Fruits of the Cross: Passiontide Music Theater in Habsburg Vienna

Seventeenth-century sepolcri were sacred operas written for court performance on Holy Thursday and Good Friday in Habsburg Vienna. They combined music and ritual to produce a unique art form based on devotion to Christ's Tomb. Robert L. Kendrick's study explores the political and artistic world of the sepolcri, their allegorical characters, and their role in making Passion piety relevant to wider cultural concerns. Understanding the sepolcri has implications for the theatricalization of devotion, the power of allegory, the role of queenship, the interplay between visuality and music, and the intellectual centrality of music theater to court self-understanding.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 27 November 2018
Publisher: University of California Press

In this comprehensive exploration of seventeenth-century sepolcri, sacred operas crafted for court performances on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Robert L. Kendrick delves into the political and artistic realm of Habsburg Vienna. Here, music and ritual converged on the stage to create a truly unique art form, rooted in devotion to Christ's Tomb. The musical dramas, employing allegorical characters, encompassed a spectrum of emotions, from the intensely devout to the theologically intricate, and even ventured into anti-Jewish sentiments. However, their profound role was in making Passion piety resonate with broader cultural concerns.

Fruits of the Cross offers valuable insights into the theatricalization of devotion, the potency of allegory, the significance of queenship in court ideology, the interplay between visuality and music, and, most importantly, the intellectual centrality of music theater in shaping court self-understanding. By delving into the world of sepolcri, Kendrick sheds light on the intricate tapestry of seventeenth-century Habsburg culture, where music and theater played a vital role in expressing religious devotion and shaping societal attitudes.

Weight: 468g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520297579