To get the group going I am attaching two of my articles on medieval percussion. One of them is about the presence of frame drums in the hands of the Elders of the Apocalypse (in English), and the other is about the representations of female square and round frame drum players in Spanish medieval art (in Spanish).
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I am reading your article In Tympano with great interest. Interesting, that for instance St. Augustine and Gregory the Great remark, that the membrane of the tympanon relates to flesh because it is made of animal skin. But presumably they wouldn`t say the same for books (let`s consider their holy contents!) which are made of the same material. And it might not be the question of sound or not sound, which makes the difference, since reading was something which produced sound as well, for at that time silent reading wasn`t common, but reading aloud. Yet the specific sort of sound, the sound without word, this indefinite sound of a drum might cause a serious difference compared with the word which can be controlled by its meaning. Could we maybe draw the line that the word as such obviously was highly appreciated, as "In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God..." and writing a Bible or another liturgical book or books which are comments to God`s word were representing this word and thus sanctify the matter on which it is written? And following that path of citation in a way the word becomes flesh as it is put on that worldly matter, parchment, which is skin of an animal. Still thinking about the tympani... What do they become when played? So it seems to be the context in which they were used which makes them either a worldly, pagan, embodying thing, connected with women and fertility rites etc. (you are talking about) or an appreciated tool of transportation of holy words. That meets your notion of allegorical exegesis. The line you draw is fascinating. I am meditating about this iridescent connection of the holy action (the Elders with tympani, the praising songs in the psalms) with this deeply earthly, fleshly background which cannot be negated, which still remains as a faint connection no holy man could get rid of.
And, yes, the instrument as Christ stretched on the cross, in connection with the Elders of the Apocalypse, that`s a convincing picture for that time. Within that view everything from the worldly sphere seems to be wiped out, whereas the other way round any faint breeze from the holy side is barred from consideration when women other than Miriam/Mary and her companions are depicted or seen and heard when playing live with dancers around.
Well, thank you for the article. It´s again a lot to think about. I remember my musicology teacher Christian Kaden (who died in 2016) years ago talking about such a shifting of spheres concerning the consideration of instruments in the Middle Ages.
I am reading your article In Tympano with great interest. Interesting, that for instance St. Augustine and Gregory the Great remark, that the membrane of the tympanon relates to flesh because it is made of animal skin. But presumably they wouldn`t say the same for books (let`s consider their holy contents!) which are made of the same material. And it might not be the question of sound or not sound, which makes the difference, since reading was something which produced sound as well, for at that time silent reading wasn`t common, but reading aloud. Yet the specific sort of sound, the sound without word, this indefinite sound of a drum might cause a serious difference compared with the word which can be controlled by its meaning. Could we maybe draw the line that the word as such obviously was highly appreciated, as "In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God..." and writing a Bible or another liturgical book or books which are comments to God`s word were representing this word and thus sanctify the matter on which it is written? And following that path of citation in a way the word becomes flesh as it is put on that worldly matter, parchment, which is skin of an animal. Still thinking about the tympani... What do they become when played? So it seems to be the context in which they were used which makes them either a worldly, pagan, embodying thing, connected with women and fertility rites etc. (you are talking about) or an appreciated tool of transportation of holy words. That meets your notion of allegorical exegesis. The line you draw is fascinating. I am meditating about this iridescent connection of the holy action (the Elders with tympani, the praising songs in the psalms) with this deeply earthly, fleshly background which cannot be negated, which still remains as a faint connection no holy man could get rid of.
Well, thank you for the article. It´s again a lot to think about. I remember my musicology teacher Christian Kaden (who died in 2016) years ago talking about such a shifting of spheres concerning the consideration of instruments in the Middle Ages.
Thanks a lot! Very interesting!
Dear Mirco,
I have written about Greek and Roman frame drums. Here is one article
https://www.academia.edu/11828756/Tympanum_tuum_Cybele_Pagan_Use_an...
The rest you can find in the first two chapters of my dissertation
https://www.academia.edu/7325880/Frame_Drums_in_the_Medieval_Iberia...
Thanks for your intrest
Thank you for sharing the articles. Very interesting!
Thanks a lot! Did you write any essay about frame drums in Greek and Roman contexts?
Thank you for sharing!