The weblog Computer-Assisted Language Comparison in Practice, published on the Hypotheses platform for scientific blogging (https://calc.hypotheses.org/), offers tutorials and discussion notes on computer-assisted approaches to the history and diversity of languages. A substantial part of its content is contributed as part of the ERC Starting…[Read more]

Notas tomadas en la Jornada de la Obra Social de IberCaja en colaboración con el Instituto Francés, “Darwin: Del Big Bang al Hombre (2013); organizadas simultáneamente en la sede de IberCaja en Zaragoza, y en el ayuntamiento de Brive (Francia). Las ponencias de la primera parte de la jornada versan sobre el contexto histórico y científico de Char…[Read more]

Im Jahr 2002 kam die fast verzweifelte Suche nach Beethovens verschollenem Oboenkonzert zu einem vorläufigen Ende, weil die Forschung an dieser Stelle nicht weiterkam. Jetzt habe ich neue Hinweise auf das autographe Dokument gefunden – und auch auf Mozarts verschollenes Oboenkonzert sowie auf eine unbekannte Oper von Joseph Haydn. Es ist kein Zu…[Read more]

Im Jahr 2002 kam die fast verzweifelte Suche nach Beethovens verschollenem Oboenkonzert zu einem vorläufigen Ende, weil die Forschung an dieser Stelle nicht weiterkam. Jetzt habe ich neue Hinweise auf das autographe Dokument gefunden – und auch auf Mozarts verschollenes Oboenkonzert sowie auf eine unbekannte Oper von Joseph Haydn. Es ist kein Zu…[Read more]

In 2002 the research for Beethoven’s lost oboe concerto came to a temporary end. Now I’ve found new leads to the autograph manuscript – and to Mozart’s lost oboe concerto, too, and to a lost opera of Joseph Haydn. It is no coincidence that all autograph manuscripts are missing at the same time: They were together and possibly are, played in a c…[Read more]

In 2002 the research for Beethoven’s lost oboe concerto came to a temporary end. Now I’ve found new leads to the autograph manuscript – and to Mozart’s lost oboe concerto, too, and to a lost opera of Joseph Haydn. It is no coincidence that all autograph manuscripts are missing at the same time: They were together and possibly are, played in a c…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Un comentario sobre algunas de las implicaciones de un llamativo “escándalo silencioso” en la vida pública española, el llamado “Expediente Royuela”. Se trata de una marea de crimen, corrupción y asesinato que implica a muchas de las instituciones judiciales y políticas españolas, y muy especialmente al Partido Socialista que a…[Read more]

The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: El lenguaje no puede entenderse al margen de la evolución. No basta sólo con explicar el surgimiento evolutivo de una “capacidad de lenguaje”, sino que también hay que explicar la evolución del lenguaje en sí, el lenguaje en acto y no en potencia. En suma, no sólo se trata de averiguar si nuestros ancestros hablaban, pues hoy c…[Read more]

This chapter examines the revolutin in media within music based on Friedrich Kittler’s work. It highlights Kittler’s musical preferences, from Richard Wagner to Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. For Kittler this music exemplified an “other music” that was based on a cutout from the totality of “worldwide noise” as it was theorized after Arthur Schopen…[Read more]

Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) nasce ad Asheville, North Carolina. Mentre studia drammaturgia ad Harvard scrive per il teatro, ma il successo arriva con il romanzo autobiografico ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ (1929), seguito da ‘Of Time and the River’ (1935) e dai postumi ‘The Web and the Rock’ (1939) e ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ (1940). ‘Passage to England: A…[Read more]

Lecture, given at the Fifth Pavia International Summer School for Indo-European Linguistics (Università di Pavia, 2022-09-05/09)

The age-old search for an understanding of “consonance” has been hobbled from the beginning by the expectation that a silver bullet can be found. In this section from a book-in-progress, the historical searches are analyzed for their failings and a new approach is suggested based on observing the effects of tonal sounds within the context of…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Unas notas sobre el final del libro ‘El lugar del hombre en el cosmos’ de Fred Spier, sobre la sostenibilidad de la actual comunicación globalizada. La Gran Historia sitúa al ser humano en el contexto de la evolución cósmica y de la ecología de los recursos. Vivimos hoy en la Era de los Combustibles Fósiles. Con esta energ…[Read more]

The short mantra known as Gāyatrī or Sāvitrī (Ṛgveda III 62.10) is one of the most frequently recited texts of mankind. Over the course of time it has not only been personified as the “Mother of the Vedas,” but has even come to be venerated as a goddess. The present study reveals for the first time how the mantra gained prominence as a religious…[Read more]

Der berühmten Kaṭha-Upaniṣad wurde oft Inkohärenz und Widersprüchlichkeit unterstellt: Das vedische Feuerritual, das in ihr erwähnt wird, ließ sich in den Augen der meisten Interpreten nicht mit der Erkenntnislehre und den Yoga-Praktiken, die den Großteil des Textes ausmachen, vereinbaren. Die Master-Arbeit versucht zu ergründen, wie ein derart…[Read more]

In this paper, presented at the 2022 H-Net Teaching Conference, I describe how I teach undergraduate students about disability in music through what I call disclosure-oriented pedagogy. This practice involves demonstrating cross-historical comparisons between my lived experiences of disability and the representations of disability in 19th-century…[Read more]

An example of the brass bands established by various children’s homes, orphanages and similar institutions, around the world in the early 20th century. This French orphanage fanfare band was founded on charitable principles, to give the children musical training and discipline, and to help raise funds for the home.