Myths and stories offer a window onto medieval and early modern
musical culture. Far from merely offering material for musical settings,
authoritative tales from classical mythology, ancient history and the
Bible were treated as foundations for musical knowledge. Such myths were
cited in support of arguments about the uses, effects, morality and
preferred styles of music in sources as diverse as theoretical
treatises, defences or critiques of music, art, sermons, educational
literature and books of moral conduct. Newly written literary stories
too were believed capable of moral instruction and influence, and were a
medium through which ideas about music could be both explored and
transmitted. How authors interpreted and weaved together these
traditional stories, or created their own, reveals much about changing
attitudes across the period.
Looking beyond the well-known figure of
Orpheus, this collection explores the myriad stories that shaped not
only musical thought, but also its styles, techniques and practices. The
essays show that music itself performed and created knowledge in ways
parallel to myth, and worked in tandem with old and new tales to
construct social, political and philosophical views. This relationship
was not static, however; as the Enlightenment dawned, the once
authoritative gods became comic characters and myth became a medium
forridicule. Overall, the book provides a foundation for exploring myth
and story throughout medieval and early modern culture, and facilitating
further study into the Enlightenment and beyond.
KATHERINE BUTLER is a seniorlecturer in music at Northumbria University; SAMANTHA BASSLER is a musicologist of cultural studies, a teaching artist, and an adjunct professor in the New York metropolitan area.
Contributors: Jamie Apgar, Katie Bank, Samantha Bassler, Katherine Butler, Elina G. Hamilton, Sigrid Harris, Ljubica Ilic, Erica Levenson, John MacInnis, Patrick McMahon, Aurora Faye Martinez, Jacomien Prins, Tim Shephard, Jason Stoessel, Férdia J. Stone-Davis, Amanda Eubanks Winkler.
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