• Two Pietàs: William-Adolphe Bouguereau & Lisa Streich

    Author(s):
    Christopher Swithinbank (see profile)
    Date:
    2014
    Group(s):
    History of Art, Music and Sound
    Subject(s):
    Art, History, Music, Composition (Music), Theology
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    contemporary music, Lisa Streich, painting, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Art history, Music composition
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6097W
    Abstract:
    Two Pietàs in different media, the first by French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) and the second by Swedish composer Lisa Streich (1985-), permit an examination of the Pietà trope itself by laying open a range of its symbolic aspects. Bouguereau’s Pietà (1876) is discussed in terms of the grief and joy that are both present in the theological and mythological Virgin Mary at the crucifixion and allows us to touch on a potential functioning of the painting, while Streich’s Pietà (2012), for cello, motors and electronics, takes this apparent dichotomy and combines it with a more active reflection on Christ’s crucified body. This latter also allows us to ask: what is depicted in a piece of music? And suggests that the visual & physical dimensions – the instrument as canvas or stage – are as vital as the sonic dimensions in the apprehension of this work.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    Center for Research in New Music, University of Huddersfield
    Pub. Date:
    March 2014
    Journal:
    CeReNeM Journal
    Issue:
    4
    Page Range:
    120 - 135
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

    Downloads

    Item Name: pdf swithinbank-two-pietas.pdf
      Download View in browser
    Activity: Downloads: 287

    Back to Deposits