Publication details
Monteverdi’s Orfeo – Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Polycentric composition as the effort to find order in the uncertain times
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Muzikološki zbornik - Musicological Annual |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/mz.55.1.27-41 |
| Keywords | Mannerism; Renaissance; destruction; broken rituals; parlare disgiunto; curved mirror; harmony; certainty; order; symmetry; polycentrism; parallelisms |
| Description | The Mannerist epoc is characterised by the destruction of the Renaissance order of the world. Likewise, the art of this period disintegrates into a number of different movements: one problem is depicted from different – often contradictory – points of view because an unequivocal view does not offer a satisfactory solution. Such a solution stems from the mutual tension and asymmetry. The problem is formulated and through a game of contradictions intensified to the point of unbereable tension that can have a cathartic effect. This study concentrates on the parallels between the formal structure of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Both dramas – Monteverdi’s favola in musica and Shakespeare’s tragedy – have common elements in their structure. Besides the tragicomedy, disruption of the wedding rite or disjointed speech (parlare disgiunto), there are two emotional centres and asymmetric parallelisms among the individual scenes. |