Joep Janssens

Joep Janssens is a musicologist affiliated with the Department of Arts and Musicology at the University of Graz. His research bridges music history with interdisciplinary methodologies, focusing on musical topoi and their connections to nature, politics, and identity in the 19th century. He has presented his work at international conferences, including the "Music and Climate Change" event at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen.

• Specializes in 19th-century piano music and its socio-environmental contexts
• Examines the evolution of musical topoi like "ecstasy" (via Scriabin's piano sonatas) and "the forest" (through interdisciplinary score analysis)
• Investigates historical shifts in environmental attitudes reflected in music

His master's thesis, presented at the Austrian Society for Music, combined musical score analysis with literary, social, and environmental history. At the "Music and Climate Change" conference, he argued for art's role in shaping 19th-century ecological consciousness through piano character pieces.