“three unities”:

aka the classical unities or Aristotelian unities, a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy introduced in Italy in the 16th Century & which was influential for 3 centuries.  The unities are:

• unity of action: a tragedy should have one principal action.

• unity of time: the action in a tragedy should occur over a period of no more than 24 hours.

• unity of place: a tragedy should exist in a single physical location.

Aristotle's name became attached to the “three “unities “theory from the beginning & as translations of his work became available theorists looked to his Poetics (335 BC) in a retrograde manner for support of the concept. 

 

άταραξία:

Greek, impassiveness, calmness,

 

Romance (drama):

the 4 main Romance languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French & Italian; all of whom contributed to Faustian drama.  Even Portugal played its role.  Gil Vicente (1435–1536) was the first great Portuguese playwright, the father of Portuguese theatre; his drama portrays 16th century society.  He was famous for his satirical plays (eg the "Triologia das Barcas" 1517-18) with characters representative of their social group.  The results are both comedic as well as critical.

see below

 

Spanish theatre (16th century): * see EndNote<A>

the Spanish Golden Age of theatre (1590-1681), the theatre of Renaissance Spain, was highly accessible, sponsored by the aristocratic class & consumed by the lower classes.  The volume & variety of plays during this period was unprecedented, dwarfing (by a factor of 4) the dramatic production of the English Renaissance.  Its 2 greatest playwrights were Lope de Vega (1562-1635) & Calderón de la Barca(1600-81).  Lope de Vega is second only to Cervantes & is one of the most prolific authors in literature (800-1800 plays); his most notable play is Fuenteovejuna (1613).  Spain’s foremost dramatist was de la Barca (1600-81); although he wrote in the shadow of Vega, he developed Spanish theatre to a pinnacle.  One of his notable works was Life is a Dream (1629-35), a wonderful politically & philosophically allegorical play.

 

noblesse oblige:

French, an expression meaning that nobility extends beyond mere entitlements & requires the nobleman to fulfil social responsibilities; noble ancestry constrains to honourable behaviour; privilege entails responsibility.

 

Castilian dignity:

Castilian is an adjective derived from Castile, a region in Spain which is commonly used as a reference for the image of Spain as a nation.  In 16th & 17 century Spain the code of honour played a major role in social relationship; it was a rigid social code based on shame & cultural anxiety as reflected in Spanish literature & drama; the rhetoric of honour played a major role, this was the conscious use of phrases, gestures & acts (e.g. the dual) to express issues in contention while advancing confrontation.  Lope de Vega wrote copious numbers of dramas in which the plot commonly involved the petty nobility of Spain in affairs of honour.  He saw honour as an obsession in the lives of the Spanish nobility as well as many of the non-noble.

 

Tirso da Molina:

1579-1648, Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet & monk; his work is of particular significance due to the abundance of female protagonists & his exploration of sexual issues.  His most famous drama is The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest, the earliest fully developed dramatization of the Don Juan legend; it was possibly first performed in 1616, & published in Spain in 1630.

 

Corneille:

1606-84, French tragedian, ranks with Molière & Racine, greatest of the 17th-century dramatists.  Cardinal Richelieu was his patron; they fell out as the Cardinal wanted formal classical tragedy while  Corneille did not respect the 3 unties.  His Le Cid (about a medieval Spanish warrior) was denounced by the recently formed Académie française for breaching these rules.  Regardless he continued to write for nearly forty years.

 

Spanish grandezza:

Italian, archaic, grandeur or greatness especially of manner or appearance

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Aristotle (as authority):

hugely popular in Italy during the Renaissance, his greatest & lasting impact was on philosophy but his ideas also influenced Renaissance music.  The 16th century laudes musicae (promoters of music) were much indebted to Aristotle, who labelled music one of the “productive sciences” and who freely discussed & theorized on music in his many works.  In contrast to Plato, Aristotle believed music should be enjoyed by all people, no matter their level of education.  Like Plato Aristotle believed that “modes” could affect human emotions (an idea with roots in Pythagoras).  He was one of the first proponents of public music education.  Specific examples of the influence of Aristotle on Renaissance music theory is seen in the writing of Johannes de Grocheo (1255-1320) primarily known for his work the Ars Musica (The art of music, circa 1300) which described the music of his time in & around Paris.  We see Aristotle’s influence in his attitude on how music can affect a person emotionally & his concept of the motus (which Grocheo defined as a motet).  Closer to the Renaissance was the English composer & theorist Thomas Morley (1557-1602) famous for his treatise A Plane and Easie Introduction to Practall Musicke (1597).  His aim was to train the average person to compose an Italian madrigal or motet, an idea that parallels Aristotle’s belief that music can be understood by anybody.

