“Angels: A Tribute to Rainer Maria Rilke”
Ronda, 2012
“Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich” (“Every angel is terrifying”)
Rainer Maria Rilke, “The First Elegy”
“Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:
There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins.
Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.”
William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
Angels are responsible for the singing in heaven. Thus, throughout the entire history of music, there are abundant examples of their singing in forms of music that are as diverse as hymns, alleluias, oratorios, and the representations of biblical scenes composed by musicians. And the topic goes beyond religious music because if fallen or redeemed angels cover the pages of entirely secular books of poetry and stories, it is also the case for music sheets and librettos. But beyond its musical connotation, the figure of Rilke’s angel is established as a metaphor of contrast and horizon for human beings.
Víctor Gómez Pin
Participants/Lectures:
Tomás Marco – The Angels Play
Francisco Jarauta – The Innovation of the Angels: From Ronda to the Duino Elegies
Gotzon Arrizabalaga – Milton’s Angels
Víctor Gómez Pin – The Speech of the Angels
José María Sánchez-Verdú – “Wer, wenn ich schriee…” Who, If I Cried Out, Would Hear Me Among the Hierarchies of Angels? Approaches to the Primal Sound (Urklang) of Angels and Other Beings of Musical Creation
Javier Echeverría – Music in the City of God
Carlos Álvarez – How to Not Be Without Charm When Hearing Rilke, or One Hundred Years Ago of Almost Everything
Ver aquí algunas imágenes del IX Encuentro M-F