Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance PDF Author: Timothy James McGee
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
ISBN: 9781580440455
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
One impression that stands out from this collection is the extent to which improvisation was an important factor in all of the arts. As each of the authors assembles a case by ferreting out bits and pieces of information having to do with a single art, the weight of the assembled material lends additional strength to each case. By considering the overall picture that results, as well as that made by each of the individual studies, the reader is able to see much more clearly the role played by improvisation from the late Middle Ages through to the time of Shakespeare and beyond. A careful reading of the essays brings with it the awareness that to ignore improvisation is to distort the art in a major way. In light of the present volume, the very concept of faithful historical re-creation takes on a much broader and more complex character.

Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance PDF Author: Timothy James McGee
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
ISBN: 9781580440455
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
One impression that stands out from this collection is the extent to which improvisation was an important factor in all of the arts. As each of the authors assembles a case by ferreting out bits and pieces of information having to do with a single art, the weight of the assembled material lends additional strength to each case. By considering the overall picture that results, as well as that made by each of the individual studies, the reader is able to see much more clearly the role played by improvisation from the late Middle Ages through to the time of Shakespeare and beyond. A careful reading of the essays brings with it the awareness that to ignore improvisation is to distort the art in a major way. In light of the present volume, the very concept of faithful historical re-creation takes on a much broader and more complex character.

Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Improvisation in the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance PDF Author: Timothy James McGee
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
One impression that stands out from this collection is the extent to which improvisation was an important factor in all of the arts. As each of the authors assembles a case by ferreting out bits and pieces of information having to do with a single art, the weight of the assembled material lends additional strength to each case. By considering the overall picture that results, as well as that made by each of the individual studies, the reader is able to see much more clearly the role played by improvisation from the late Middle Ages through to the time of Shakespeare and beyond. A careful reading of the essays brings with it the awareness that to ignore improvisation is to distort the art in a major way. In light of the present volume, the very concept of faithful historical re-creation takes on a much broader and more complex character.

A Common Stage

A Common Stage PDF Author: Carol Symes
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501726617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Medieval Arras was a thriving town on the frontier between the kingdom of France and the county of Flanders, and home to Europe's earliest surviving vernacular plays: The Play of St. Nicholas, The Courtly Lad of Arras, The Boy and the Blind Man, The Play of the Bower, and The Play about Robin and about Marion. In A Common Stage, Carol Symes undertakes a cultural archeology of these artifacts, analyzing the processes by which a handful of entertainments were conceived, transmitted, received, and recorded during the thirteenth century. She then places the resulting scripts alongside other documented performances with which plays shared a common space and vocabulary: the crying of news, publication of law, preaching of sermons, telling of stories, celebration of liturgies, and arrangement of civic spectacles. She thereby shows how groups and individuals gained access to various means of publicity, participated in public life, and shaped public opinion. And she reveals that the theater of the Middle Ages was not merely a mirror of society but a social and political sphere, a vital site for the exchange of information and ideas, and a vibrant medium for debate, deliberation, and dispute. The result is a book that closes the gap between the scattered textual remnants of medieval drama and the culture of performance from which that drama emerged. A Common Stage thus challenges the prevalent understanding of theater history while offering the first comprehensive history of a community often credited with the invention of French as a powerful literary language.

The Sacralization of Space and Behavior in the Early Modern World

The Sacralization of Space and Behavior in the Early Modern World PDF Author: Jennifer Mara DeSilva
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317016785
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In the Early Modern period - as both reformed and Catholic churches strove to articulate orthodox belief and conduct through texts, sermons, rituals, and images - communities grappled frequently with the connection between sacred space and behavior. The Sacralization of Space and Behavior in the Early Modern World explores individual and community involvement in the approbation, reconfiguration and regulation of sacred spaces and the behavior (both animal and human) within them. The individual’s understanding of sacred space, and consequently the behavior appropriate within it, depended on local need, group dynamics, and the dissemination of normative expectations. While these expectations were defined in a growing body of confessionalizing literature, locally and internationally traditional clerical authorities found their decisions contested, circumvented, or elaborated in order to make room for other stakeholders’ activities and needs. To clearly reveal the efforts of early modern groups to negotiate authority and the transformation of behavior with sacred space, this collection presents examples that allow the deconstruction of these tensions and the exploration of the resulting campaigns within sacred space. Based on new archival research the eleven chapters in this collection examine diverse aspects of the campaigns to transform Christian behavior within a variety of types of sacred space and through a spectrum of media. These essays give voice to the arguments, exhortations, and accusations that surrounded the activities taking place in early modern sacred space and reveal much about how people made sense of these transformations.

Re-Reading Mary Wroth

Re-Reading Mary Wroth PDF Author: K. Larson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137473347
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 514

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Book Description
Approaching the writings of Mary Wroth through a fresh 21st-century lens, this volume accounts for and re-invents the literary scholarship of one of the first "canonized" women writers of the English Renaissance. Essays present different practices that emerge around "reading" Wroth, including editing, curating, and digital reproduction.

