Modernism and the Cult of Mountains: Music, Opera, Cinema

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Theory & Criticism, Ethnomusicology
Cover of the book Modernism and the Cult of Mountains: Music, Opera, Cinema by Christopher Morris, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Morris ISBN: 9781317094593
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Christopher Morris
ISBN: 9781317094593
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Adopting and transforming the Romantic fascination with mountains, modernism in the German-speaking lands claimed the Alps as a space both of resistance and of escape. This new 'cult of mountains' reacted to the symptoms and alienating forces associated with modern culture, defining and reinforcing models of subjectivity based on renewed wholeness and an aggressive attitude to physical and mental health. The arts were critical to this project, none more so than music, which occupied a similar space in Austro-German culture: autonomous, pure, sublime. In Modernism and the Cult of Mountains opera serves as a nexus, shedding light on the circulation of contesting ideas about politics, nature, technology and aesthetics. Morris investigates operatic representations of the high mountains in German modernism, showing how the liminal quality of the landscape forms the backdrop for opera's reflexive engagement with the identity and limits of its constituent media, not least music. This operatic reflexivity, in which the very question of music's identity is repeatedly restaged, invites consideration of musical encounters with mountains in other genres, and Morris shows how these issues resonate in Strauss's Alpine Symphony and in the Bergfilm (mountain film). By using music and the ideology of mountains to illuminate aspects of each other, Morris makes an original and valuable contribution to the critical study of modernism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Adopting and transforming the Romantic fascination with mountains, modernism in the German-speaking lands claimed the Alps as a space both of resistance and of escape. This new 'cult of mountains' reacted to the symptoms and alienating forces associated with modern culture, defining and reinforcing models of subjectivity based on renewed wholeness and an aggressive attitude to physical and mental health. The arts were critical to this project, none more so than music, which occupied a similar space in Austro-German culture: autonomous, pure, sublime. In Modernism and the Cult of Mountains opera serves as a nexus, shedding light on the circulation of contesting ideas about politics, nature, technology and aesthetics. Morris investigates operatic representations of the high mountains in German modernism, showing how the liminal quality of the landscape forms the backdrop for opera's reflexive engagement with the identity and limits of its constituent media, not least music. This operatic reflexivity, in which the very question of music's identity is repeatedly restaged, invites consideration of musical encounters with mountains in other genres, and Morris shows how these issues resonate in Strauss's Alpine Symphony and in the Bergfilm (mountain film). By using music and the ideology of mountains to illuminate aspects of each other, Morris makes an original and valuable contribution to the critical study of modernism.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Literature of Formative Judaism by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Provincial Stock Exchange by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Extreme Landscapes of Leisure by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book A Coincidence of Wants by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book A Practical Guide to Teaching Computing and ICT in the Secondary School by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Digital Judaism by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Keyboard Music Before 1700 by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Selling Security by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book The Routledge Guidebook to Mill's On Liberty by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book The Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Staging Dance by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book The World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Roles of the Northern Goddess by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and the English Merchants in Portugal 1654–1810 by Christopher Morris
Cover of the book Malaysia: New States in a New Nation by Christopher Morris
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy