The Historical Ear: What is Auditory History? The Inaugural Conference of the IMS Study Group Auditory History

In recent years, sound studies and auditory history have emerged as dynamic, interdisciplinary fields that challenge us to reconsider how sound and listening have shaped human experience across cultures and time. Moving beyond traditional reliance on the visual and textual, scholars have increasingly foregrounded the role of sonic environments, listening practices, and the subjectivity of auditory perception in the construction of knowledge, identity, space, and memory. At the same time, methodological innovation and a growing commitment to global and inclusive perspectives have expanded the field’s scope—inviting us to listen to the past with renewed critical sensitivity, to listen with the historical ear (Rosenfeld 2011).

The inaugural conference of the International Musicological Society Study Group Auditory History seeks to contribute to this momentum by asking how can we access and interpret auditory experiences in varied historical contexts? Additionally, do we treat them as direct remnants of sonic experiences or as traces of “auditory imagination” (Eliot 1933, Schmicking 2019). Building on foundational work (Schäfer 1977, Truax 1984; 2001) and more recent contributions (Rice 2015, Mansell 2021), the conference is particularly interested in the hearing-listening dichotomy and the diversity of listening practices—including those shaped by marginalised voices, non-elite actors, and sources that are difficult to grasp. While auditory history remains interdisciplinary by nature, we also ask how might we more critically engage with theories emerging from sensory studies? How can multisensorial thinking more meaningfully inform our approaches to sound history? At the same time, we welcome diverse disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches that offer new insights into how people have made sense of their sonic worlds in the past.