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| Looking back at Orpheus | Looking back at Orpheus |
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| A POINT OF VIEW By Lisa Jardine The harmonies in Monteverdi's opera Orpheus, which is 400 years old, provides further evidence of music's immense power to cross boundaries. | A POINT OF VIEW By Lisa Jardine The harmonies in Monteverdi's opera Orpheus, which is 400 years old, provides further evidence of music's immense power to cross boundaries. |
| It is 400 years since the first performance - on 24 February 1607, in the presence of the Gonzaga Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo I - of the 17th Century Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi's opera Orfeo (Orpheus). | It is 400 years since the first performance - on 24 February 1607, in the presence of the Gonzaga Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo I - of the 17th Century Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi's opera Orfeo (Orpheus). |
| Orpheus was the greatest poet and musician of Greek mythThis weekend I am attending a three-day international symposium at the University of Leeds to mark that anniversary. | Orpheus was the greatest poet and musician of Greek mythThis weekend I am attending a three-day international symposium at the University of Leeds to mark that anniversary. |
| Orfeo is considered by many to be the earliest "real" opera, and the Orpheus myth on which it is based has permeated art and music since antiquity. | Orfeo is considered by many to be the earliest "real" opera, and the Orpheus myth on which it is based has permeated art and music since antiquity. |
| The story - found in Virgil, Horace and Ovid - has inspired operas by Monteverdi, Gluck, Offenbach and Philip Glass, plays by Tennessee Williams and Jean Anouilh, and evocative paintings by artists from Pieter Pier Rubens to Marc Chagall. | The story - found in Virgil, Horace and Ovid - has inspired operas by Monteverdi, Gluck, Offenbach and Philip Glass, plays by Tennessee Williams and Jean Anouilh, and evocative paintings by artists from Pieter Pier Rubens to Marc Chagall. |
| One of my own favourite reworkings of the theme is the 1959 Oscar-winning film Black Orpheus by the French director Marcel Camus, set in Rio during Carnival, suffused throughout by the insistent rhythms of samba. | One of my own favourite reworkings of the theme is the 1959 Oscar-winning film Black Orpheus by the French director Marcel Camus, set in Rio during Carnival, suffused throughout by the insistent rhythms of samba. |
| The 'good manners' many of us cherish may turn out to be out of place in the company of strangers Hear Radio 4's A Point of View The theme all works of art based on the Orpheus myth explore in their various ways is music's quasi-divine power to raise the human spirit above the mundane, crossing boundaries, and breaking down taboos. Since mankind inhabited the earth, every society has had its own rituals to establish who is acceptable to the community and who is not. | The 'good manners' many of us cherish may turn out to be out of place in the company of strangers Hear Radio 4's A Point of View The theme all works of art based on the Orpheus myth explore in their various ways is music's quasi-divine power to raise the human spirit above the mundane, crossing boundaries, and breaking down taboos. Since mankind inhabited the earth, every society has had its own rituals to establish who is acceptable to the community and who is not. |
| Nowadays we are, I think, more conscious than ever before that the sharp boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable beliefs and practices vary widely from culture to culture. | Nowadays we are, I think, more conscious than ever before that the sharp boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable beliefs and practices vary widely from culture to culture. |
| The "good manners" many of us cherish may turn out to be out of place in the company of strangers. The lines of demarcation between behaviour those in any particular country consider to be "polite" and "impolite", sometimes turn out to be strikingly different from those in the one with which we are most familiar. | The "good manners" many of us cherish may turn out to be out of place in the company of strangers. The lines of demarcation between behaviour those in any particular country consider to be "polite" and "impolite", sometimes turn out to be strikingly different from those in the one with which we are most familiar. |
| On my last visit to Japan, I ventured into a large "Departo" or Department Store in Osaka. Having collected together an armful of garments to try on in the womenswear department, I was gestured with smiles and bows towards a run of curtained changing booths at the back of the section, which stood on a kind of raised plinth. | On my last visit to Japan, I ventured into a large "Departo" or Department Store in Osaka. Having collected together an armful of garments to try on in the womenswear department, I was gestured with smiles and bows towards a run of curtained changing booths at the back of the section, which stood on a kind of raised plinth. |
| Out of place | Out of place |
| As I drew back the curtain and prepared to step in, I was stopped short by an aghast chorus of shrieks from behind me. It was as well I paused and took notice. In Japan, it turns out, you do not enter a department store changing room without removing your shoes. In their eyes, I had been on the point of polluting a pristinely "clean" space, by my breach of Japanese manners. | As I drew back the curtain and prepared to step in, I was stopped short by an aghast chorus of shrieks from behind me. It was as well I paused and took notice. In Japan, it turns out, you do not enter a department store changing room without removing your shoes. In their eyes, I had been on the point of polluting a pristinely "clean" space, by my breach of Japanese manners. |
| It was the great anthropologist Mary Douglas - one of my own intellectual heroes who sadly died earlier this year - who famously made the observation that what any society designates as "dirt" is not fundamentally a category of material polluted by germs or microbes, but is a case of "matter out of place". | It was the great anthropologist Mary Douglas - one of my own intellectual heroes who sadly died earlier this year - who famously made the observation that what any society designates as "dirt" is not fundamentally a category of material polluted by germs or microbes, but is a case of "matter out of place". |
