Corpse and Sound : Some Thoughts on the Function of Music in Anatomical Theatres
Abstract:
In some early modern European anatomical theatres (Bologna, Padua, Leiden), the
presence of instrumental music is documented during public dissections
performed in the medical faculties of universities. This essay discusses the
possible reasons for this curious presence in relation to the documented situations.
In one context (Bologna), music seasoned the festive and carnivalesque
atmosphere in which the annual public dissection was set. In a different context
(Padua), music seems to have fulfilled a rebalancing and soothing function. This
article raises the possibility that music also served as an adjuvant to personal
reflection on the theme of death, at the same time as what was happening not only
in the literary and pictorial fields but also on the theatrical stage. This is the time
when opera was born and established itself, where the slow lingering over
sentimental descriptions resembles a ‘vivisection of the soul’.
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