We introduce you to Polifonia, a groundbreaking project that explores Europe’s musical heritage. Funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Programme, Polifonia brings together experts from musicology, computer science, and digital humanities. The project started in January 2021 and will run for 40 months, with a budget of 3 million euros.

Polifonia’s mission is to recreate the connections between music, people, places, and events from the sixteenth century to the modern day. Using artificial intelligence, Polifonia will analyze sounds and texts to understand how music has changed and reacted to social and political environments over the past six centuries.

This project will create a vast, interconnected global database available to everyone. Imagine discovering how Dutch music from the seventeenth century was influenced by French opera, even during times of war. These surprising connections show that music can bridge walls and boundaries.

Polifonia also aims to improve the accessibility and usability of existing music collections. By creating tools for representing and analyzing musical heritage data, Polifonia helps us understand the evolution of musical genres and their impact on society. The music industry, scholars, artists, and music lovers will all benefit from these insights.

The Polifonia consortium includes computer scientists, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, historians of music, linguists, and creative professionals. Together, they are working to uncover and connect Europe’s diverse musical traditions.

At Culture Lab, we celebrate projects like Polifonia that align with our mission to promote cultural understanding and inclusivity. Our pillars, such as Digitalization in Culture and Intangible Heritage, resonate with Polifonia’s goals of preserving and enhancing access to cultural knowledge.

For more information, visit Polifonia’s website and watch the recent webinar held on July 11th.