In this essay, it will be tried to examine how lamentation in art and music is handled. The aim
will be to find out by which means lamentation is presented to the spectator and which kinds
of stereotypes are used in order to clarify the depiction of grief. First, it will be tried to explain
what the topic of lamentation is generally about, secondly, the case studies in which different
kinds of tragedies that include lamentations will follow. In the music section, it is necessary to
shortly summarize the plots of the analysed works to understand the full impact of the lament.
First, the worldly tragic love stories in no specific order will be the focus of investigation,
before the passion of Christ shall be examined. In the art section, scenes from the stories from
the preceding part of the work will be looked at, so that there is no need of retelling the plots. The terms lamentation and lament derives from the Latin word lamentum1 and can be equated
with expressions such as to mourn, to grieve, to wail, to moan, to weep and to cry. The term
lamentation is closely linked with the Italian term lamento that stands for a piece of music in
which somebody expresses his grief over something, mainly over another person’s death. The
term lamentation when referring to music means in the majority of cases “a vocal piece based
on a mournful text, often built over a descending tetrachord ostinato and common in cantatas
and operas of the Baroque period. Since the late 17th century also instrumental pieces with
wailing nature were sometimes named lamento, especially works by J. J. Frohberger and J. S.
Bach.2 Lamentation in art is represented just as good as in music: Since the medieval and
renaissance times one of the most often depicted topics is the “Lamentation over the Dead
Christ”. Painters, sculptors and other artist grew never tired of illustrating Christ and his
mourners, because of the importance of the incident of his death for the Christian community.
But not only Christians were depicted in the state of lamenting by the western artists, whose
paintings will be discussed later, mythological topics of mourning can be found as well. [...]
1 Brockhaus– Enzyklopädie in 24 Bänden, (Mannheim, 181987), XIII, p. 21
2 Ibid.
Table of Contents
0. Introduction
1. General Thoughts about Lamentation
2. Case Studies
2.1 Music
2.1.1 Acis and Galatea by Georg Friederich Händel
2.1.2 Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell
2.1.3 Venus and Adonis by John Blow
2.1.4 L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
2.1.5 Lamento d’Ariana by Claudio Monteverdi
2.1.6 Johannes passion by Johann Sebastian Bach
2.2 Art
2.2.1 Lamentation over the dead Christ
2.2.2 Lamentation in Tragic Love Stories
3. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This essay investigates the cultural and aesthetic representation of grief through lamentation in both visual art and music. The primary research goal is to identify common stereotypes, expressive techniques, and the means by which artists translate private emotions into public spectacles of mourning.
- The historical and theoretical development of "lamentation" in Western art and music.
- The transformative function of "catharsis" in Baroque and classical dramatic performances.
- Analysis of specific musical devices, such as the "lamento-bass" and chromaticism, used to signify grief.
- Comparative examination of iconographic tropes in religious and secular visual art, including the "Pietà" and tragic mythological scenes.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.2 Dido and Aeneas
In the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, first performed probably in April 1689, the tragedy comes to a genuine tragic ending: In the first act, Dido, the queen of Carthage, cannot bring herself to admit her love for the Trojan Prince Aeneas, who is due to return soon from a journey on which he searched for a new place to rebuild Troy. But her servant Belinda can persuade her to speak her love, so that the first act culminates in rejoicing. In the second act, a sorceress and her witches conjure up a storm while Dido and Aeneas are in the grove in order to separate them and to lure Aeneas into their cave. There, an elf disguised as Mercury commands Aeneas to leave Carthage. Aeneas obeys the false Mercury and as his men are preparing to leave, Dido being informed of her lover’s planned departure asks Belinda for advice. At the final meeting of the lovers the queen “silences his excuses” for departing and “dismisses him. After her lament, Dido kills herself.”
The tragedy is initiated by Dido’s and Aeneas’s last encounter, where it shows that Dido has already taken her decision to let him go and to commit suicide (“I’m now resolved as well as you”). Despite Aeneas’s attempts to persuade her, that he could stay, she cuts him short and mocks Aeneas’s [his] hollow protestations of fidelity and then [before] dismisses [-ing] him after the two have joined in a brief, bitter duet”; she accepts her fate. But before the climax of the tragedy, Purcell inserted a brief, non-dramatic observation by the chorus at this point of the plot, which states what has just happens: “Great minds against themselves conspire”. The ensuing recitative leads into Dido’s famous lamento “When I am laid in earth”, a passacaglia, as usual in a slow triple meter in minor. “This piece is built on a five-bar ground bass, a descending chromatic tetra chord, a cliché Purcell borrowed from contemporary Venetian opera.”
Summary of Chapters
0. Introduction: Outlines the scope of the study, focusing on how lamentation is presented through specific artistic stereotypes and the necessity of summarizing plots to understand the impact of the lament.
1. General Thoughts about Lamentation: Defines the etymological and conceptual roots of lamentation, linking private grief to the public function of catharsis in art and theatre.
2. Case Studies: Provides a detailed analysis of representative musical and visual works that embody the themes of mourning and loss.
3. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, noting that despite different historical periods, consistent expressive features for grief persist across both artistic and musical mediums.
Keywords
Lamentation, lamento, grief, catharsis, baroque, art history, musicology, opera, chromaticism, ostinato, mourning, iconology, tragedy, pathos, representation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental subject of this essay?
The essay examines how the human emotion of grief is represented through specific stylistic and thematic conventions in Western music and visual art.
What are the central thematic fields addressed?
The research covers the depiction of tragic love stories and religious iconography, specifically focusing on how artists and composers transform personal sorrow into public aesthetic experiences.
What is the primary goal of the study?
The aim is to identify the common means—such as specific musical intervals or visual gestures—that artists use to convey lamentation and to explore the role of catharsis in these representations.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The work employs a comparative, analytical approach, examining specific historical case studies from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to identify recurring patterns of expression.
What is the focus of the main section?
The main section investigates specific operas (e.g., by Händel, Purcell, Monteverdi, Bach) and paintings (e.g., by van Dyck, Poussin) to illustrate how the act of lamentation is constructed.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include lamentation, catharsis, baroque, lamento-bass, pathos, and the interplay between drama and musical structure.
How does Purcell use musical structure in Dido's lament?
Purcell utilizes a descending chromatic ground bass, or "lamento-bass," to create a sense of stopped time and pervasive sadness, which forces the spectator to engage deeply with the character's death.
Why does the author discuss the Pietà in art?
The Pietà serves as a primary iconographic example of how artists established standardized visual gestures of grief that transcend biblical narratives and inform the depiction of mourning over centuries.
- Quote paper
- Mareike Janus (Author), 2005, Motives of Lamentation in Art and Music, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/35230
