The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Music
The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music Details
From Library Journal Wright (history of music, Yale Univ.; Listening to Music) traces the fascinating history of the maze and its associated symbol, the warrior, from the classical myth of Daedelus and Theseus through early Christianity, the Middle Ages, and the Enlightenment. He briefly acknowledges the recent growth in interest in the maze as a spiritual tool but dedicates the bulk of the book to the changing face of European Christianity as reflected in the use of the labyrinth, both as a symbol and as an actual part of Easter rituals in the great French and Italian cathedrals. He displays mastery of a broad array of facts in disparate fields and ties them together in an accessible and engaging story. The one area of the book that may require some specialized background from the reader is his treatment of the maze in music, but any educated reader wanting a deep background in the history and symbolism of the labyrinth will be well served by this book. Recommended for academic libraries and larger public libraries. Stephen Joseph, Butler Cty. Community Coll., PA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more Review This book is a fascinating look at a subject that, while simple in concept, is intricate in the tapestry of ideas it combines. Wright weaves a fascinating tale of scholarly inquiry by examining the maze or labyrinth from the Middle Ages to the present in Western art, architecture, music, dance, and religious thought. The journey of the maze is from sin to salvation; the savior figure that leads us is the warrior and spiritual seeker...His particular emphasis on music is refreshing and enlivens readers' understanding of the whole sensory experience of the Christian church. Most important, this work is a joy to read and reflect on. (L. L. Lam-Easton Choice 2002-02-01)"Wright's maze is the labyrinth. His warrior is Theseus, Christ, the Cristian soldier, l'homme armé, the pilgrim, or the lover, who enters the labyrinth to meet a challenge at its center and continues through the unicursal path to a victorious exit. In direct and engaging prose, this book traces the two symbols from their first appearance in literature and architecture, through their interpretations in theology, to the ceremonies, games , and performances they inspired … It is a work of major consequence … Wright's book invites no less than a new appraisal of the history and historiography of Western music, one more cognizant of myth, belief, and symbol as generative forces in human creativity." (Barbara Haggh Journal of the American Musicological Society)The Maze and the Warrior is quite a book. The author wears his great learning with great lightness...He has fashioned this book for general readers rather than musicologists and musicians. (Joseph Kerman New York Review of Books 2004-06-24)The book is a fascinating exploration of a neglected aspect of medieval religious culture which opens up multiple aspects of that culture through the author's virtuoso power to unfold layer after layer of meaning from what might originally seem an innocuous symbol. (Peter W. Williams Religious Studies Review) Read more Review Wright supplies deep grounding for today's renewed interest in mazes. His cumulative description of the playful/serious historical mind fascinated by mazes, whether in poetry, gardens, churches, or music, contains some delightful surprises. (Margaret Miles, Graduate Theological Union) Read more About the Author Craig Wright is Professor of the History of Music, Yale University. Read more Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/WRIMAX_excerpt.pdf Read more
Reviews
I came to this book via a reference in another book on music indicating that Wright deals with “the Armed Man” theme in late Medieval and Renaissance Music, and while the author deals with that theme in chapter 7, providing interesting interpretation and context, there is so much more here that makes this a wide-ranging, deep and satisfying read.This book is a fascinating journey through architecture, theology and mythology, spirituality and music, showing how the myths surrounding labyrinths – beginning with the ancient legend of “Theseus and the Minotaur” and the legendary labyrinth on Crete – were reinterpreted over the centuries, eventually becoming a template for Christian spirituality in the Middle Ages and on into the Renaissance, the Reformation and beyond. The book concludes with a chapter dealing with Bach, Handel, Mozart and other composers and how they wove ‘labyrinthine’ themes into their music.The warrior spoken of in the title is originally a mythic warrior; Theseus. The author traces the transformation of this character into a Spiritual Warrior; the Christian armed against the Devil and the wiles of the world, for whom the battle is with the self and for whom the labyrinth is a model of the Way to be travelled, the Protestant version of which is the Pilgrim seeking God in the Heart. Both are seeking salvation and a way through the world into eternal life. Their ‘battle’ is more with the self than with external physical ‘enemies.’The book begins with a description of the architecture of cathedrals, which prepares the reader for descriptions of how labyrinths were installed in those structures in the high Middle Ages. The book ends with a description of how the symbolic meaning of the labyrinth was lost in the 19th century, owing to a growing secular worldview, and then how the labyrinth was experiencing a symbolic revival at the end of the 20th century.There is so much to explore and reflect upon in this book, that I have now read it twice since I purchased it. It is a complex, multi-disciplinary text that shows relationships between architecture, theology (and mythology) and music that the reader may not have considered before. A really good read!