The Organ Works of Petr Eben (1929-2007): A Hermeneutical Approach

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Czech composer Petr Eben (1929-2007) was a devoted Catholic who found oneof his greatest sources of inspiration in his faith. Eben admitted in many interviewsthat his religious belief played an important role in his artistic endeavours, and thathis compositions were for him a sort of 'message to the people (as quoted inAnderson 1996: 50).In this study, three major works by Petr Eben are analysed, selected as examples ofmusic conveying religious and spiritual meaning outside of a formal religious context.This research explores how Eben's belief shaped most aspects of his creativity, fromthe selection and development of compositional techniques to the simple gravitationtowards distinct religious themes. It further investigates how religious meaning iscoded in his music, and how it is conveyed to the listener. I examine how Ebencomposed using elements drawn from Catholic and other Christian religioustraditions, evoking a sense of the sacred through sound. These musical elements,while not universal in the strict sense, are broad enough to allow the crossing overdenominational lines, creating a larger sense of religion or belief. The texts used asintroduction or illustration to his works, the titles of the movements within works andrepresentative vocabulary sometimes imply specific theological perspectives, whosecombination then allows for broader interpretations of the music.The three works, Faust (1979-80), Job (1987) and The Labyrinth of the World andthe Paradise of the Heart (2003) will be approached in context of Eben's musicalbackground and biographical as well as socio-political context: the time spent as achild in the concentration camp of Buchenwald, his country's religious oppressionunder the Socialist government and its latter dismantlement through the VelvetRevolution of 1989. It will explore the concept of freedom versus oppression, or inEben's own words 'Good against Evil as an overarching theme throughout hisoeuvre, constituting a veritable musico-philosophical legacy of his own life.From the various approaches that can be taken in this discourse, a hermeneuticalapproach was chosen as the ideal one. Close attention will be given to the texts onwhich these works are based, the relationship between them and Eben's music, aswell as an identification and analysis of his use of pre-existing musical material andgeneral programmatic elements in these compositions. Attempting to understand themeaning behind his use of musical quotation as well as that encapsulated in his ownmusical language, and the further realisation of a synthesis between these two levelsof musical creation, will contribute towards discovering the composer's artistic goals.All elements will be viewed through different hermeneutical 'windows, with the mainemphasis being on Eben's recurring engagement with the subjects of Good versusEvil, religious contemplation, or the critique of the flaws of Humanity.The findings will be drawn together and confronted with performances of the music inorder to explore the congruence and/or tension between the various levels of theinvestigation. By integrating systematic research and the spontaneous elements ofperformance, a mutually complementary and enriching view of the topic underinvestigation is expected to arise. This discussion will attempt to demonstrate howmeaning is established through the drawing of a relationship between textual andextra-textual elements, as well as between the former and the aspects ofperformance therein implied.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University