»Die verstimmte Gesellschaft«

What role can music play in social cohesion? »The time is out of joint«, was Shakespeare's Hamlet's judgement. This seems to be true again (or still?) today. Old certainties are reaching their limits, social cohesion is being strained. Social transformations are perceived as a burden and only rarely as an opportunity. (Contemporary) history, which is rich in other social transformations and crises and shows how other crises were experienced, can provide orientation knowledge here. The symposium »Die verstimmte Gesellschaft. Music in the face of crisis« aims to take a special look at the stated crisis of contemporary society and the genealogy of the present by focussing on music as a symptom, form of expression, vehicle and possible mirror of experiences of transformation and crisis. The symposium also includes a concert evening with the Camerata Salzburg and its guests. Music helps to heal. We know this from various areas of medicine. But what can music do for our society? The concert evening on 17 September 2025 will address this question, with the Camerata Salzburg providing the framework for a panel discussion on this topic in which renowned panellists from the fields of cultural management, science and art will seek answers to this question. Following the concert, there will be time for discussions with the panellists. The evening is part of a public symposium taking place on 17 and 18 September at Billroth Haus, Haus der Gesellschaft der Ärzte in Vienna.