scholarly journals MIXED METRE IN A MIXED TASTE: TELEMANN AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY METRIC THEORY

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-39
Author(s):  
PAUL NEWTON-JACKSON

ABSTRACTThe use of integrated time-signature changes in eighteenth-century music has received little attention, probably because it is not considered a significant part of an eighteenth-century composer's toolkit. If mixed metre is discussed at all, it is linked with the late eighteenth-century conceptual shifts in metric theory brought about by Johann Philipp Kirnberger's circle. There exists, however, a substantial repertory of mixed-metre pieces from the first two thirds of the eighteenth century, with many examples to be found in the works of Georg Philipp Telemann. This repertory destabilizes any direct connection between mixed metre and the so-called Akzenttheorie, reminding us that the relationship between theory and practice at this time was far from straightforward. Beyond setting out how early eighteenth-century mixed metre operated within and against contemporary understandings of musical time, this article explores aspects of the origins, function and performance of these remarkable pieces.

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
LINDA WALSH

The apparently distinct aesthetic values of naturalism (a fidelity to external appearance) and neoclassicism (with its focus on idealization and intangible essence) came together in creative tension and fusion in much late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century sculptural theory and practice. The hybrid styles that resulted suited the requirements of the European sculpture-buying public. Both aesthetics, however, created difficulties for the German Idealists who represented a particularly uncompromising strain of Romantic theory. In their view, naturalism was too closely bound to the observable, familiar world, while neoclassicism was too wedded to notions of clearly defined forms. This article explores sculptural practice and theory at this time as a site of complex debates around the medium's potential for specific concrete representation in a context of competing Romantic visions (ethereal, social and commercial) of modernity.


Xihmai ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verenice Cipatli Ramí­rez Calva

Resumen Durante los siglos XVI y XVII la población de la jurisdicción de Ixmiquilpan tení­a dos actividades económicas importantes: la crí­a de ganado menor y el cultivo. Este panorama se transforma radicalmente hacia finales del siglo XVIII; para entonces eran contados los pueblos que se dedicaban a la agricultura, en cambio, abundaban los asentamientos cuya principal actividad era la arrierí­a. En las zonas cercanas a las minas los oficios principales eran los de jornalero, minero o arriero de metales; mientras que en los lugares donde no habí­a cultivos ni posibilidades de vender la fuerza de trabajo en labores agrí­colas o mineras, una opción viable era el tallado y tejido de la lechuguilla. El estudio del padrón 1791 nos permite adentrarnos en estos aspectos e, incluso, conocer la composición étnica, el parentesco entre los miembros y edades de los grupos domésticos. Palabras clave: Ixmiquilpan, padrones, siglo XVIII, economí­a.   Abstract During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the population of the jurisdiction of Ixmiquilpan had two major economic activities: sheep breeding and farming. This view changed radically in the late eighteenth century, by which time there were few people engaged in farming, however, there were many settlements whose main activity was the mule driving. In areas near the mines were the main occupations of laborers, miners, or carriers of metals, while in places where there was no chance of selling crops or the labor force in agriculture or mining, an option was the carving and lettuce tissue.   The study of the 1791 census allows us to get into these issues and even know the ethnic composition, the relationship between members and ages of family groups. Keywords: Ixmiquilpan, census, century  XVIII, economy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiina Mahlamäki ◽  
Tomas Mansikka

This article discusses the relationship between Western esotericism and literature. As an example of a secular author who uses and benefits from esoteric texts, ideas and thoughts as resources in creating a literary artwork, the article analyses Laura Lindstedt’s novel Oneiron. A Fantasy About the Seconds After Death (2015). It contextualises the novel within the frames of Western esotericism and literature, focusing on Emanuel Swedenborg’s impact on discourses of the afterlife in literature. Laura Lindstedt’s postmodern novel indicates various ways that esoteric ideas, themes, and texts can work as resources for authors of fiction in twenty-first century Finland. Since the late eighteenth century Swedenborg’s influence has been evident in literature and among artists, especially in providing resources for other-worldly imagery. Oneiron proves that the ideas of Swedenborg are still part of the memory of Western culture and literature.


This introductory chapter provides context for the volume’s subsequent contributions on Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship on a variety of levels. It begins by explaining its aims with regard to the relationship between philosophy and literature. It then locates Goethe’s novel within this set of aims in three ways: first, by providing a brief outline of Goethe’s career; second, by locating his novel in the literary-historical context of late eighteenth-century Europe; and third, by outlining the connections between the Goethe of Wilhelm Meister and specific philosophers and thinkers who influenced his thought and for whom his work was in turn influential.