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Improvisation in the Arts

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Improvisation in the Arts PDF Author: Alessandro Bertinetto
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100039784X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 1133

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Book Description
Over the last few decades, the notion of improvisation has enriched and dynamized research on traditional philosophies of music, theatre, dance, poetry, and even visual art. This Handbook offers readers an authoritative collection of accessible articles on the philosophy of improvisation, synthesizing and explaining various subjects and issues from the growing wave of journal articles and monographs in the field. Its 48 chapters, written specifically for this volume by an international team of scholars, are accessible for students and researchers alike. The volume is organized into four main sections: I Art and Improvisation: Theoretical Perspectives II Art and Improvisation: Aesthetical, Ethical, and Political Perspectives III Improvisation in Musical Practices IV Improvisation in the Visual, Narrative, Dramatic, and Interactive Arts Key Features: Treats improvisation not only as a stylistic feature, but also as an aesthetic property of artworks and performances as well as a core element of artistic creativity. Spells out multiple aspects of the concept of improvisation, emphasizing its relevance in understanding the nature of art. Covers improvisation in a wide spectrum of artistic domains, including unexpected ones such as literature, visual arts, games, and cooking. Addresses key questions, such as: - How can improvisation be defined and what is its role in different art forms? - Can improvisation be perceived as such, and how can it be aesthetically evaluated? - What is the relationship between improvisation and notions such as action, composition, expressivity, and authenticity? - What is the ethical and political significance of improvisation?

The Cambridge History of Medieval Music

The Cambridge History of Medieval Music PDF Author: Mark Everist
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108577075
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Spanning a millennium of musical history, this monumental volume brings together nearly forty leading authorities to survey the music of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. All of the major aspects of medieval music are considered, making use of the latest research and thinking to discuss everything from the earliest genres of chant, through the music of the liturgy, to the riches of the vernacular song of the trouvères and troubadours. Alongside this account of the core repertory of monophony, The Cambridge History of Medieval Music tells the story of the birth of polyphonic music, and studies the genres of organum, conductus, motet and polyphonic song. Key composers of the period are introduced, such as Leoninus, Perotinus, Adam de la Halle, Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut, and other chapters examine topics ranging from musical theory and performance to institutions, culture and collections.

The Experience of Poetry

The Experience of Poetry PDF Author: Derek Attridge
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192569570
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 462

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Book Description
Was the experience of poetry—or a cultural practice we now call poetry—continuously available across the two-and-a-half millennia from the composition of the Homeric epics to the publication of Ben Jonson's Works and the death of Shakespeare in 1616? How did the pleasure afforded by the crafting of language into memorable and moving rhythmic forms play a part in the lives of hearers and readers in Ancient Greece and Rome, Europe during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and Britain during the Renaissance? In tackling these questions, this book first examines the evidence for the performance of the Iliad and the Odyssey and of Ancient Greek lyric poetry, the impact of the invention of writing on Alexandrian verse, the performances of poetry that characterized Ancient Rome, and the private and public venues for poetic experience in Late Antiquity. It moves on to deal with medieval verse, exploring the oral traditions that spread across Europe in the vernacular languages, the place of manuscript transmission, the shift from roll to codex and from papyrus to parchment, and the changing audiences for poetry. A final part investigates the experience of poetry in the English Renaissance, from the manuscript verse of Henry VIII's court to the anthologies and collections of the late Elizabethan era. Among the topics considered in this part are the importance of the printed page, the continuing significance of manuscript circulation, the performance of poetry in pageants and progresses, and the appearance of poets on the Elizabethan stage. In tracking both continuity and change across these many centuries, the book throws fresh light on the role and importance of poetry in western culture.

Playthings in Early Modernity

Playthings in Early Modernity PDF Author: Allison Levy
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
ISBN: 1580442617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
An innovative volume of fifteen interdisciplinary essays at the nexus of material culture, performance studies, and game theory, Playthings in Early Modernity emphasizes the rules of the game(s) as well as the breaking of those rules. Thus, the titular "plaything" is understood as both an object and a person, and play, in the early modern world, is treated not merely as a pastime, a leisurely pursuit, but as a pivotal part of daily life, a strategic psychosocial endeavor.

The Sounds and Sights of Performance in Early Music

The Sounds and Sights of Performance in Early Music PDF Author: Maureen Epp
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351540467
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
The experience of music performance is always far more than the sum of its sounds, and evidence for playing and singing techniques is not only inscribed in music notation but can also be found in many other types of primary source materials. This volume of essays presents a cross-section of new research on performance issues in music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The subject is approached from a broad perspective, drawing on areas such as dance history, art history, music iconography and performance traditions from beyond Western Europe. In doing so, the volume continues some of the many lines of inquiry pursued by its dedicatee, Timothy J. McGee, over a lifetime of scholarship devoted to practical questions of playing and singing early music. Expanding the bases of inquiry to include various social, political, historical or aesthetic backgrounds both broadens our knowledge of the issues pertinent to early music performance and informs our understanding of other cultural activities within which music played an important role. The book is divided into two parts: 'Viewing the Evidence' in which visually based information is used to address particular questions of music performance; and 'Reconsidering Contexts' in which diplomatic, commercial and cultural connections to specific repertories or compositions are considered in detail. This book will be of value not only to specialists in early music but to all scholars of the Middle Ages and Renaissance whose interests intersect with the visual, aural and social aspects of music performance.