The song has come to spark substantial interest in the research on the literature and music of the Early Modern period. Taking recent surveys as their point of departure, monographs, conferences, and collective volumes have (re)discovered the meaning of the subject for aesthetic and cultural-historical matters and called attention to the central role played by the song in all areas of the Early Modern lifeworld. New editions have also made song books by single authors as well as song anthologies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries accessible in analogue and digital form. The most recent studies and projects have moreover shown the key contribution made by the Early Modern song to the modernization of German poetry, and the extent to which the song was shaped by cultural transfer and translation processes within Europe.

Organized by Astrid Dröse (Universität Tübingen) and Sabine Ehrmann-Herfort (DHI Rom), the working discussion is being conducted with the aim of promoting interdisciplinary and international dialogue between protagonists of current song research, informing participants about projects in progress, and exploring possibilities for cooperation in further initiatives. The full programme is available here.