Plenisentient Musicking - Bettina Varwig (University of Cambridge)

In this colloquium, I will discuss some of my recent research on early modern modes of music making. In particular, I will propose the idea of plenisentience as a basis for understanding these past musical experiences. Plenisentience posits a model of being-in-the-world in which human sense-making takes place in and through the convergence of all available sensory modalities. This conception resonates with many early modern sources that discuss the effects of musicking on human bodies, souls and spirits in terms of such a synaesthetic encounter with the world. These sources challenge the strong focus on the auditory domain in present-day explanations of music's affective power and instead invite a mode of performing and listening that engages the human body-soul in all its sensory capacities.