Terence as musical innovator
Title | Terence as musical innovator |
Publication Type | Book Chapter |
Year of Publication | 2007 |
Authors | Moore, TJ |
Editor | Kruschwitz, P, Ehlers, W-W, Felgentreu, F |
Ancient Authors | Publius Terentius Afer (PHI 0134) |
Book Title | Terentius Poeta |
Series Title | Zetemata. Heft 127 |
Pagination | 93-109 |
Publisher | Verlag C. H. Beck |
City | München |
ISBN | 9783406559488 |
Abstract | Terence changed meters in a very sophisticated manner in response to the demands of individual theatrical moments. He also kept in mind the play as a whole as he made metrical changes. Two musical patterns run throughout Terence's corpus: a tendency to distinguish pairs of lovers through the alternation of iambic and trochaic meters, and a repeated association between iambic septenarii and love. Within these patterns, each play provides its own variations. To a great extent, those variations respond to Terence's different aims as he wrote different plays. They also suggest a development of Terence's musical technique as his career progressed. Terence's first play, Andria, offers many extremely effective individual metrical effects, but relatively few discernable patterns that reach throughout the play. As we move through the next plays, more emphatic musical designs appear, until we reach the most significant in Adelphoe. [Timothy J. Moore] |
Site information
© 2007-2012 MOISA: International Society for the Study of Greek and Roman Music and Its Cultural Heritage
Site designed by Geoff Piersol and maintained by Stefan Hagel
All rights reserved.