Subproject 4: Manifestations of spiritual intermediality in Protestant drama around 1700: Plays, operas, and oratorios
The intermedial configuration of the arts holds great significance for spiritual drama, operas, and oratorios. While examining the symmedial combinations of text, music, and performance is essential, their effects are too numerous and too varied for adequate description in purely generic terms. First of all, the dramatisation of sacred material involves processes of exchange with secular dramatic models; secondly, the spiritual dramatic genres of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries vary to such an extent that it is impossible to assume clearly defined boundaries between genres.
The term ‘spiritual drama’ is therefore used in this project to encompass all relevant genres. Accordingly, identifying the parameters specific to the medium, genre, and function of each case study is crucial. Once these have been determined, the differences and, most importantly, the overarching similarities among the various forms of drama can be examined. This serves as the basis for identifying the specific forms of spiritual intermediality at play in sacred drama.
Due to the diverse processes of exchange within spiritual drama, confessional contexts must be taken into account. The greater the level of precision in reconstructing spiritual parameters and in analysing the relationship between intermedial dramatic production and the ‘vertical axis’ of divine mediation, the more accurate the conclusions that can be drawn, including the definition of specific phenomena of intermediality within spiritual drama. In the first phase of funding, particular emphasis is placed on Protestant practices, especially in German-speaking areas. This focus reflects the geographical limitations of the repertoire, as Calvinist theology largely rejected sacred music. Building on the current state of research in the field, the project concentrates on Hamburg, Lübeck, Braunschweig (Brunswick)/Wolfenbüttel, Nuremberg, and Zittau as key Protestant centres of spiritual drama during this period. The aim is to explore the inherent dynamics of each genre as well as the combination of media within the individual genres by means of the source material to be researched in detail. The members of the project work closely with researchers from other subprojects, particularly Subproject 1 (the intermedial representation of angels in spiritual drama), Subproject 2 (concepts of spiritual love in opera and oratorio), and Subproject 3 (meditative practices focusing on oratorios).