 

knightly epic:

aka chivalric romance, literary genre of high culture, a prose & verse narrative popular in the aristocratic circles from the 6th to 14th centuries: fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often a chivalric knight-errant with heroic qualities, who goes on a quest.  It developed with emphasis on love & courtly manners.  As such it was distinct from the chanson de geste (Medieval epic) in which masculine military heroism predominates.  The latter was a form of epic poetry that appeared at the dawn of French literature (earliest date late 11th century), most popular between 1150-1250.

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Gothic Easter-play:

religious theatrical production of the Middle Ages, evolved from celebrations of the liturgy to incorporate dramatic & secular elements.  From this evolved the Passion Plays, the dramatic presentation of the death of Christ: trial, suffering & death, a Church tradition during the season of Lent.  First presented in Latin, later in the vernacular; contents & forms were gradually adapted to audience expectations.  By the 15th century the popular religious play emerged.

 

Gothic Mystery:

aka miracle plays; earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe (9th to 16th century); they focused on Bible stories (Creation, Adam & Eve, the murder of Abel, the Last Judgment), were set inside the Church &  employed antiphonal song, often performed together in cycles lasting several days.

 

Oratorios:

large musical composition for orchestra (instrumental ensemble), choir & soloists.  It is a concert piece with distinguishable characters & arias.  The choir often plays a central role while (unlike opera) there is little interaction between the characters, no props, no elaborate costumes.  The plot of an oratorio usually deals with sacred topics, appropriate for performance in the church.  Protestant composers took their stories from the Bible; Catholic composers looked to the saints & Biblical topics.  This form became popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera & because the Church prohibited spectacles (opera) during Lent, oratorios became the main choice for audiences at Easter.

 

Passions:

a setting of the Passion of Christ, liturgically performed as part of church services in the Holy Week; first developed from Medieval intoned readings of the Gospel texts of Christ's Passion, later polyphonic settings were added.  Passion Plays, another Medieval tradition, could be provided with music such as hymns, contributing to Passion as a genre in music.  This music in Catholic countries had to compete with Stations of the Cross, the Improperia and Tenebrae; in contrast, in Protestant Germany they were the focal point of Passiontide services, with Passion cantatas (and later Passions in oratorio format) performed on Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday & Good Friday.  From these roots came the great oratorios of Bach (St John Passion, 1724 & the Saint Matthew Passion 1727 &).

 

Orlando Lasso:

1532-1594, composer of the late Renaissance, chief representative of the mature polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school (he was born at Mons in the Southern Netherlands), along with Palestrina considered one of the most famous & influential musicians of his day).  In the 16th century musical community the views of Aristotle had great weight & Lasso was no exception.  We can see the hand of the Greek when Lasso in justifies the value & importance of music, its effect on human emotion & its role within the education of the young (see his Dedication to the Hieremiae Prophetae Lamentationes quinque vocum -1585).

see Chapter VII, page 230

 

Palestrina:

1525-94, Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music, best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School; he had a -lasting influence on the development of church & secular music, on the development of counterpoint; his work is as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.

see Chapter III, page 97, chapter VII pages 220, 230 Chapter VIII page 277

 

Schutz, Bach, Handel, Gluck and Beethoven:

Spengler’s shorthand for the Austro-German musicians of the 17th-19th centuries, who expressed the Faustian soul in music, starting with choral & ending with pure orchestral forms; their music represents the pinnacle of Faustian artistic expression.

 

fresco-art of Hellas (lost):

frescoes were popular in ancient Greece; the Greeks valued painting above even sculpture & we have a large body of literature on Greek painting & painters.  However none of the work referenced survived.  Almost the only survivor is the Roman wall paintings in the ruins of Pompeii (Villa dei Misteri, 1st century B.C.).

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cothurnus:

Latin, high, thick-soled boot, a raised platform shoe, to symbolize superior status, worn by actors in Athenian tragedy; it contrasted with sock (from Latin soccus), the low shoe worn by comedians.

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padding & draping the actor:

our knowledge of costumes in Greek theatre is very imprecise as none survived.  The costume’s purpose was to give the audience an immediate sense of character-type, gender, age, social status & class.  They were probably an elaborately-decorated version of everyday clothing worn in the 5th Century BC.  The chiton used on stage differed from that worn in everyday life as it incorporated sleeves, which were coloured & patterned & may have been part of an undergarment.  The men playing a female role wore a “prosterneda” (in front of the chest, to imitate female breasts) and “progastreda” in front of the belly; they also wore long white sleeves. 

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