Garden and music theatre at the Dresden court in the 17th and 18th century: Medial and functional interrelations in the service of stately metaphor and princely representation

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Matthias Müller; Professor Dr. Klaus Pietschmann
• Subject Area: Musicology ; Art History
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 460857984

Garden art and music theatre productions were integral elements of courtly representation in the early modern period and were intertwined in many ways: Gardens were used as settings for performances, for which theatres were built or which integrated the gardens into productions. Conversely, gardens based on real as well as ideal models have been part of the permanent arsenal of musical theatre stage decorations since the 17th century.The research project aims to examine the different ways in which court gardens were functionalised for music theatre and how they were represented in visual media. Furthermore, for the first time, their reception as core elements of stately metaphors and princely representation will be studied from a transdisciplinary perspective, linking expertise in musicology, music theatre studies and art history. This is based on a comparative analysis of libretti, scores, descriptions, paintings, prints, sketches and archival resources which document, imagine and propagate the characteristics of this intermedial constellation between garden art, music theatre and visual arts.The focus of the research project lies on the Dresden court, which can be considered an exemplary object of investigation. The various forms of artistic garden design and music-theatrical uses of the gardens as well as the music theatre productions themselves followed the highest international standards and were communicated through various media. Because Dresden competed with other courts in this way, the project takes on a pan-European perspective. Thanks to various preparatory studies on the Dresden court gardens and the opera repertoire as well as on the good source situation regarding librettos, scores, visual media and archival materials, the conditions for such a comparative diachronic case study are favourable. An authority data-based approach to scene descriptions in the opera libretti will make it possible to classify the garden and nature scenes in their overall context as well as their references to real gardens and those documented in visual media.The research project is divided into two thematic areas: "The Garden as a Site of Music Theatre Staging" and "The Garden on the Music Theatre Stage". Both will be covered by a musicological and art historical dissertation project each as well as a music theatre studies monograph in close cooperation. Three accompanying workshops, which will take place in Dresden, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe and Schwetzingen, will present the possibility to enlarge upon the topics, discuss methods and to provide a comparative perspective on the project. At the same time, the potential with regard to further transfers in a possible follow-up project will be explored.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants