Graduate students Sonja Wermager and Callum Blackmore have both published chapters in the recent volume Sacred and Secular Intersections in Music of the Long Nineteenth Century: Church, Stage, and Concert Hall. This collection, edited by Markus Rathey and Eftychia Papanikolaou, is published by Lexington Books and explores interconnections of the sacred and the secular in music and aesthetic debates of the long nineteenth century.
Sonja Wermager's chapter reassesses Robert Schumann's motivations for composing a Mass and Requiem, drawing attention to the multiple ways in which Schumann invested in and sought to contribute to the German sacred music tradition. Callum Blackmore’s chapter, meanwhile, examines the reception history of convent-themed opéras-comiques during the French Revolution, suggesting that these works opened up new debates around genre and representation in Revolutionary theater, revealing a degree of opposition to portraying clerical figures on the operatic stage.
Upon publication, Sacred and Secular Intersections in Music of the Long Nineteenth Century was the No. 1 best-selling new release in Christian religious and sacred music on Amazon!
