Description
Book SynopsisPlague, a devastating and recurring affliction throughout the Renaissance, had a major impact on European life. Not only was pestilence a biological problem, but it was also read as a symptom of spiritual degeneracy and it caused widespread social disorder. Assembling a picture of the complex and sometimes contradictory responses to plague from medical, spiritual and civic perspectives, this book uncovers the place of music - whether regarded as an indispensable medicine or a moral poison that exacerbated outbreaks - in the management of the disease. This original musicological approach further reveals how composers responded, in their works, to the discourses and practices surrounding one of the greatest medical crises in the pre-modern age. Addressing topics such as music as therapy, public rituals and performance and music in religion, the volume also provides detailed musical analysis throughout to illustrate how pestilence affected societal attitudes toward music.
Trade Review'Plague and Music in the Renaissance does a fine job of presenting the pressures that plague put upon medical, theological, and civic understanding. It beautifully outlines the manner in which Saint Sebastian became identified with the plague.' Chadwick Jenkins, Notes
'… the book is a very judicious and well-structured study on this otherwise underresearched topic of music in the medical regimens against plague, and covers a wide span of Renaissance music from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries.' Johann F. W. Hasler, Renaissance Quarterly
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Medicine for the body and soul; 2. Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic contagion; 3. Devotions on the street and in the home; 4. The cult of St Sebastian; 5. Madrigals, Mithridates, and the plague of Milan.
