The Concept
Together with the Danish String Quartet, RITMO is the winner of P2 Prisen Happening of the Year from the Danish Radio for the event MusicLab Copenhagen.
Working with one of the world's best chamber ensembles, The Danish String Quartet (DSQ), a team of researchers from the University of Oslo, and several other European institutions hosted this "science concert" to understand how the mind and body are engaged in musicians and audience members in intense states of shared musical absorption.
The event combined music, science, and science communication in a novel format. The audience (local and online) experienced a high-quality concert while also being part of an experiment aimed at better understanding the minds and bodies of expert musicians.
Hear more about the concept in the mini-documentary The Sound of Consciousness describing the artistic and scientific motivations for running this unique event.
The Concert
The concert featured a variety of pieces from the last centuries:
- Ludvig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Strygekvartet nr. 16 i F-dur, opus 135
- Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998): Strygekvartet nr. 3
Pause
- J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Contrapunctus
- Nordisk Folkemusik: Arr. Den Danske Strygekvartet
The concert was streamed live on YouTube. Below is a recording of the stream.
The Science
Results from MusicLab Copenhagen have been published in a special collection in Music & Science.
We measure heart-rate variability and breath synchronization between the four DSQ members and selected audience members to check for indicators of "a shared zone of musical absorption", which seems to characterize some of the greatest concerts. We also intend to measure the relationship among absorption, attention, and mind-wandering through pupillometry and the micro-movements of the audience.
The researchers, using their respective areas of expertise, ranging from phenomenology to musicology, music technology, and experimental psychology, will be able to work on important questions such as:
- What is the relation between musical absorption and empathy?
- Is there such a thing as a shared absorption zone, and is it measurable?
- How can the logic of music be visualized?
These questions will be tested using various methods, from theoretical philosophy to qualitative interviews to quantitative physiological measures and music technology.
The concert will also premiere a new visualization technology, developed in the MIRAGE project, in collaboration with the Con Espressione project.
Publications
- Bishop, L., Høffding, S., Lartillot, O., & Laeng, B. (2023). Mental Effort and Expressive Interaction in Expert and Student String Quartet Performance. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231208000
- Danielsen, A., Paulsrud, T. S., & Hansen, N. C. (2023). “MusicLab Copenhagen”: The Gains and Challenges of Radically Interdisciplinary Concert Research. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231194747
- Høffding, S., Bergstrøm, R. J. F., Bishop, L., Lucas, P., Burnim, K., Cancino-Chacón, C., Clim, A., Good, M., Hansen, N. C., Karlsen, E. S., et al. (2025). Introducing the MusicLab Copenhagen Dataset. Music & Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043241303288
- Høffding, S., Hansen, N. C., & Jensenius, A. R. (2024). Music Research “in the Wild” – Introducing the MusicLab Copenhagen Special Collection. Music & Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043241294161
- Høffding, S., Yi, W., Lippert, E., Gonzales Sanchez, V., Bishop, L., Laeng, B., Danielsen, A., Jensenius, A. R., & Wallot, S. (2023). Into the Hive-Mind: Shared Absorption and Cardiac Interrelations in Expert and Student String Quartets. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231168597
- Martin, R., & Nielsen, N. (2024). Enacting Musical Aesthetics: The Embodied Experience of Live Music. Music & Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231225732
- Sørbø, S., Good, M., Bergstrøm, R. J. F., & Kvale, L. H. (2023). The Library’s Changing Role in Supporting Music Research. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231186872
- Swarbrick, D., Martin, R., Høffding, S., Nielsen, N., & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2024). Audience Musical Absorption: Exploring Attention and Affect in the Live Concert Setting. Music & Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043241263461
- Swarbrick, D., & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2023). Collectively Classical: Connectedness, Awe, Feeling Moved, and Motion at a Live and Livestreamed Concert. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231207595
- Upham, F., Høffding, S., & Rosas, F. E. (2024). The Stilling Response: From Musical Silence to Audience Stillness. Music & Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043241233422
- Upham, F., & Rosas, F. E. (2025). When and How the Audience Moves. Music & Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043251398280
- Waters, S. (2025). Modeling – Imaginative Descriptions of Real Things. Music & Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043251361245
The Science Communication
Read a feature story about the project, or listen to a podcast episode:
- English: Podcast episode from Regnfang
- English: The most accomplished musicians can play without thinking
- Norwegian: De dyktigste musikerne kan spille uten å tenke
- Danish / Norwegian: Simon Høffding - om musikk og filosofi (podcast episode from Solveigs Speisa Musikk)
- De får P2 Prisen i år (in Danish)
- The Strad about MusicLab 7: The Danish String Quartet (before the event)
- The Strad about Musiclab 7: The Danish String Quartet (after the concert)
- DR Puls - Musikkens virkekraft kortlægges (in Danish)
- Ballade om MusicLab - Copenhagen / The Danish String Quartet (in Norwegian)
- Klassiskmusikk.com om MusicLab - Copenhagen / The Danish String Quartet (in Norwegian)
- Intervju om MusicLab Copenhagen med Solveig Sørbø i Studio 2 (P2) (in Norwegian)
- MusicLab Copenhagen omtales i Musikklivet (NRK) (in Norwegian)
- Intervju med Simon Høffding hos 24syv