Mystical Love in the German Baroque

Mystical Love in the German Baroque PDF Author: Isabella van Elferen
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810861364
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Mystical Love in the German Baroque: Theology, Poetry, Music identifies the cultural and devotional conventions underlying expressions of mystical love in poetry and music of the German baroque. It sheds new light on the seemingly erotic overtones in settings of the Song of Songs and dialogues between Christ and the faithful soul in late 17th- and early 18th-century cantatas by Heinrich Sch tz, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Johann Sebastian Bach. While these compositions have been interpreted solely as a secularizing tendency within devotional music of the baroque period, Isabella van Elferen demonstrates that they need to be viewed instead as intensifications of the sacred. Based on a wide selection of previously unedited or translated 17th- and 18th-century sources, van Elferen describes the history and development of baroque poetic and musical love discourses, from Sch tz's early works through Buxtehude's cantatas and Bach's cantatas and Passions. This long and multilayered discursive history of these compositions considers the love poetry of Petrarch, European reception of petrarchan imagery and traditions, its effect on the madrigal in Germany, and the role of Catholic medieval mystics in baroque Lutheranism. Van Elferen shows that Bach's compositional technique, based on the emotional characteristics of text and music rather than on the depiction of single words, allows the musical expression of mystical love to correspond closely to contemporary literary and theological conceptions of this affect.

Mystical Love in the German Baroque

Mystical Love in the German Baroque PDF Author: Isabella van Elferen
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810861364
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book

Book Description
Mystical Love in the German Baroque: Theology, Poetry, Music identifies the cultural and devotional conventions underlying expressions of mystical love in poetry and music of the German baroque. It sheds new light on the seemingly erotic overtones in settings of the Song of Songs and dialogues between Christ and the faithful soul in late 17th- and early 18th-century cantatas by Heinrich Sch tz, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Johann Sebastian Bach. While these compositions have been interpreted solely as a secularizing tendency within devotional music of the baroque period, Isabella van Elferen demonstrates that they need to be viewed instead as intensifications of the sacred. Based on a wide selection of previously unedited or translated 17th- and 18th-century sources, van Elferen describes the history and development of baroque poetic and musical love discourses, from Sch tz's early works through Buxtehude's cantatas and Bach's cantatas and Passions. This long and multilayered discursive history of these compositions considers the love poetry of Petrarch, European reception of petrarchan imagery and traditions, its effect on the madrigal in Germany, and the role of Catholic medieval mystics in baroque Lutheranism. Van Elferen shows that Bach's compositional technique, based on the emotional characteristics of text and music rather than on the depiction of single words, allows the musical expression of mystical love to correspond closely to contemporary literary and theological conceptions of this affect.

Bach's Major Vocal Works

Bach's Major Vocal Works PDF Author: Markus Rathey
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300219512
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
Every year, Johann Sebastian Bach’s major vocal works are performed to mark liturgical milestones in the Christian calendar. Written by a renowned Bach scholar, this concise and accessible book provides an introduction to the music and cultural contexts of the composer’s most beloved masterpieces, including the Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, and St. John Passion. In addition to providing historical information, each chapter highlights significant aspects—such as the theology of love—of a particular piece. This penetrating volume is the first to treat the vocal works as a whole, showing how the compositions were embedded in their original performative context within the liturgy as well as discussing Bach’s musical style, from the detailed level of individual movements to the overarching aspects of each work. Published in the approach to Easter when many of these vocal works are performed, this outstanding volume will appeal to casual concertgoers and scholars alike.

Mary Magdalene in Medieval Culture

Mary Magdalene in Medieval Culture PDF Author: Peter Loewen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135081913
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
This innovative and multidisciplinary collection visits representations and interpretations of Mary Magdalene in the medieval and early modern periods, questioning major scholarly assumptions behind the examination of female saints and their depictions in medieval artworks, literature, and music. Mary Magdalene’s many and various characterizations from reformed prostitute to conversion-figure to devotee of Christ to "apostle to the apostles" to spiritual advisor to the Prince of Marseilles to hermit in the desert, to list just a few examples, mean that the many conflicted representations of Mary Magdalene apply to a staggering variety of cultural material, including art, liturgy, music, literature, theology, hagiography, and the historical record. Furthermore, Mary Magdalene has grown into an extremely popular and controversial figure due to recent books and movies concerning her, and due to a groundswell of general speculation concerning her relationship to Jesus: was she his acquaintance, follower, companion, wife, family-member, or lover? This volume employs a broad spectrum of theoretical methodologies in order to present poststructuralist, postcolonial, postmodernist, hagiographic, and feminist readings of the figure of Mary Magdalene, addressing and interrogating her conflicting roles and the precise relationship between her sacred and secular representations.

