superadded:

verb, to add over and above; join as a further addition; add besides

 

numina:

Latin meaning divinity or a divine presence, divine will. 

 

renaissance (late):

art historians date this period from 1520 & lasting to the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it; it is often associated with Mannerism; connected with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael & Michelangelo.

 

Loyola (spiritual exercises):

composed 1522–1524, a set of Christian meditations, contemplations & prayers; divided into 4 thematic "weeks" of variable length, to be carried out over a period of 28 to 30 days; aimed to help participants in religious retreats to discern the will of God in their lives, leading to a personal commitment to follow Jesus whatever the cost.

 

Luther (ein feste Burg):

German for A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Luther’s most popular hymn; the words (paraphrasing Psalm 46) & music written & composed between 1527 and 1529

 

Palestrina (his Improperia): * see Endnote<A>

(aka the Reproaches) part of the Catholic liturgy used in the observance of the Passion, plain-song melody, using texts assembled from biblical & liturgical sources including the prophets, chanted during the Veneration of the Cross at Good Friday ; a series of antiphons & responses, expressing the remonstrance of Christ with his people; a custom dating back to 1200 in the Roman church, possibly a vestige of the earlier, suppressed Gallican rite.  

 

Bach (his Cantatas): see Endnote<B>

a body of music consisting of 200 plus surviving works dating from 1707 (when he moved to Mühlhausen); most date from his first years as Thomaskantor & director of church music in Leipzig, a position which he took up in 1723.  It was part of the job to perform a church cantata every Sunday & holiday, conducting soloists, the Thomanerchor & orchestra as part of the church service.  In his first years in Leipzig, he regularly composed a new cantata every week, they relate to the readings prescribed by the Lutheran liturgy for the specific occasion. He probably composed his last cantata in 1745.

 

St Francis of Assisi (Father):

(1181-1226) Christian missionary & mystic famous for his poverty, the establishment of the Franciscan Order & the Stigmata; his devotion to God was expressed through his love for all of God's creation.  He cared for the poor & sick, preached to animals & praised all creatures as brothers& sisters under God.  His earliest biographies reveal his great love for the poor; a young man fond of pleasure, he was moved to tears by the sight of misery, and loved to relieve it.  He began a populist movement of reforms in the Church, returning to simplicity, missionary zeal & the imitation of Christ thru poverty; in 1209 he established the Franciscan Order, based on poverty and street preaching; unlike former monastic rules, it established poverty not only for the individual members, but for the order as a whole.

 

Giotto (caring and mild God): see Endnote<C>

see chapter VI, pages 192, 212 Chapter VII pages 221, 235 Chapter VIII page 274

 

Lochner (caring and mild God): see Endnote<D>

(1410 -1451) German painter, working in the late "soft style" of the International Gothic, combining that era's tendency toward long flowing lines & brilliant colours with the realism, virtuoso surface textures & innovative iconography of the early Northern Renaissance.  Born in Meersburg, SW Germany, apprenticeship in the Low Countries, then based in Cologne (commercial & artistic hub of N. Europe).  His works include single-panel oil paintings, devotional polyptychs & illuminated manuscripts, often featuring fanciful & blue-winged angels.  Commissioned 1442 by the Cologne council to provide decorations for the visit of Emperor Frederick III; he grew wealthy & purchased properties around the city although he later fell into debt.  Plague hit Cologne in 1451, which probably ended his life

 

Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel): * see Endnote<E>

painted between 1508 & 1512, commissioned by Pope Julius II; the chapel itself was built between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV (for whom it is named).  The ceiling's various painted elements form part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Chapel, which includes the Michelangelo’s fresco The Last Judgement on the sanctuary wall.  Central to the ceiling decoration are 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis, of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, especially the iconic hands of God and Adam; the complex design includes several sets of individual figures, both clothed and nude, allowing Michelangelo to demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure & which were enormously influential.

and see Chapter I page 34 Chapter VIII page275

 

archetype of Il Gesu: * see Endnote<F>

considered the first baroque façade, introducing the baroque style into architecture; the Roman church, mother church of the Society of Jesus, was a model for innumerable Jesuit churches all over the world, especially in the Americas.  Construction began in 1568 using a design by Vignola but in 1571 della Porta revised the original design, replacing Vignola's balanced composition in 3 superimposed planes with his dynamically fused tension bound by its strong vertical elements

see Chapter IX page 313

 

Della Porta (his cathedral facades): * see Endnote<G>

(1532–1602) Italian architect & sculptor, born in Genova, died in Rome, where he worked on many important buildings to become one of the most important architects during the Roman renaissance.  He was influenced by & collaborated with Michelangelo; Vignola was his teacher of architecture.  In 1563 he executed Michelangelo's plans for the rebuilding of the Campidoglio where he completed the façade & steps of Palazzo Senatorio, and the ramped steps up to the Piazza del Campidoglio.  After Vignola died he continued construction of the Il Gesù & in 1584 modified its façade after his own designs.  He also worked on the construction of Palazzo Albertoni Spinola & from 1573 he was in charge of the on-going construction of St. Peter's; in collaboration with Fontana, he completed Michelangelo's dome (1588-1590).  He also completed a number of Rome's fountains including those of the Piazza del Popolo, the Fountain of Neptune, La Fontana del Moro in the Piazza Navona & Fontana delle Tartarughe.

 

Maderna (his cathedral facades): * see Endnote<H>

(1556-1629) Carlo not Stefano, Italian architect, considered a father of Baroque architecture; his façades were key in the evolution of the Italian Baroque.  Most of his work involved the remodelling of existing structures rather than new builds.

 

Heinrich Schutz: * see Endnote<I>

see Chapter VIII page 283 Chapter IX page 323

 

tone-worlds of 18th-Century church music: * see Endnote<J>

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was a German Baroque composer & multi-instrumentalist, considered one of the most prolific composers in history, he was a leading German musicians of the time, compared favourably to JS Bach & Handel; his music incorporates French, Italian & German national styles.  He remained at the forefront of all new musical tendencies; his music stands as an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles.

 

Shakespeare (tragedy)

Shakespeare’s tragedies (Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Anthony & Cleopatra & Coriolanus) gain their enduring power from a shared dramatic vision; they appealed to audiences in the 16th century as well as to audiences today.  S.T. Coleridge (1772-1834) understood the crucial characteristic of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.  Shakespeare:

                “writes not for past ages but for that in which he lives, and that which is to follow.  It is natural that he should conform to the circumstances                        of his day, but a true genius will stand independent of those circumstances.”

​

This ability, this trait, to stand outside the historical circumstances of his day, Coleridge calls his prophetic quality, its dream of that which is to follow.  He registers what is past in his plays, but also projects the future.  He is able to capture a universal aspect, a collective nature, of Faustian man & thus ‘shakes off the iron bondage of space and time’.