Prometheus in Music: Representations of the Myth in the Romantic Era

The ancient Greek myth of Prometheus, the primordial Titan who defied the Olympian gods by stealing fire from the heavens as a gift for humanity, enjoyed unprecedented popularity during the Romantic era. An international coterie of writers such as Goethe, Monti, Byron, the Shelleys, Sainte-Hélène, Coleridge, Browning and Bridges engaged with the legend, while composers such as Beethoven, Reichardt, Schubert, Wolf, Liszt, Halévy, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Parry, Goldmark and Bargiel based works of diverse genres on the fable. Paul Bertagnolli charts the progress of the myth during the nineteenth century, as it articulates an extraordinary variety of issues pertaining to culture, society, aesthetics and philosophy. Drawing on archival research, dance history, sketch studies, literary theory, linear analysis, topos theory and reception history, individual chapters demonstrate that the legend served as a vehicle to express opinions on subjects as diverse as aristocratic patronage, movements of the body on the public stage, rebellion against political and religious authority, outright atheism, humanitarianism of the German Enlightenment, interest in the music of Greek antiquity, industrialization, nationalism inflamed by war, populism and the aesthetics of musical form. Composers often resorted to varied and unorthodox musical techniques in order to reflect such remarkable subjects. These striking traits of musical compositions, their literary sources and the criticism that they inspired offer compelling testimony to the impact of the Prometheus myth on the Romantic imagination.Contents: Promethean legacies: the myth in literature and music prior to the Romantic era; Gesture and convention in Beethoven's ballet d'action; Three settings of Goethe's Transgressive Ode; Towards a philosophy of history: Liszt's Prometheus music; The French Prometheus; Atheism, Wagnerism, and eroticism in Parry's Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound; Conservatism assimilates the Prometheus myth: concert overtures by Bargiel and Goldmark; Bibliography; Index.About the Author: Paul Bertagnolli is Associate Professor of Musicology at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, USA.

Paul Bertagnolli is Associate Professor of Musicology at the Moores School of Music, Univeristy of Houston, USA.