This book introduces a new perspective on Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607), a work widely regarded as the 'first great opera', by exploring the influence of the Mantuan Accademia deglia Invaghiti, the group which hosted the opera’s performance, and to which the libretto author, Alessandro Striggio the Younger, belonged. Arguing that the Invaghiti played a key role in shaping the development of Orfeo, the author explores the philosophical underpinnings of the Invaghiti and Italian academies of the era. Drawing on new primary sources, he shows how the Invaghiti’s ideas about literature, dramaturgy, music, gender, and aesthetics were engaged and contested in the creation and staging of Orfeo. Relevant to researchers of music history, performance, and Renaissance and Baroque Italy, this study sheds new light on Monteverdi’s opera as an intellectual and philosophical work.

A revealing look at how the Orpheus myth helped Renaissance writers and thinkers understand the force of eloquence In ancient Greek mythology, the lyrical songs of Orpheus charmed the gods, and compelled animals, rocks, and trees to obey his commands. This mythic power inspired Renaissance philosophers and poets as they attempted to discover the hidden powers of verbal eloquence. They wanted to know: How do words produce action? In The Trials of Orpheus, Jenny Mann examines the key role the Orpheus story played in helping early modern writers and thinkers understand the mechanisms of rhetorical force. Mann demonstrates that the forms and figures of ancient poetry indelibly shaped the principles of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century scientific knowledge. Mann explores how Ovid's version of the Orpheus myth gave English poets and natural philosophers the lexicon with which to explain language's ability to move individuals without physical contact. These writers and thinkers came to see eloquence as an aesthetic force capable of binding, drawing, softening, and scattering audiences. Bringing together a range of examples from drama, poetry, and philosophy by Bacon, Lodge, Marlowe, Montaigne, Shakespeare, and others, Mann demonstrates that the fascination with Orpheus produced some of the most canonical literature of the age. Delving into the impact of ancient Greek thought and poetry in the early modern era, The Trials of Orpheus sheds light on how the powers of rhetoric became a focus of English thought and literature.

Handel wrote over 100 cantatas, compositions for voice and instruments decsribing the joy and pain of love. In the first comprehensive study of the cantatas, Harris investigates their place in Handel's life as well as their extraordinary beauty.

The study of religion and popular culture is an increasingly significant area of scholarly inquiry. Surprisingly, however, Christopher Partridge's The Lyre of Orpheus is the first general introduction to the subject of religion and popular music. His aim in this book is to introduce a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives to be used in the study of religion and popular music and popular music subcultures. He addresses a range of issues from postcolonialism to postmodernism, from sex to drugs, from violence to the demonic, and from misogyny to misanthropy. Part One provides a general overview of the history of popular music scholarship and the key approaches that have been taken. Part Two looks at approaches from the perspectives of theology and religious studies, examining key themes relating to particular genres and subcultures. Part Three narrows the focus and examines key artists and bands mentioned in Part Two, including Elvis, Bob Dylan, Madonna and Björk. Written to be accessible to the undergraduate, The Lyre of Orpheus will also appeal to general readers interested in the role of religion in our culture.

This book is about how children can learn to understand themselves and their own internal motivators to make the challenging process of becoming a musician a joyful journey. If we can teach children to engage in learning music in ways that work for them, we will have given them one of the most powerful assets of all: self-knowledge.

A poet journeys into the underworld to rescue his bride His name is Orpheus, and he is the greatest poet on Earth. With his lyre, he can make music so beautiful it causes the gods to weep, but they are not who he wants to impress. Orpheus has been in love with Eurydice ever since the first time he heard her voice, and to win her love he sings the most beautiful songs in history. On the day of their wedding, when Orpheus feels happiness just within his grasp, Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. The groom is heartbroken, but undaunted. He will rescue his beloved—even if he must battle death itself. Orpheus’s path is fraught with untold dangers, but he presses on—and a tragic yet beautiful love story emerges from this radical reworking of an ancient tale.