Univ., Habil.-Schr.--München, 2002.

Not available / text

No description available.

During his reign from 193-211, Septimius Severus was responsible for a significant building programme in the city of Rome. This involved both new buildings and the restoration of existing structures. Previous scholarship, however, has tended to consider specific buildings of the period in isolation instead of analysing Severus' building programme as a whole. The purpose of the present study is to redress this by examining the overall programme in the historical context of Severus' reign through archaeological investigations, studies of art and architectural history, epigraphy, numismatics, and the literary record. A framework for the motivation behind Severus' building programme may be established by relating the types of buildings constructed anew or restored to what is known of his reign through other sources. Severus wished to portray himself as the rightful heir of the Antonines who had been chosen by divine providence to establish a renewed period of peace and prosperity. Through his building activity he exploited important institutions to underline this position and to legitimize his rule. By his concern for the physical fabric of the capital he at the same time reinforced the message that he had restored the prestige of the Empire. The importance attached to this restoration is attested by the numerous inscriptions placed throughout the city on the restored buildings and other structures proudly announcing the attentions of the new emperor. Much of the Severan enhancement and restoration seems to have been geared toward the celebration of the Secular Games in the capital, an event that heralded a new age of renewal and restoration. Severus' intention of establishing a new dynasty was also implicit in the creation of an architectural presence within the heritage of the imperial city. The use of a building programme within the capital to reinforce the policies of the emperor originated with the first emperor, Augustus. While not on the same scale as the Augustan redevelopment of the city, Severus' building activity followed this imperial tradition with a deliberate and concerted building programme that reflected his propagandistic aims.

This thesis examines the administration of the Late Roman or Early Byzantine Empire under Maurice (582-602). His reign is not commonly known, and he is often given brief mention only together with the other rulers following the reign of Justinian the Great, although his era spans twenty eventful years. / Indeed, his rule is of considerable importance since it is in his time that we first hear about new administrative structures such as the Exarchates of Carthage and Ravenna. / The focal point of this thesis is the military and civil administration of the Empire at the end of the sixth century. In order to arrive at a more precise picture of these subjects, different types of materials have been analyzed, such as military handbooks, numismatic data and laws, as well as the literary sources of the reign. Among the latter, the most valuable is the Histories of Theophylact Simocatta. It has been seen as important, or even essential, to relate the more technical material to this literary source. / The conclusions reached from this study are various. From the numismatic evidence we can see that there was considerably more stability in monetary matters in the East and the West than is sometimes assumed. By comparing expenditures in general, and subsidies paid especially, at different times in Late Roman or Byzantine history, we learn that the "gold drain" on the Empire's resources was not necessarily as devastating as is sometimes thought. With regard to the military administration, the malaise of frequent unrest among the soldiers is traced to problems of internal structure besetting the military establishment for various reasons, including bad choices of commanding officers. / Finally, changes in both military and civil administration are often seen as developments of an evolutionary kind rather than as arbitrary innovations established by Imperial fiat.

Bohemian art of the second half of the fourteenth century is closely associated with the personality of Charles IV, Emperor of the Romans and King of Bohemia (1316--1378). In an effort to legitimize his reign as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and to raise the profile of his ancestral Bohemian lands, he leaned on the power of history to reveal his heritage as stemming, on one side, from an illustrious line of emperors including Charlemagne, and on the other, from the dynasty of Bohemian sovereigns. He recognized that art could display this legitimization and so implemented a programme of historicism in his artistic commissions. His impact on Bohemian art was indirect as well: his ideas influenced the art patronage of his closest court advisers, as seen in this paper through the examples of two illuminated manuscripts, the Evangeliary of John of Opava and the Liber viaticus.

The boundaries of opera, as in all art forms, are constantly being re-evaluated. This analysis examines one of the most recent developments in opera-the use of film as source material, and connections to the film world- through analyzing three operas: Austrian composer, Olga Neuwirth’s opera, Lost Highway, Chinese-American composer, Tan Dun’s opera, The First Emperor, and acclaimed American film composer, Rachel Portman’s opera, The Little Prince. Each of these works exemplifies the modern relationship of opera and film in different ways. To classify these newly film-influenced works, the term cinemopera is used in describing operas connected to or influenced by film. Analytical techniques and historical perspectives, as well as revealing how these three operas are associated with the film world through their composers, source materials, and styles are the tools utilized to establish the characteristics of cinemopera as an operatic subcategory. Also, a definition and discussion of intertextuality in these operas reveals not only their cinematic features, but their ties to common practices in music history. Lost Highway is one of the most intertextual works containing sound effects, electronic music, and drawing heavily upon the David Lynch film of the same name as its source material. The First Emperor is an interesting study in modern ethnomusicology and contains many links to film in its source material as well. The Little Prince has a different kind of intertextuality than the preceding two operas because its source material is a French children’s book. However, since its composer, Rachel Portman, is a very distinguished film composer, it represents many elements of style commonly found in cinemopera. Finally, opera as a business is changing due to its convergence with film. The visual aspect of opera productions is of increasing importance, as is a singer’s credibility in the role they are portraying. Singers must look their parts much more so now than even two decades ago. As cinemopera is explored herein and its effects on the business are discussed, so are the elements of style which clearly serve to classify an opera as cinemopera.

Viktor Ullmann’s opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis, composed in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943-44, has received regular performances since its belated first performance in 1975. Research on this opera has largely been restricted to the confines of Theresienstadt, with limited connections made to the outside world. Nevertheless, when Ullmann’s work is viewed within the artistically evolving context of the interwar period – a formative era in Ullmann’s life – new light is shed on his artistic achievements. This era of change between 1919 and 1930 gave rise to new artistic movements such as Neue Sachlichkeit and produced the genres of Zeitoper, Brechtian Epic Theatre,” and Kabarett. Artists of staged works used their artistic freedom to challenge audiences, most obviously with techniques such as Bertolt Brecht’s “Verfremdungseffekt.” In the freedom of the newly established Republics, political commentary and the representation of contemporary life became the source material for libretti. It is within this era that we find the inspiration and source of Ullmann’s representation of Theresienstadt within Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Indeed, examining the opera within the context of the interwar period expands many elements beyond the representation of Theresienstadt. By investigating the inherent symbolisms within the opera to the spirit of the new Republics, we can re-contextualize the modest but growing place Der Kaiser von Atlantis holds in the operatic repertoire. For it is only by combining these two radically contrasting worlds – the freedoms associated with the artistic experiments in liberal democracy typical of the interwar period and the restrictions of detention in Theresienstadt at the hands of the National Socialists – that a robust understanding of the mastery of defiance and irony that is Der Kaiser von Atlantis becomes possible. / Graduate / 0413 / mbuckton@hotmail.com

No description available.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg as a royal collection and cultural treasury reveals the aesthetic preferences of a nation that has always stood on the cultural and geographical periphery of Europe. Initially an imperial collection under Peter I, patrons of the Hermitage focused attention on collecting canonical European paintings and also emulating Western models of display. In this way, the Russian aristocracy superimposed itself on Europe's culture through the construction of a collection to rival its great European contemporaries. / The development of a standardized practice of display has widely been studied in relation to Western museums but similar attention has not been extended to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. I argue that Nicholas was able to use objects of art and strategies of display to assert a greater role in the European state system of the mid-nineteenth century. While the supposed transparency conveyed by the collection's public opening was meant to make Russia seem less threatening to Western powers, in reality the yolk of autocracy was as tight as ever.