| In her classic book, Purity and Danger, she described how every society surrounds itself with patterns and ordered classifications which give it a sustaining sense of order. In the world we inhabit, everything has its allotted place and keeping it thus is what supposedly makes us civilised. | In her classic book, Purity and Danger, she described how every society surrounds itself with patterns and ordered classifications which give it a sustaining sense of order. In the world we inhabit, everything has its allotted place and keeping it thus is what supposedly makes us civilised. |
| Orpheus almost rescued his wife but temptation was too muchIf anything undesirable intrudes, or happens to disturb that order, the discordant element is recognised and dealt with by giving it the label "dirty". So according to Douglas, a towel draped over the edge of the bath may be "clean", but it becomes "dirty" if it is then left on the sofa in the sitting-room. | Orpheus almost rescued his wife but temptation was too muchIf anything undesirable intrudes, or happens to disturb that order, the discordant element is recognised and dealt with by giving it the label "dirty". So according to Douglas, a towel draped over the edge of the bath may be "clean", but it becomes "dirty" if it is then left on the sofa in the sitting-room. |
| Shoes are not dirty in themselves, but it is dirty to place them on the dining-table - that was clearly how my Japanese shop-assistants understood my almost entering their changing-room with my shoes on. | Shoes are not dirty in themselves, but it is dirty to place them on the dining-table - that was clearly how my Japanese shop-assistants understood my almost entering their changing-room with my shoes on. |
| In an undergraduate class of mine on Mary Douglas's work, an American exchange student observed that while the British consider that taking a bath is "clean", those from the United States are appalled at the idea of wallowing in a bathful of one's own grubbiness. For her, taking a shower was "clean", taking a bath was "dirty". | In an undergraduate class of mine on Mary Douglas's work, an American exchange student observed that while the British consider that taking a bath is "clean", those from the United States are appalled at the idea of wallowing in a bathful of one's own grubbiness. For her, taking a shower was "clean", taking a bath was "dirty". |
| Mary Douglas was ultimately interested in rather more telling distinctions than those between clean and dirty bathwater. She wanted to understand how in different societies, different rituals separate the world of religion from the secular, everyday one. | Mary Douglas was ultimately interested in rather more telling distinctions than those between clean and dirty bathwater. She wanted to understand how in different societies, different rituals separate the world of religion from the secular, everyday one. |
| "Dirt is matter out of place" was an idea she framed in order to explain the extraordinary range of ways in which different societies distinguish between what, in religious terms, is ritually "pure" and what is "defiling" or "polluted". Which comes down to the distinction between what is "sacred" and what "profane". | "Dirt is matter out of place" was an idea she framed in order to explain the extraordinary range of ways in which different societies distinguish between what, in religious terms, is ritually "pure" and what is "defiling" or "polluted". Which comes down to the distinction between what is "sacred" and what "profane". |
| Differences blurred | Differences blurred |
| In Douglas's terms, Jewish and Islamic food prohibitions, for example, reflect the two Abrahamic religions' historic desire to set their adherents apart from the members of the tribes around them. A systematic set of rules was put in place in relation to food (not eating pork products, not mixing meat and milk), non-compliance with which would automatically mean that an individual was labelled as "unclean" and would be excluded. | In Douglas's terms, Jewish and Islamic food prohibitions, for example, reflect the two Abrahamic religions' historic desire to set their adherents apart from the members of the tribes around them. A systematic set of rules was put in place in relation to food (not eating pork products, not mixing meat and milk), non-compliance with which would automatically mean that an individual was labelled as "unclean" and would be excluded. |
| To breach the rule was to be "unclean". Because the rules are elaborate and quite complicated, they require considerable effort on the part of the observant, thereby binding members together to the exclusion of the non-observant, and making them subtly alert to infringements. | To breach the rule was to be "unclean". Because the rules are elaborate and quite complicated, they require considerable effort on the part of the observant, thereby binding members together to the exclusion of the non-observant, and making them subtly alert to infringements. |
| In context I find Douglas's argument pretty convincing. This past week, however, what has struck me is how compellingly music succeeds in blurring any distinction, however ritually clearly defined, between what belongs within the domain of the sacred and what within the secular. | In context I find Douglas's argument pretty convincing. This past week, however, what has struck me is how compellingly music succeeds in blurring any distinction, however ritually clearly defined, between what belongs within the domain of the sacred and what within the secular. |
| His music melted the hearts of the gods It seems to have been acknowledged since antiquity that music has the capacity to move hearts and captivate the soul, so as to shade profane or secular delight into something like religious exultation. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice beautifully captures this power of music to dissolve taboo boundaries, challenging the divide between profane and spiritual love, and ultimately even that between life and death. | His music melted the hearts of the gods It seems to have been acknowledged since antiquity that music has the capacity to move hearts and captivate the soul, so as to shade profane or secular delight into something like religious exultation. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice beautifully captures this power of music to dissolve taboo boundaries, challenging the divide between profane and spiritual love, and ultimately even that between life and death. |
