increasingly used by performers since the author established the criteria on which it is based.

In his presentation at ESART-IPCB, which included examples from classical music, the Brazilian professor made theoretical forays into Rousseau (aesthetics of feeling), Sulzer, Mattheson, Rameau (effects on the body of stimulated emotion), Schubart, Scheibe (discussion of styles), Sulzer (movement and musical parameters that express feelings), Abert, Monelle and McCleland (comparison between ombra and tempesta, and their respective dramatic contexts).