Scores of Being
Author | : H.A.E. Hub Zwart |
Publisher | : LIT Verlag Münster |
Total Pages | : 264 |
Release | : |
ISBN-10 | : 9783643916396 |
ISBN-13 | : 3643916396 |
Rating | : 4/5 (96 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: This monograph studies opera as music drama, guided by four ideas: opera as an ambiance (setting an acoustic stage where dramatic action becomes possible), as a Gesamtkunstwerk (incorporating other arts forms into a coherent whole), as archaeology (revivifying lost worlds of experience) and as a dialectical syllogism (resulting in the negation of a paralysing negation via a dramatic act). We focus on Richard Wagner, as composer and author, but also address other music dramas (by Giacomo Puccini and John Adams), adopting a Hegelian dialectical perspective, but involving other dialectical thinkers (e.g., Marx and Engels) as well.