| The story goes that Orpheus was the most accomplished musician in antiquity, the inventor of the lyre, whose exquisite playing could tame wild beasts, calm storms and even divert the course of rivers. Distraught at the accidental death of his wife of a single day, Eurydice, his musical laments were so passionate that the gods themselves were moved to pity, and they agreed to allow him to descend into the underworld to find her. | The story goes that Orpheus was the most accomplished musician in antiquity, the inventor of the lyre, whose exquisite playing could tame wild beasts, calm storms and even divert the course of rivers. Distraught at the accidental death of his wife of a single day, Eurydice, his musical laments were so passionate that the gods themselves were moved to pity, and they agreed to allow him to descend into the underworld to find her. |
| There his music melted the hearts of the gods of the underworld themselves, who consented to Eurydice's returning to the land of the living. There was one condition, however. Orpheus was to walk ahead of her, without looking back until they both reached the upper world. | There his music melted the hearts of the gods of the underworld themselves, who consented to Eurydice's returning to the land of the living. There was one condition, however. Orpheus was to walk ahead of her, without looking back until they both reached the upper world. |
| On the threshold, however, his human nature overcame him and he glanced behind him, before Eurydice had stepped back into the light. Immediately, she disappeared, separated from him for ever. | On the threshold, however, his human nature overcame him and he glanced behind him, before Eurydice had stepped back into the light. Immediately, she disappeared, separated from him for ever. |
| Music, the legend suggests, elevates the merely mundane to the realms of the divine, petitioning the gods with an urgency and directness that can overcome even the most powerful constraints on human effectiveness. Orpheus's love for Eurydice is profane, yet his poignant expression in music of his feelings at her loss persuades the gods to grant him his desire to redeem her from death. | Music, the legend suggests, elevates the merely mundane to the realms of the divine, petitioning the gods with an urgency and directness that can overcome even the most powerful constraints on human effectiveness. Orpheus's love for Eurydice is profane, yet his poignant expression in music of his feelings at her loss persuades the gods to grant him his desire to redeem her from death. |
| The tale has long been performedIt is fitting then that Monteverdi's Orfeo should be considered by historians of music as a kind of watershed at the beginning of the 17th Century, between a European musical tradition whose ensemble performances were largely reserved for religious occasions, and the development of ambitious compositions for voice and orchestra to be performed on the secular stage - in particular, opera. | The tale has long been performedIt is fitting then that Monteverdi's Orfeo should be considered by historians of music as a kind of watershed at the beginning of the 17th Century, between a European musical tradition whose ensemble performances were largely reserved for religious occasions, and the development of ambitious compositions for voice and orchestra to be performed on the secular stage - in particular, opera. |
| Monteverdi's rich and glorious compositions cross effortlessly back and forth across that boundary. In the opening section of his Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, for instance, written in 1610, musical themes from Orfeo are reprised in a sacred composition for choir, soloists and orchestra. | Monteverdi's rich and glorious compositions cross effortlessly back and forth across that boundary. In the opening section of his Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, for instance, written in 1610, musical themes from Orfeo are reprised in a sacred composition for choir, soloists and orchestra. |
| Listening to Monteverdi's Orfeo and to the seductive samba rhythms from the soundtrack of the film, Black Orpheus, in preparation for my conference, I have found it hard to imagine that there is anyone who would not be moved by their harmonies. | Listening to Monteverdi's Orfeo and to the seductive samba rhythms from the soundtrack of the film, Black Orpheus, in preparation for my conference, I have found it hard to imagine that there is anyone who would not be moved by their harmonies. |
| Together they sustain my personal conviction that there exist fundamental human values which make it possible to transcend local sectarianism and inter-factional conflict, to reach resolution. | Together they sustain my personal conviction that there exist fundamental human values which make it possible to transcend local sectarianism and inter-factional conflict, to reach resolution. |
| At a time of heightening global tensions, nationalist clamour and religious schism, the extraordinary power of music to unite its listeners gives me more than a glimmer of comfort. | At a time of heightening global tensions, nationalist clamour and religious schism, the extraordinary power of music to unite its listeners gives me more than a glimmer of comfort. |
Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |
| Congratulations to all who have worked to produce Orfeo. Monteverdi is a wonderful composer. But may I make a plea that any performances using "authentic" period instruments should be balanced by performances using modern ones? To draw a parallel from the visual arts, I love Rome and all it has to offer in its museums, but I think it legitimate to travel by air rather than following in the footsteps of Hilaire Belloc over the Alps!Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England | |
| I've always been fascinated by this aspect of human nature; ask someone to spit into a glass and then drink it and they are horrified. Yet the saliva has just come from their own mouth! It's incredible how within seconds of it's departure from the body, the saliva attains a completely new 'unclean' status.Kev R, Cheltenham UK | |