Towards a Study of Incidental Music Through the Lens of Applied Musicology

In this article, applied musicology is discussed in the context of research on incidental music in Serbia—a task which, to my knowledge, has not been undertaken so far. In recent years, the body of publications on applied musicology has notably expanded, resulting in a number of important articles and a landmark collective monograph. This, in turn, prompted me to view my main research interests—applied music and, in particular, incidental music—through the lens of applied musicology and offer my perspective on the possibilities of regarding incidental music as a field that can benefit from applied-musicological interventions. In this article, I draw attention to challenges that arise once a musicologist sets out to analyse incidental music. I undertake this by (a) presenting what I define as a reconstructive-analytical method in approaching incidental music and (b) utilising the narrative “behind the scenes” of my doctoral research.