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Antonio Baldassarre (Universität Zürich), Reflections on Methods and Methodology in Music
Iconography.
Although the essay does not map specific methods or even a theory of music
iconography, it provides a basis for this discussion with theoretical
reflections and practical observations regarding research with visual sources
of musical subject matter and the significant issues encountered by research
in music iconography.
Naomi Joy Barker (Newcastle upon Tyne),
‘Diverse Passions’: Mode, Interval and Affect in
Poussin’s Paintings.
In a letter to Paul Fréart de Chantelou dated 24 November 1647 Poussin
outlined several aesthetic notions with musical significance, notably his
adoption of the theory of musical modes and their application to painting. The
significance of Poussin’s statements lies not only in the use of modes in
visual terms that are directly parallel to their use in music, but also in the
wider implications regarding the dissemination of musical theory outside
specifically musical circles. Poussin’s references to concepts of affect and
meaning, and his allusions to classical sources concerning the relationship of
modal and poetic affects and textual rhythms to subject matter are of particular
importance. Analyses of Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time
(c.1638-40) and other paintings, statements made by the artist, and evidence
drawn from texts on music theory, are used as evidence to support a new view of
Poussin’s concept of mode that is viable in both musical and visual terms, and
supported by contemporary theory.
Alessandra Iyer (Wolfson College, University of Oxford),
Shiva’s Dance: Iconography and Dance
Practice in South and Southeast Asia.
Images of the dancing Shiva
are relevant for an understanding of dance iconography in both South and
Southeast Asia and also for an understanding of the development of dance
practices. Shiva’s
dances are described, in relevant textual material, as being based on the karaa
and agaha ra
movements codified in the Natyasastra,
a Sanskrit text from India reputed to be not later than the sixth century C.E.
We have evidence that the Natyasastra
tradition reached Southeast Asia, though we do not know about the dance forms
and genres practised in Southeast Asia in ancient times and we cannot assume
that they were identical to those practised in India. But we can at least say
that the karaa technique seems to have been shared knowledge. Such
conclusions can be reached by thoroughly examining the relevant iconographic
evidence.
Florence Le Doussal (Boissy-st-Léger), Maurice Denis et Ernest Chausson: Deux âmes
fraternelles éprises d’absolu [Maurice Denis and Ernest Chausson: Two
brotherly friends overwhelmed by the absolute].
Removed from the vanities of the artistic world and characterized by
genuine good nature, Maurice Denis (1870-1943) and Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
shared a quality of sentiment, a sense of moral responsibility, which was
equaled only by their modesty: "If I ever succeed in realizing the work I
aim to accomplish, it will neither be a drama, nor a symphony, but rather a
simple collection of intimate pieces for the piano, which people would want to
play only when they are alone" – confessed the composer early on. The
painter, in turn, all his life sought to represent simple and suggestive
motives that would be accessible to all. He maintained: "naïveté gives
us a rest after so many pretentious works". The multiple connections of
the two artists – both involved with painting, music, and poetry – are
traced during the nine years (1891-99) preceding the composer’s violent
death. The creation of the decoration on the ceiling of the large auditorium
of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées from 1912 is presented in a particular
detailed manner.
Matthias Stephan von Orelli (Universität Zürich), Giambattista Tiepolos Werk als Dokument der
Inszenierungspraxis zeitgenössischer Opern [Giambattista Tiepolo’s work as a
document of opera staging during his time].
For 18th-century Venice, music iconographic research has documented a
mutual influence of painting and theatrical staging on each other.
Giambattista Tiepolo’s frescoes are well suited to prove this connection,
because their content is similar to that found in contemporary opera libretti,
and also because they are theatrically furbished in keeping with opera
conventions of the day. Parallels in opera staging and painting are pointed
out and commented upon.
Ingrid E. Pearson (Kingston University), 18th- and 19th-Century Iconographical Representations
of Clarinet Reed Position.
Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century iconographical representations of
clarinet reed position confirm the existence of two embouchures as
documented in contemporary primary source materials. Whilst the reed- below
embouchure has become the most prevalent today, works of art confirm the
co-existence of reed- above clarinet playing until the second half of the
nineteenth century. Specific portrayals of the reed-above embouchure
indicate its use amongst art music practitioners and military players as
well as in indigenous musics. Quite a few representations testify to the
popularity of the five-keyed clarinet which, although developed in ca. 1765,
was still employed well into the nineteenth century. Organological details
documented in these pictures include the transition to a dark-wood
mouthpiece joint, and the use of a metal ligature to bind the reed to the
mouthpiece. The images discussed in this paper include engravings,
paintings, and lithographs, dating from ca. 1722 until ca. 1860, by artists
from Germany, England, France, and Italy. Three of the six reproductions
included appear in print here for the first time.
Ivo Petricioli (Zadar), Guslar medju
seljacima (1840) by Francesco Salghetti-Drioli.
In 1840, the Zadar painter Francesco Salghetti-Drioli (1811-1877) painted a
composition of a guslar among peasants. The painting was sold at
Salghetti-Drioli’s 1844 exhibition in Trieste and its whereabouts have been
unknown since then. Recent investigation of Salghetti-Drioli’s sketches and
notebooks, which the painter left to the Hrvatska Akademija Znanosti i
Umjetnosti, and today are kept in its Kabinet Grafike in Zagreb, revealed
several preparatory sketches for this painting. On the basis of these
sketches, it is possible to reconstruct Salghetti-Drioli’s creative process
on the painting from his first ideas to the painting’s final appearance.
Among the sketches there are also very accurate annotated drawings of the
gusle from the Dalmatian hinterland, showing the instrument from the front,
side, and back, with an additional sketch of the bow.
Walter Salmen (Kirchzarten, Burg am Wald), Bilder aus der Musizierpraxis um 1530 an einem Prinkerker
in Innsbruck [Pictures from musical practice around 1530 on a bay window in
Innsbruck].
In front of the famous Golden Dachl in Innsbruck, the sculptor Gregor
Türing formed around a bay window a frieze with four scenes: two foot
soldiers with pipe and tabor; three court musicians with trumpet, crumhorn and
cornet; dancing peasants with shawm and bagpipe; and three chamber musicians
with viola da braccio, lute and flute. These four ensembles represent the idea
of profane music in the early Renaissance Tyrol.
Cristina Santarelli (Universit à di
Torino), Immagini della danza moresca in Piemonte [Images
of the moresca dances in Piedmont].
On the basis of a few iconographic sources from Quattrocento Piedmont, the
so-called "feste dei folli" are investigated along with its relation
to the genre of the "danza moresca"; the local survival of this
tradition is also examined.
Edo Škulj (Pedagoška Fakulteta Univerze v Mariboru), Das älteste Bild der heiligen Cäcilia in Slovenien
[The earliest depiction of St. Cecilia in Slovenia].
In the Capuchin church of Celje (Slovenia) exists a 1627 painting of St.
Cecilia by Christoph (Krištof) Weissmann, most likely painted on commission
from the bishop of Ljubljana, Thomas Hrenn (1560-1630, bishop since 1597). The
painting is based on three sources: (1) in the upper part is depicted the
so-called Legenda aurea describing the martyrdom of St. Cecilia; (2) on
the lower part is shown the exhumation of St. Cecilia in 1599; and (3) in the
center is St. Cecilia identified as the patron of church music (hence, several
music instruments and music books are included). As a model for the saint,
Weissmann used a print of Joannes I Sadeler (ca. 1550-1600), which was itself
a copy of an original by Martin de Vos (1536-1603). However, the message of
Weissmann’s painting goes beyond the one of Sadeler’s print by extending
the latter’s iconographic content through the identification of St. Cecilia
as the patron of church music.
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