Zugl.: Mainz, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 1998

Zugl.: Kassel, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

I uppsatsen undersöks utvalda verser i Rutboken och Esra/Nehemjaboken i syfte att närma sig vardagslivet i Jerusalem på den efterexiliska tiden på 300-talet f.v.t.

Begeisterung zeichnet den Dilettanten aus gegenüber dem Professionellen, so entwickelten es Goethe und Schiller in ihrem Briefwechsel zum sogenannten ‚Dilettantismus‘-Schema. Dabei sollten wir daran erinnern, dass in Italien die Ehrenamtlichen noch immer als ‚dilettanti‘ bezeichnet werden, – und dies nicht als abschätziges Stigma, sondern als Auszeichnung der besonderen Qualität eines Engagements, das ‚aus der Freude‘ kommt. (Prof. Dr. Eckart Pankoke)

Begeisterung zeichnet den Dilettanten aus gegenüber dem Professionellen, so entwickelten es Goethe und Schiller in ihrem Briefwechsel zum sogenannten ‚Dilettantismus‘-Schema. Dabei sollten wir daran erinnern, dass in Italien die Ehrenamtlichen noch immer als ‚dilettanti‘ bezeichnet werden, – und dies nicht als abschätziges Stigma, sondern als Auszeichnung der besonderen Qualität eines Engagements, das ‚aus der Freude‘ kommt. (Prof. Dr. Eckart Pankoke)

Die Jubiläen zu Antonín Dvořák haben sich Anfang der 1990er Jahre gleichsam überschlagen. 1991: 150. Geburtstag des Komponisten; 1992: 100jähriges Gedenken an den Beginn von Dvořáks dreijährigem Wirken in Amerika; 1993: 100jährige Wiederkehr seines Besuches in Spillville (Iowa) und zugleich 100 Jahre Sinfonie aus der Neuen Welt. Gedenkfeiern, Symposien und Kongresse an vielen Orten der Welt (New Orleans, Saarbrücken, Hamburg, Dobříš, Spillville) und zugleich eine Vielzahl von Impulsen für das internationale wissenschaftliche Interesse an diesem tschechischen Komponisten, das in zahlreichen neuen Publikationen seinen Niederschlag fand und - denkt man an \"Czech Music\", das Journal der Dvořák Society London, das sich zu einem wichtigen Periodikum für Dvořák entwickelte, oder an die Prager \"Hudební věda\", in der kaum ein Jahrgang ohne einen Beitrag zu Dvořák erscheint - immer noch findet. Fast alle Richtungen der Dvořák-Forschung sind dabei vertreten, sei es die Grundlagenforschung, sei es die Biographie, seien es Untersuchungen zu speziellen Aspekten des Komponierens, Studien zu bestimmten Gattungskomplexen oder auf ein Werk konzentrierte Analysen, sei es die Rezeption oder auch die Geschichte der Dvořák-Forschung selbst. In gebotener Kürze - und dadurch zugegebenermaßen etwas vergröbert - sei ein Einblick gewagt.

The history of Bertolt Brecht's play Leben des Galilei extends through the writing of its three versions during 1938 to 1955 -- a period of two decades that also encompassed the entirety of the Second World War. The period also covers the atom bomb from its development to America's use of the bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the beginning of the Cold War, which included the sustained threat that nuclear weapons might be used any day. This thesis traces, and offers interpretations of, changes in Brecht's Leben des Galilei from its inception in 1938-1939 -- when the protagonist, a scientist, is portrayed in a positive light -- through the play's American version in 1947, where it bitterly accuses science and scientists of having betrayed society and humanity, and finally to its last version in 1955, where the protagonist struggles to prevent the normalization--the familiarization--of the threat of nuclear warfare. Next to the writing of the Leben des Galilei, the thesis also focuses on the main critical readings of the play. A large fraction of the critical readings, but not all of them, interpret the play either as a judgment of science or as an invitation to pass judgment on science. The thesis compares Leben des Galilei with three different groups of other texts. The first comparison is with two other plays that also address the problem of science in the age of nuclear weapons, and the second comparison is with other work of Brecht himself. The first comparison leads to the observation that the muted note of optimism in the final version of Leben des Galilei is exceptional, and the second comparison to the apparently unrelated observation that it was uncharacteristic of Brecht to make explicit a certain literary allusion in Leben des Galilei. The two observations converge to a possible common explanation from a comparison with a still third group of texts, a cycle of Native American myths which appear in the oral traditions of various Native American tribes spread throughout the New World. Finally, the thesis addresses the question of why a modern-day literary text, addressing the essentially modern problem of nuclear warfare, and addressing that problem using the essentially modern techniques of Brechtian theatre, might have structures parallel to the structures of primitive mythology.

The study of song cycles poses difficulties for both analysts and performers. These challenges stem largely from two qualities intrinsic to the genre: (1) the inclusion of two semiotic systems, language and music, and (2) the use of multi-movement structures. Several scholars have addressed these issues; however, a model built on a balanced consideration of both text-based/dramatic events and purely musical elements, has yet to be offered. This study proposes such a model with separate applications for both performers and analysts. Focusing on the identification of features connecting song cycles in their entirety, deep voice-leading associations and movements in key paths are examined in the application for analysts, whereas the performers’ application concentrates on recognizing underlying “atmospheres” and forms of acceleration. Each application is applied to Schumann’s Frauenliebe und –leben and Dichterliebe song cycles, demonstrating the benefits of employing this model in the development of both performative and analytical interpretations.

The study of song cycles poses difficulties for both analysts and performers. These challenges stem largely from two qualities intrinsic to the genre: (1) the inclusion of two semiotic systems, language and music, and (2) the use of multi-movement structures. Several scholars have addressed these issues; however, a model built on a balanced consideration of both text-based/dramatic events and purely musical elements, has yet to be offered. This study proposes such a model with separate applications for both performers and analysts. Focusing on the identification of features connecting song cycles in their entirety, deep voice-leading associations and movements in key paths are examined in the application for analysts, whereas the performers’ application concentrates on recognizing underlying “atmospheres” and forms of acceleration. Each application is applied to Schumann’s Frauenliebe und –leben and Dichterliebe song cycles, demonstrating the benefits of employing this model in the development of both performative and analytical interpretations.

Zugl.: Fulda, Theol. Fak., Diss., 2009