Plague and Music in the Renaissance

This book examines the role of music and music-making in the medical, spiritual and civic management of plague in the Renaissance.

Remi Chiu (Author)

9781107109254, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 June 2017

345 pages, 10 b/w illus. 99 music examples
25.4 x 18 x 1.8 cm, 0.75 kg

'… the book is a very judicious and well-structured study on this otherwise underresearched topic of music in the medical regimens against plague, and covers a wide span of Renaissance music from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries.' Johann F. W. Hasler, Renaissance Quarterly

Plague, a devastating and recurring affliction throughout the Renaissance, had a major impact on European life. Not only was pestilence a biological problem, but it was also read as a symptom of spiritual degeneracy and it caused widespread social disorder. Assembling a picture of the complex and sometimes contradictory responses to plague from medical, spiritual and civic perspectives, this book uncovers the place of music - whether regarded as an indispensable medicine or a moral poison that exacerbated outbreaks - in the management of the disease. This original musicological approach further reveals how composers responded, in their works, to the discourses and practices surrounding one of the greatest medical crises in the pre-modern age. Addressing topics such as music as therapy, public rituals and performance and music in religion, the volume also provides detailed musical analysis throughout to illustrate how pestilence affected societal attitudes toward music.

Introduction
1. Medicine for the body and soul
2. Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic contagion
3. Devotions on the street and in the home
4. The cult of St Sebastian
5. Madrigals, Mithridates, and the plague of Milan.

Subject Areas: Mysticism, magic & ritual [VXW], History of medicine [MBX], European history [HBJD], Sacred & religious music [AVGD], Medieval & Renaissance music [c 1000 to c 1600 AVGC2]