This dissertation focuses on the analysis of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) and Stabat Mater (2016). Building on the technical analysis, issues of practical application for those who wish to rehearse and perform these works are discussed. Presentation of musical examples, a review of literature, and personal interviews were conducted with MacMillan in preparation of this document. The first chapters provide an introduction to MacMillan, biographical events surrounding the two works, and historical context of each genre. The third chapter then engages with the four main aspects that define MacMillan’s compositional style: the incorporation of Scottish folk music, influence of his Catholic faith, passion to engage with social issues, and balance between conservative and modernist techniques. These four aspects will be examined historically, how they relate to one another, and their role in MacMillan’s music. The fourth and fifth chapters deal with the direct analysis of the Seven Last Words from the Cross and the Stabat Mater. The chapters are structured in a fashion similar to how MacMillan composed both works—starting with the text, developing the structure, crafting important and symbolic musical gestures, and outlining additional compositional techniques. The sixth chapter takes on the analysis of the music and applies it to practical applications one should consider when rehearsing and performing these works. Finally, the conclusion discusses the social relevance of the music and places both compositions in a broader culturally context.

No description available.

This thesis examines attitudes and approaches towards death, as well as aesthetic representations of death, in Anglo-Saxon hagiography. The thesis contributes to the discussion of the historical and intellectual contexts of hagiography and considers how saintly death-scenes are represented to form commentaries on exemplary behaviour. A comprehensive survey of death-scenes in Anglo-Saxon hagiography has been undertaken, charting typical and atypical motifs used in literary manifestations of both martyrdom and non-violent death. The clusters of literary motifs found in these texts and what their use suggests about attitudes to exemplary death is analysed in an exploration of whether Anglo-Saxon hagiography presents a consistent aesthetic of death. The thesis also considers how modern scholarly fields such as thanatology can provide fresh discourses on the attitudes to and depictions of ‘good' and ‘bad' deaths. Moreover, the thesis addresses the intersection of the hagiographic inheritance with discernibly Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards death and dying, and investigates whether or not the deaths of native Anglo-Saxon saints are presented differently compared with the deaths of universal saints. The thesis explores continuities and discontinuities in the presentations of physical and spiritual death, and assesses whether or not differences exist in the depiction of death-scenes based on an author's personal agenda, choice of terminology, approaches towards the body–soul dichotomy, or the gender of his or her subject, for example. Furthermore, the thesis investigates how hagiographic representations of death compare with portrayals in other literature of the Anglo-Saxon period, and whether any non-hagiographic paradigms provide alternative exemplars of the ‘good death'. The thesis also assesses gendered portrayals of death, the portrayal of last words in saints' lives, and the various motifs relating to the soul at the moment of death. The thesis contains a Motif Index of saintly death-scenes as Appendix I.

L’analyse des processus de création de l’écrivain américain William Burroughs et de l’artiste brésilien Cildo Meireles construit deux figures exemplaires de l’artiste en tant que sujet politique. Les choix faits par ces deux artistes pendant le processus de réalisation de leurs œuvres déclarent en effet leur position face à la littérature, à l’art et à la réalité. Ils les construisent en tant que sujets-artistes et produisent des rencontres qui (re) configurent l’espace artistique. Ils renouvellent les pratiques de création. Nous étudions ces processus avec pour outils différentes notions théoriques. Outre celle de la politique, qui, selon Jacques Rancière, est le processus de l’égalité ; celle du sujet, définie par Alain Badiou, comme une construction qui se produit quand un événement arrive ; et celle de choix qui, selon Slavoj Zizek, ne laisse pas intacte la subjectivité du sujet. Nous essayons ainsi de définir le caractère politique des choix faits par ces deux artistes et de mettre en évidence l’idée de l’art et de la politique que leurs œuvres mobilisent.Nous étudions le processus de création de Burroughs, de son premier roman jusqu’à la découverte du cut-up et l’écriture de son texte Last Words. Nous analysons le processus de création des œuvres de Meireles : Insertions dans les circuits idéologiques, œuvre qui se constitue dans un processus en marche ; et Le sermon sur la montagne : Fiat lux. Construction d’une situation : transformation d’un espace en une bombe potentielle.Malgré leurs différences, ces œuvres ont une procédure de réalisation similaire, une sorte de travail tabulaire, de collage d’éléments hétérogènes. / The analysis of the creation process of both Americain writer Willam Burroughs and Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles construct two exemplary figures of the artist as political subject. The choices made by these artistes during the process of realization of their works declare indeed their position on literature, art and reality. Their choices construct them as artists-subjects and produce encounters that (re) configure the art space. They renew the creative practices. We study these processes with some theoretical tools: such as the notion of politics which according to Jacques Rancière, is the process of equality; the notion of subject, defined by Alain Badiou as a construction that is produced when an event happens; and the notions of choice which, according to Slavoj Zizek, does not leave intact the subjectivity of the subject. Thus we try to define the political nature of the choices made by these artists and to highlight the idea of art and politics that their works mobilize. We study the process of creation of Burroughs, from his first novel until his discovery of cut-up technique and the writing of his text Last Words. We analyze the process of creation of Meireles’s works: Insertions into Ideological Circuits, a work that is established as a running process and The Sermon on the Mount: Fiat Lux that is the construction of a situation. It is the transformation of a space into a potential bomb. Despite their differences these works have a similar implementations procedures a kind of a tabular work, a collage of heterogeneous elements.

