Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees

Chanted polyphony sets a communicative situation including more elements than the simple chant. This article aims to tackle the study of religious polyphonies as well as the analysis of other elements of perception taking part in it. The arrangements of bodies in space, the modulation of light, and...

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Main Authors: Jaume Ayats, Anna Costal, Iris Gayete, Joaquim Rabaseda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Éditions de l'EHESS 2011-02-01
Series:Transposition
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/transposition/139
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author Jaume Ayats
Anna Costal
Iris Gayete
Joaquim Rabaseda
author_facet Jaume Ayats
Anna Costal
Iris Gayete
Joaquim Rabaseda
author_sort Jaume Ayats
collection DOAJ
description Chanted polyphony sets a communicative situation including more elements than the simple chant. This article aims to tackle the study of religious polyphonies as well as the analysis of other elements of perception taking part in it. The arrangements of bodies in space, the modulation of light, and the senses of smell and touch allow us to understand what resources are deployed to achieve an individual experience of the senses and the body, enabling the – even fictitious – feeling of belonging to a social group.It is the beginning of a “rhetoric of the senses” that develops into highly coded ritual frameworks.The studies of the Ceremony of Tenebrae on Holy Wednesday carried out by the brotherhood of Sant’Antone from the town of Calvi, and of the Ceremony of Vespers in the Catalan Pyrenees show us, on the one hand, the sensitive elaboration orientated by the ritual logic and, on the other hand, make us understand the aesthetical and social target of polyphonies, of the “sonorous density” which shapes itself as a mesh of very singular timbres, ornamentations, intensities, voices and individualities.Thus a rhetoric of the senses and corporality unfolds, where chanted polyphony becomes a decisive matter in achieving the target: building the communitas and giving individuals access to a special time.
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spelling doaj-art-3ea0dda9ea03486b81be3462d2b781bf2025-08-20T01:54:45ZengÉditions de l'EHESSTransposition2110-61342011-02-01110.4000/transposition.139Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the PyreneesJaume AyatsAnna CostalIris GayeteJoaquim RabasedaChanted polyphony sets a communicative situation including more elements than the simple chant. This article aims to tackle the study of religious polyphonies as well as the analysis of other elements of perception taking part in it. The arrangements of bodies in space, the modulation of light, and the senses of smell and touch allow us to understand what resources are deployed to achieve an individual experience of the senses and the body, enabling the – even fictitious – feeling of belonging to a social group.It is the beginning of a “rhetoric of the senses” that develops into highly coded ritual frameworks.The studies of the Ceremony of Tenebrae on Holy Wednesday carried out by the brotherhood of Sant’Antone from the town of Calvi, and of the Ceremony of Vespers in the Catalan Pyrenees show us, on the one hand, the sensitive elaboration orientated by the ritual logic and, on the other hand, make us understand the aesthetical and social target of polyphonies, of the “sonorous density” which shapes itself as a mesh of very singular timbres, ornamentations, intensities, voices and individualities.Thus a rhetoric of the senses and corporality unfolds, where chanted polyphony becomes a decisive matter in achieving the target: building the communitas and giving individuals access to a special time.https://journals.openedition.org/transposition/139Catalan PyreneesVespersCalvipolyphonyconfraternalicorporeality and gender
spellingShingle Jaume Ayats
Anna Costal
Iris Gayete
Joaquim Rabaseda
Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
Transposition
Catalan Pyrenees
Vespers
Calvi
polyphony
confraternali
corporeality and gender
title Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
title_full Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
title_fullStr Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
title_full_unstemmed Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
title_short Polyphonies, Bodies and Rhetoric of senses: latin chants in Corsica and the Pyrenees
title_sort polyphonies bodies and rhetoric of senses latin chants in corsica and the pyrenees
topic Catalan Pyrenees
Vespers
Calvi
polyphony
confraternali
corporeality and gender
url https://journals.openedition.org/transposition/139
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AT irisgayete polyphoniesbodiesandrhetoricofsenseslatinchantsincorsicaandthepyrenees
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