1/10/10 → 30/10/14
Music and confession in Heidelberg, 1556–1618
This dissertation examines the close relationship of music and religion in the city of Heidelberg in the turbulent period between its first fervent Lutheran reforms (1556) and the start of the Thirty Years’ War (1618). Examining the theory of confessionalization in relation to music, my PhD challenges the theory’s central premise that, in the process of building unified states and using social discipline to enhance secular power, “the three great confessions – Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism – developed into internally coherent and externally exclusive communities distinct in institutions, membership and belief.” (Schilling, 1995) By Electoral decree, Heidelberg and its churches violently oscillated four times between Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinist) confessions between 1556 and 1618. Although each change caused confessional tension throughout the city, Heidelberg’s musical spheres showed continuities as much as discontinuities both within learned circles and on the popular level. Music offers a useful scholarly lens on confessionalization, not only because it was performed in sacred and secular contexts, but also because music’s aural and textual qualities enabled a greater permeation of society than other communicatory or devotional media such as Bibles, catechisms and visual art.
My dissertation consists of an extended introductory chapter and four chapters:
This dissertation brings together hitherto unknown archival material and numerous printed sources with theories of cultural history, material culture and cultural exchange to challenge misunderstandings about Reformed musical culture, to show the extensive overlapping of Reformed and Lutheran musical cultures, and to explore the relationship of confessionalized music to pre-Reformation religious and political networks.
PhD in Music, 2010-2014
MMus in Advanced Musical Studies, 2009-2010
MMus in Trombone Performance, 2005-2008
BA in German Studies, 2005-2008
BA in Music, 2000-2004
Additional Study
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Project: Research
Project: Research
Project: Research
ID: 10439