ILLUSTRATION F
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Apollonian
ARTS OF THE STATUE
Magian
ARABESQUE
This mosaic contained plant-scroll patterns, reflecting Byzantine style; the plants are stylized versions of the acanthus, emphasis on leafy forms, the vine, & twining stems. It was a direct continuation of the Syro-Roman tradition, importing the plant-based scroll ornament of the cultures taken over by the early Islamic conquests
Mosque of Ibn Tulun 884 AD interior Cairo mosque
built in 1067-1093, northern Iran (the Seljuk period)
mid 13th century, detail of arabesque decoration to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible, and infinite nature of God.
The Umayyad’s (mid 7th to mid 8th centuries AD), first dynasty to rule the new Islamic Empire; commissioned art & architecture drawing on pre-Islamic late-classical traditions of stone-carving, floor & wall-mosaic, wall-painting, & plaster decoration (from the Hellenised East). Popular were Byzantine traditions which encompassed sacred architectural decoration using Islamic subject-matter (paradise landscapes). Inspiration also came from the work of Hellenistic craftsmen working in Asia Minor, as the arabesque originally included birds in a highly naturalistic setting. The art of Sassanian Persia was also used.
In 750 AD the Abbasids replaced the Umayyad; the capital shifted east to Baghdad & later Samarra. Both were important for the development of Islamic art, which was moving away from naturalistic treatment, towards abstract & repetitive forms. The principle architectural materials became plaster & brick-work. By early 9th century, Turks from Central Asia become increasingly dominant; their tastes influenced art. The Empire fragmented with local dynasties established in various regions. Islamic art was represented by local styles, often based on older precedents, but always bearing the imprint of Islamic taste.
In the 11th century a Sunni revival began in Baghdad which led to a restoration of traditionalism; ‘classic’ Islamic ornament, using distinctive epigraphic, geometric & abstract vegetal elements matured and spread throughout Islam, associated with new artistic & architectural forms, a sort of symbolic language; adopted by the Ghaznavids in Khorasan, the Seljuks in Iran, the Zangids in Northern Syria & the Ayyubids in Egypt. Medieval Islamic society was highly conservative; working practices, designs & motifs born in this period persisted for generations with little change.
Faustian
THE FUGUE
The term fugue was first applied to canons in the early 14th century but its true ancestors begin with the imitative late 16th-century ensemble canzonas & ricercare (e.g. instrumental music) by G. Gabrieli (1554-1612)
Early Baroque keyboard pieces reflect intense imitative development of a single subject. An example is Sweelinck (1562-1621) & his Fantasia chromatica, with fast-moving melodic counterpoint in a free, improvisatory style with no the imitative subject.
Frescobaldi (1583-1643) -his Musical Flowers” (1635), includes imitative cantus firmus pieces (i.e. based on a pre-existing melody), as well as such substantial fugues as the Ricercare After the Credo & Canzona After the Communion
Buxtehude (1637-1707) & other German composers- Pachelbel, Muffat- established the fugue both as a complete composition & as self-contained sections of a larger composition
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) also followed this lead, his orchestral concerti helping to establish the fugue both as a complete composition & as self-contained sections of a larger composition.
Bach is the pinnacle of the evolution of the fugue, unsurpassed in variety, individual perfection & numbers large & small for every medium.
Equal to Bach but not so prolific was Handel (1685-1759) , his oratorios (large-scale choral fugues) & concerti grossi (fugues in concertante style).