DANTE AND MUSIC OF THE 19TH CENTURY COMPOSERS: CERTAIN PARALLELS
UDC index:
78+82
DOI: 10.31773/2078-1768-2019-46-24-32
Article ID in the RSCI:
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Information about authors: Shushkova Olga Mikhaylovna, Dr of Art History, Professor, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Education Activities, Far Eastern State Institute of Arts (Vladivostok, Russian Fedration). E-mail: notkafa@ bk.ru
Annotation: The article deals with the influence that the personality and poetic heritage of Dante Alighieri had on art music of the 19th century. The author comes to the conclusion that the impact that the great Florentine had on the art of the romanticists was evident not only when they directly referred to the stories and the texts of his poetic works (primarily, to his Divine Comedy), but, in general, in the identity of their ethic and aesthetic attitudes with those of Dante. The article highlights the subject matters and the aesthetic and compositional principles enabling one to draw parallels between Dante’s poetic heritage and the music of the 19th century composers. One of the subject matters is, in particular, the theme of wandering, roving, and a trip to the other world as well as that of love and death (“search for Beatrice”). The author favours the idea that the images of Dante’s Inferno are presented not only in the 19th century programme music but in certain non-programme works of Chopin as well. The autobiographical character of Dante’s poetic creativity turned out to be homogeneous with the confessionary character of romanticism with its authors identifying themselves with their heroes. The peculiar musicality of the poetic language of the Divine Comedy appealed to romantic art tending to be synthetic. In the 19th century, a musician appreciated for his merits or talent was compared to Dante. Such a comparison was based not only on evident similarities, but also on the propinquity of imaginative thinking, the obvious parallels in the creative ways of the master deserving glory, his extroversive emotionality, and his active citizenship.
Keywords: Dante in music, musical Romanticism, the Divine Comedy, Chopin, Liszt.
DOI: 10.31773/2078-1768-2019-46-24-32
Article ID in the RSCI:
Article file: Download
Information about authors: Shushkova Olga Mikhaylovna, Dr of Art History, Professor, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Education Activities, Far Eastern State Institute of Arts (Vladivostok, Russian Fedration). E-mail: notkafa@ bk.ru
Annotation: The article deals with the influence that the personality and poetic heritage of Dante Alighieri had on art music of the 19th century. The author comes to the conclusion that the impact that the great Florentine had on the art of the romanticists was evident not only when they directly referred to the stories and the texts of his poetic works (primarily, to his Divine Comedy), but, in general, in the identity of their ethic and aesthetic attitudes with those of Dante. The article highlights the subject matters and the aesthetic and compositional principles enabling one to draw parallels between Dante’s poetic heritage and the music of the 19th century composers. One of the subject matters is, in particular, the theme of wandering, roving, and a trip to the other world as well as that of love and death (“search for Beatrice”). The author favours the idea that the images of Dante’s Inferno are presented not only in the 19th century programme music but in certain non-programme works of Chopin as well. The autobiographical character of Dante’s poetic creativity turned out to be homogeneous with the confessionary character of romanticism with its authors identifying themselves with their heroes. The peculiar musicality of the poetic language of the Divine Comedy appealed to romantic art tending to be synthetic. In the 19th century, a musician appreciated for his merits or talent was compared to Dante. Such a comparison was based not only on evident similarities, but also on the propinquity of imaginative thinking, the obvious parallels in the creative ways of the master deserving glory, his extroversive emotionality, and his active citizenship.
Keywords: Dante in music, musical Romanticism, the Divine Comedy, Chopin, Liszt.
