Spór i dialektyka wyznań religijnych w Responsorium et Hymnus Felixa Mendelssohna

• Authors: Kwen-Yin Li

Title variants

Conflict and Dialectic of Faiths in Felix Mendelssohn’s Responsorium et Hymnus

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This essay aims at discussing the problem of Felix Mendelssohn’s atti¬tude towards different religions shown in his choral piece Responsorium et Hymnus Op. 121 for male choir with cello and double bass. Considering the arguments concerning composer’s self-identity provided by Jeffrey Sposato, we could interpret the Lutheran chorale appearing at the end of this Catholic liturgical work as means by which Mendelssohn tried to manifest his Lutheran faith and therefore to criticize Catholicism. However, if we examine more carefully the very end of this composi¬tion, we would find that the musical material, characteristic for each faith, form a dialectical and dynamic relation. It seems that – instead of criticizing Catholicism – Felix showed the possibility and the necessity of different faiths to coexist, which, according to the idea of religious pluralism and tolerance proposed by composer’s grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, is the only way to discover religious truth. At the end of this paper, I would like to propose that the reception history of Felix Mendelssohn’s work and life from the post-Wagnerian and anti-semitic criticism to so-called Mendelssohn Renaissance in the second half of 20th century also went through a dialectic course. We cannot fully understand and interpret them without taking a multi-aspect view.

Keywords

EN

Felix Mendelssohn; Enlightenment; religious pluralism; dialectics; reception

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński. Koło Naukowe Studentów Muzykologii UJ
• Journal: Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ
• Year: 2018
• Issue: 2(37)
• Pages: 101-124

Dates

online

2018-08-03

Contributors

author

Kwen-Yin Li

• Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

References

• Botstein L., Mendelssohn and the Jews, „The Musical Quarterly” 82 (1998), nr 1.
• Botstein L., Notes from the Editor: Mendelssohn as Jew: Revisiting Controversy on the Occasion of the Composer’s 200th Birthday, „The Musical Quarterly” 92 (2009), nr 1/2.
• Botstein L., Songs Without Words: Thoughts on Music, Theology, and the Role of the Jewish Question in the Work of Felix Mendelssohn, „The Musical Quarterly” 77 (1993), nr 4.
• Cherniak J., Mendelssohn Reconsidered, „The Musical Times” 154 (2013).
• Dyer J., Roman Catholic Church Music, [w:] The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, red. S. Sadie, t. 21, London 2001.
• Emerson J.A., Bellingham J., Hiley D., Plainchant, [w:] The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, red. S. Sadie, t. 19, London 2001.
• Gottlieb M., Mendelssohn’s Metaphysical Defense of Religious Pluralism, „The Journal of Religion” 86 (2006), nr 2.
• Lessing G.E., Natan Mędrzec, tłum. A. Kwiryn, Kraków 2002.
• Mintz D., 1848, Anti-Semitism, and the Mendelssohn reception, [w:] Mendelssohn Studies, red. R.L. Todd, Cambridge 1992.
• Poniatowski Z., Mały słownik religioznawczy, Warszawa 1969.
• Sorkin D., The Case for Comparison: Moses Mendelssohn and the Religious Enlightenment, „Modern Judaism” 14 (1994), nr 2.
• Sposato J., Creative Writing: The [Self-] Identification of Mendelssohn as Jew, „The Musical Quarterly” 82 (1998), nr 1.
• Sposato J., Mendelssohn, „Paulus”, and the Jews: A Response to Leon Botstein and Michael Steinberg, „The Musical Quarterly” 83 (1999), nr 2.
• Steinberg M.P., Mendelssohn’s Music and German-Jewish Culture: An Intervention, „The Musical Quarterly” 83 (1999), nr 1.
• Todd R.L., Mendelssohn(-Bartholdy), (Jacob Ludwig) Felix, [w:] The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, red. S. Sadie, t. 16, London 2001.
• Todd R.L., Mendelssohn: A Life in Music, New York 2003.
• Todd R.L., Mendelssohn Essays, New York 2008.
• Todd R.L., Mace A., Mendelssohn & the Free Chorale, „The Choral Journal” 49 (2009), nr 9.
• Wood A.W., Rational Theology, Moral Faith, and Religion, [w:] The Cambridge Companion to Kant, red. P. Guyer, Cambridge 1992

Identifiers

ISSN

2353-7094