Publication details
Gottesliebe und Tugendhaftigkeit im Konflikt mit weltlicher Macht: die Figur des hl.Johannes von Nepomuk im Oratorium von Anton Neumann
| Title in English | Love of God and virtue in conflict with worldly power: The character of St. John of Nepomuck in the oratorio of Anton Neumann |
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | St. John of Nepomuck is depicted in Baroque oratorios as a saintly character representing divine obedience and passionate devotion to heavenly virtues. The character of St. John, however, also represents a respected personality of the church who, within the preferences of faith and divine ethics, also honors earthly laws in the parallel life role of a responsible subject. In love and humble respect, therefore, as a loving servant, he approaches his king as a representative of worldly power. However, in the context of Christian beliefs, subjection to worldly power figures as a binding social norm only in connection with the temporality of earthly existence without any reference to the afterlife. It is for these limitations that it must be subject to the eternal laws of Divine Ethics. This traditional level of belief is seriously disturbed by the actions of King Wenceslas IV, who forces the transgression of these laws from his post of worldly supremacy. After St. John asks for the disclosure of the confessional secret, thereby encouraging the saint to grossly violate the secrecy sworn to God. In the original intention of St. In John's presentation to the king of his duties to God, we find a loving effort to prevent a potential dispute. However, the effort runs into the uncompromising selfishness and pride of the king, who in self-pity and sharply growing fury forgets his submission to God. The level of conflict between the two characters grows into a dispute between worldly vanity and transience with Divine ethics representing heavenly eternity. Given the different preferences of both characters, an adequate idea of their goals is also adequate. While for the king the supreme goal is to subdue the adversary as a momentary fulfillment of his desires (at the cost of the possible death of the adversary), for the saint the supreme and far-sighted goal is to stand in love and honor before God at any cost. The composition of the Nepomucen original by Anton Neumann (1721-1776) dates from the 1760s. Affects accompanying the character of St. Jana are projected into the music with a stormy emotional style, musically exuberant figures depicting the textual content in a detailed manner. Combined with contrasting, detailed dynamics and tense harmony, Neumann's music portrays in a very detailed way the feelings of a saint in captivity of Divine love and virtues. |
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