On 15 November, 1697, a remarkable event took place at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria:
five women participated in a rhetorical competition, in which they were to debate whether it is more important to build one’s life based on merit or to rely on luck.
This event, known as “accademia di dame”, is an extraordinary and rare example of a Baroque performance shaped and conducted explicitly by women—who appeared both as musicians and as the authors and presenters of their speeches.
The project Method of Vienna draws on the thesis that this historic event may be an attractive communication format for today´s audience—as a new convergence of art and research—and searches for solutions via which to transfer the historical format into the present.

programme of the historical event

date: 15 November 1697

place of performance: Vienna, Austria

question: Fortuna or Merito, Merito or Fortuna? 
Is it more important to earn one´s own merit in life or to rely on luck?

institution: Viennese Court

 

original MoV format

music & presentation of the question
1st speech
music
2nd speech
music
3rd speech
music
4th speech
poem
music
decision
poem
music

For more information see: Pumhösl, Susanne (2014), Intramezzo di Musica in una Accademia di Dame. Kommentierte Edition einer literarischen Akademie, Wien 1697, Dr. phil. Dissertation, Universität Wien.