J. S. Bach's 'Leipzig' Chorale Preludes

J. S. Bach's 'Leipzig' Chorale Preludes PDF Author: Anne Leahy
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810881829
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
In 2007, the great Bach scholar Anne Leahy died at the age of 46. She was a leading light in Bach studies and lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Conservatory of Music and Drama. Posthumously edited by renowned Bach scholar Robin A. Leaver, Leahy's dissertation research forms the basis for this original study of the preludes to Bach's Leipzig chorales. Originally composed in Weimar and later revised in Leipzig, Bach's compositions have been a source of some puzzlement. As Leahy notes, "the original intentions of Bach and the possible purpose of this collection might be regarded as speculative." Working from available sources, however, she argues that through the careful examination of the links among the music, hymn texts, and theological sources some answers may be had. From Bach's personal and deep interest in Lutheran theology to his enormous musical passion, Leahy considers closely a series of critical questions: does the original manuscript for the chorales simply reflect a random gathering of compositions or is there a common theme in setting? How critical is the order of the chorales and what is the theological significance of that order? Were the chorales a unified collection, and if so, which parts were to be included and which not? Indeed, were the chorales themselves part of a possibly larger corpus? As Leahy makes evident, there are no simple answers, which is why she considers critical the relationship the texts of the hymns to the chorales and to one another, outlining a theological pattern that is vital to fully grasping the guiding philosophy of these compositions. J. S. Bach's "Leipzig" Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology is ideally suited for Bach scholars and those with a general interest in the intricate connections between text and music in the composition of religious music.

Pro Ecclesia Vol 27-N4

Pro Ecclesia Vol 27-N4 PDF Author: Pro Ecclesia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 153811402X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
Pro Ecclesia is a quarterly journal of theology published by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology.

The Word in the Wilderness

The Word in the Wilderness PDF Author: Alexander Lawrence Ames
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271092599
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Once a vibrant part of religious life for many Pennsylvania Germans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Fraktur manuscripts today are primarily studied for their decorative qualities. The Word in the Wilderness takes a different view, probing these documents for what they tell us about the lived religious experiences of the Protestant communities that made and used them and opening avenues for reinterpretation of this well-known, if little understood, set of cultural artifacts. The resplendent illuminated religious manuscripts commonly known as Fraktur have captivated collectors and scholars for generations. Yet fundamental questions about their cultural origins, purpose, and historical significance remain. Alexander Lawrence Ames addresses these by placing Fraktur manuscripts within a “Pietist paradigm,” grounded in an understanding of how their makers viewed “the Word,” or scripture. His analysis combines a sweeping overview of Protestant Christian religious movements in Europe and early America with close analysis of key Pennsylvania devotional manuscripts, revealing novel insights into the religious utility of calligraphy, manuscript illumination, and devotional reading as Protestant spiritual enterprises. Situating the manuscripts in the context of transatlantic religious history, early American spirituality, material culture studies, and the history of book and manuscript production, Ames challenges long-held approaches to Pennsylvania German studies and urges scholars to engage with these texts and with their makers and users on their own terms. Featuring dozens of illustrations, this lively, engaging book will appeal to Fraktur scholars and enthusiasts, historians of early America, and anyone interested in the material culture and spiritual practices of the German-speaking residents of Pennsylvania.

Popular Ghosts

Popular Ghosts PDF Author: Maria del Pilar Blanco
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441164014
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Located in the ambivalent realm between life and death, ghosts have always inspired cultural fascination as well as theoretical consideration.

The Slavs in European History and Civilization

The Slavs in European History and Civilization PDF Author: Francis Dvornik
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813507996
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 724

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Book Description
A seminar on the history of Slavic politics, international relations, culture, and religion during the 6th through the 19th century.

Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio PDF Author: Markus Rathey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190275251
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Markus Rathey is Associate Professor of Music History at Yale University. His research focuses on music in the second half of the 17th century, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Bach family. His books include a study on C.P.E. Bach's political compositions and an introduction to J.S. Bach's major vocal works. He is vice president of the American Bach Society and associate editor of the Yale Journal of Music and Religion.

Classical Folia;

Classical Folia; PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civilization, Christian
Languages : en
Pages : 760

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Book Description