1994 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 363-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Jacob

The aim of this paper is to examine the evidence from a number of charity schools, for attitudes towards the childhood of the ‘poorer sort’ in the early eighteenth century. Conventionally it has been claimed that lack of affection, and even brutality, characterized the relationship between parents, especially fathers, and their children. Lawrence Stone, in particular, has promoted the view that, as a result of the very high mortality rate among children until the late eighteenth century, parents did not invest much affection in them in order to insulate themselves from the sorrow resulting from their likely deaths before reaching adulthood. This view was also taken by Ivy Pinchbeck and Margaret Hewitt. They pointed out the formality of address seen in letters between children and parents of the upper classes, and suggested that cruelty to children and flogging was commonplace at all levels of society. These views have been challenged by Linda Pollock, who has suggested that, when examined carefully, the evidence suggests that, from the sixteenth century at least, nearly all children seem to have been wanted, loved, and cared for. She claims that the majority of children were not subject to brutality, and that physical punishment was used relatively infrequently and as a last resort. Pollock suggests that from the eighteenth century onwards parents were much concerned with ‘training’ a child in order to ensure that he or she absorbed correct values and beliefs and would grow into a model citizen.


Author(s):  
Ana Isabel González Manso

This article deals with the relationship between concepts, heroes and emotions. To that purpose it propounds an explicative mechanism through the comparative analysis of the use of heroes in Spanish politics in the late eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. The spread of some political concepts was facilitated by their association with heroes of the past, which not only provide legitimacy but also a strong emotional burden in terms of the values they represented. The proposed methodology is applied to the examination of political uses of two historical figures: Padilla and Pelayo.Key WordsEmotions, national heroes, intellectual history, nineteenth centuryResumenEl presente artículo examina la relación entre conceptos, héroes y emociones. Para ello propone un mecanismo que se sirve del análisis comparado del uso de héroes en la política española de finales del siglo XVIII y de la primera mitad del XIX. La difusión de ciertos conceptos políticos se vio facilitada por su asociación con héroes del pasado que no solo aportaban legitimidad y prestigio sino también una fuerte carga emocional dado los valores que estos héroes representaban. Las consideraciones metodológicas se aplican al análisis de los usos políticos de dos personajes históricos: Padilla y Pelayo.Palabras claveEmociones, héroes nacionales, historia intelectual, siglo XIX


2020 ◽  
pp. 163-192
Author(s):  
Olga Sánchez-Kisielewska

This chapter explores the role of a musical pattern, the Romanesca schema, as a signifier of spiritual meanings in opera. It addresses the relationship between the Romanesca and the hymn topic and argues that the schema, semantically empty in its origins, acquired in the late eighteenth century connotations of ceremony, solemnity, alterity, and even transcendence. Several vignettes from operas by Haydn and Mozart illustrate how composers deployed the pattern in scenes depicting worship, prayers, and ritual actions. Beethoven’s Fidelio occupies the final section, a case study that shows the Romanesca interacting with other elements of the musical structure for expressive purposes. The chapter provides a novel interpretation of certain moments of the opera, suggesting that Beethoven relied on the sacred implications of the Romanesca—arguably available to historical listeners—to intensify the spiritual dimension of the drama.


2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Rebecca Ford

Although Bernardin's correspondence spans most of his adult life and involves a wide range of correspondents and subject matter, there is a marked increase in the number of correspondents and frequency of correspondence from the time he begins to enjoy real literary success. Indeed, the relationship between the reading and writing of letters and the writing and reading of Bernardin's published works is a close and multi-faceted one. The focus for this article is the correspondence between Bernardin and Mme de Genlis, one of the most significant literary figures in Bernardin's correspondence network. Their correspondence casts light on Bernardin's place in late eighteenth-century literary and cultural life and his developing identity as an author. Bernardin's correspondence with Mme de Genlis helps him to deal with practical issues surrounding the publication of his works, and to explore the moral and ethical implications of authorship; but it also reveals the difficulties inherent in the act of correspondence itself.


2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283
Author(s):  
MARKUS RATHEY

ABSTRACTWhen Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach became cantor in Hamburg in 1768, he was faced with a long musical tradition shaped by his ancestor Georg Philipp Telemann. Part of this tradition was the provision of compositions for the annual meeting of the captains of the militia, for whom Telemann had composed several oratorios and serenades. Even though Bach composed only two such Bürgerkapitänsmusiken, they are instructive pieces, showing the relationship between music, culture and politics in late eighteenth-century Hamburg, which at the time was a centre of political discourse. Questions of democracy, the relationship between government and the individual, and the possibilities of ‘patriotic education’ were discussed earlier in Hamburg than in other regions of Germany. It is especially the question of patriotism and of patriotic behaviour that informs Bach’s Bürgerkapitänsmusiken. An analysis both of the librettos (written by Christian Wilhelm Alers) and of Bach’s music shows how the ideas of enlightened patriotic discourse lurk behind these compositions and how they aim to depict an ideal political community.


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