Musik in Krisenzeiten: Kreativität und Identität

The tryptic on “Music in Times of Crisis” began with “Pandemics” (vol. 38), continued with “Conflicts and Wars” (vol. 39) and is completed here with this volume on “Creativity and Identity” (vol. 40) addressing aspects of musicological engagement with personal crises in artistic creation. While some effects of the global pandemic of Covid-19 were already known when we put out our call in 2021, we could not have guessed that it would unleash such long lasting societal and psychological transformations. For obvious reasons, the focus of this issue cannot be interpreted as the direct aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, many of the contributions published here resonate through space and time, questioning how artists deal with crises and how music provides a platform to address and/or overcome creative, psychological, physical, biographical and identity crises. In the present issue, authors address the topic of musical crises with respect to “Creativity and Identity”, spanning several centuries and continents.