Public Science Engagement

E-LAUTE at the Long Night of Research 2026

As part of the Long Night of Research 2026, the E-LAUTE project presented its work to a broad public audience, offering interactive insights into historical music notation and digital music research.

With two locations in Vienna, visitors had the opportunity to explore, experiment, and engage directly with the materials and methods of the project.

🟥 University of Vienna – Hands-on Station

Try it yourself: Discover lute tablature

At the main building of the University of Vienna (Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna) the E-LAUTE team hosted a hands-on station that invited visitors to actively explore historical notation practices. Participants were able to try out notation on laptops, create their own lute tablatures using symbolic systems, and examine facsimiles of manuscripts and early prints from the Austrian National Library.

A dedicated area for children offered puzzles and playful activities, allowing younger visitors to engage with musical symbols and notation in an accessible and creative way.

The interactive format allowed visitors of all ages to experience how music was recorded and transmitted in past centuries.

🟥 mdw – Workshop

Listen, Read, Understand: Rediscover Music

At the mdw campus (Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna), a series of small-group workshops introduced participants to the E-LAUTE digital edition platform. Visitors learned how to read music in German lute tablature and experienced selected pieces performed on historical instruments.

The workshops provided insight into how digital research methods can make previously inaccessible musical sources available and meaningful for both scholarship and performance.

The format enabled intensive exchange and direct engagement with the materials and tools presented.

More information:
University of Vienna station
mdw workshop

Press

The radio programme on Radio Ö1 on 22 May 2023, at 10.05 a.m.; Duration one hour 34 minutes, i.a. with lute playing by Paul Kieffer and Marc Lewon, and comments by Kateryna Schöning
Unexplored facts about the lute in a new e-Edition An interdisciplinary project of the University of Vienna deals with new findings about the lute…
Unerforschtes zur Laute in neuer e-Edition. Ein interdisziplinäres Projekt der Universität Wien beschäftigt sich mit neuen Erkenntnissen rund um die Laute…