Condemned prisoners in Texas and most other states are given an opportunity to make a final statement in the last moments before death. An anecdotal review by the author of this study over the last 15 years indicates that condemned prisoners use the opportunity for a variety of purposes. They ask forgiveness, explain themselves, lash out at accusers, rail at the system, read poems, say goodbyes to friends and family, praise God, curse fate - and assert their innocence with their last breaths. The final words also are typically heard by a select group of witnesses, which may include a prisoner's family and friends, victim's relatives, and one or more journalists. What the public knows about a particular condemned person's statement largely depends on what the journalists who witness the executions chose to include in their accounts of executions, the accuracy of their notes, and the completeness of the statements that are recorded on departments of correction websites or records. This paper will examine, through rhetorical and content analyses, the final words of the 355 prisoners who were executed in Texas between 1976 and 2005, identify those who made unequivocal claims of innocence in their final statements, and analyze news coverage of their executions by the Associated Press.

Este trabalho objetiva fornecer subsídios para uma maior compreensão dos elementos estruturais da Suíte para Órgão do Oratório “Sete Palavras de Cristo na Cruz”, opus 257 (1991) do compositor brasileiro Amaral Vieira e sua relação com o Oratório, do mesmo nome, opus 255a, através da análise relacionada com o texto e contexto do Oratório. A metodologia consiste no levantamento de informações a cerca da obra, questionário destinado ao compositor sobre o Oratório e Suíte para Órgão, identificação de aspectos retóricos e análise musical da obra observando a relação texto/música. Este trabalho poderá contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da Suíte para Órgão de Amaral Vieira através do aprofundamento de seu conteúdo musical aqui apresentado. / This study investigates the context and relationship of the Suite for Organ from the Oratory “The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross”, opus 257 (1991) and the Oratory itself (opus 255a), both by the Brazilian composer Amaral Vieira, for a better understanding of its structural elements. The methodology includes the context of both works, a questionnaire directed to the composer, analysis of the Suite, and identification of rhetorical aspects as they pertain to the Oratory. This work may contribute to a better understanding of the Suite for Organ by Amaral Vieira through the musical content presented here.

Este trabalho objetiva fornecer subsídios para uma maior compreensão dos elementos estruturais da Suíte para Órgão do Oratório “Sete Palavras de Cristo na Cruz”, opus 257 (1991) do compositor brasileiro Amaral Vieira e sua relação com o Oratório, do mesmo nome, opus 255a, através da análise relacionada com o texto e contexto do Oratório. A metodologia consiste no levantamento de informações a cerca da obra, questionário destinado ao compositor sobre o Oratório e Suíte para Órgão, identificação de aspectos retóricos e análise musical da obra observando a relação texto/música. Este trabalho poderá contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da Suíte para Órgão de Amaral Vieira através do aprofundamento de seu conteúdo musical aqui apresentado. / This study investigates the context and relationship of the Suite for Organ from the Oratory “The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross”, opus 257 (1991) and the Oratory itself (opus 255a), both by the Brazilian composer Amaral Vieira, for a better understanding of its structural elements. The methodology includes the context of both works, a questionnaire directed to the composer, analysis of the Suite, and identification of rhetorical aspects as they pertain to the Oratory. This work may contribute to a better understanding of the Suite for Organ by Amaral Vieira through the musical content presented here.

Este trabalho objetiva fornecer subsídios para uma maior compreensão dos elementos estruturais da Suíte para Órgão do Oratório “Sete Palavras de Cristo na Cruz”, opus 257 (1991) do compositor brasileiro Amaral Vieira e sua relação com o Oratório, do mesmo nome, opus 255a, através da análise relacionada com o texto e contexto do Oratório. A metodologia consiste no levantamento de informações a cerca da obra, questionário destinado ao compositor sobre o Oratório e Suíte para Órgão, identificação de aspectos retóricos e análise musical da obra observando a relação texto/música. Este trabalho poderá contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da Suíte para Órgão de Amaral Vieira através do aprofundamento de seu conteúdo musical aqui apresentado. / This study investigates the context and relationship of the Suite for Organ from the Oratory “The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross”, opus 257 (1991) and the Oratory itself (opus 255a), both by the Brazilian composer Amaral Vieira, for a better understanding of its structural elements. The methodology includes the context of both works, a questionnaire directed to the composer, analysis of the Suite, and identification of rhetorical aspects as they pertain to the Oratory. This work may contribute to a better understanding of the Suite for Organ by Amaral Vieira through the musical content presented here.

Teilw. zugl.: Köln, Universiẗat, Diss., 2004.