The ancient Greek myth of Prometheus, the primordial Titan who
defied the Olympian gods by stealing fire from the heavens as a
gift for humanity, enjoyed unprecedented popularity during the
Romantic era. An international coterie of writers such as Goethe,
Monti, Byron, the Shelleys, Sainte-Helene, Coleridge, Browning, and
Bridges engaged with the legend, while composers such as Beethoven,
Reichardt, Schubert, Wolf, Liszt, Halevy, Saint-SaA"ns, Holmes,
Faure, Parry, Goldmark, and Bargiel based works of diverse genres
on the fable. Romantic authors and composers developed a unique
perspective on the myth, emphasizing its themes of rebellion,
punishment for transgression and creative autonomy, in great
contrast to artists of the preceding era, who more
characteristically ignored the tribulations of Prometheus and
depicted him as the animator of a naA-ve, Arcadian mankind who,
when awakened from their spiritual dormancy, expressed astonishment
at the wonders of nature and paid homage to the Titan as a new god.
Paul Bertagnolli charts the progress of the myth during the
nineteenth century, as it articulates an extraordinary variety of
issues pertaining to culture, society, aesthetics, and philosophy.
Drawing on archival research, dance history, sketch studies,
literary theory, linear analysis, topos theory, and reception
history, individual chapters demonstrate that the legend served as
a vehicle to express opinions on subjects as diverse as
aristocratic patronage, movements of the body on the public stage,
rebellion against political and religious authority, outright
atheism, humanitarianism of the German Enlightenment, interest in
the music of Greek antiquity, industrialization, nationalism
inflamed by war, populism, and the aesthetics of musical form.
Composers often resorted to varied and unorthodox musical
techniques in order to reflect such remarkable subjects: Beethoven
outraged critics by implying a key other than the tonic at the
outset of the overture to
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