Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 5 Number 1, April 2004
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Jung-Kaiser, Ute. Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora nostra matre terra: Zur Ästhetik und Spiritualität des “Sonnengesangs” in Musik, Kunst, Religion, Naturwissenschaft, Literatur, Film und Fotografie. Bern, Peter Lang, 2002. 430p, ISBN 3-906770-38-9, Euro 72,40.
Reviewed by
Millsaps College, USA
This book offers a superb anthology of articles from various disciplines inspired by the text from which the book’s title was lifted; The Canticle of Brother Sun written by St. Francis of Assisi in 1225. The source for this collection comes from a symposium held at the University for Music and Art at Frankfurt /M during the summer of 2001 and offers a highly readable account of the deep and broad scope of artistic and scientific interpretations indebted to this medieval spiritual poem originally entitled ‘Canticle of the Creatures’: “Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor and all blessing… All praise be yours, my Lord, through sister earth, our mother.” Noted as the first genuine artistic representation of Italian literature, the verses are praised as “poetry, sung prayer (prayers of praise for the stars and the elements, humans, animals and plants) and visionary dream of the (now lost) paradisiacal oneness of creation” (my translation 24). The ten verses of panentheistic qualities form a solid basis for a multitude of interpretations (complete with helpful footnotes and references) in twenty chapters covering theological/literary interpretations, astrophysical signs of the sun, popular culture, film, music, visual art and political/social commentary. An impressive appendix includes the complete El Càntic del sol by Joan Miró, a Franciscan stamp collection and the program notes from a concert featuring music inspired by the Canticle. Modern painting and music in the German domain dominate the crux of the book.
The introductory remarks to the text quickly move beyond the legendary traits of the saint who popularized Assisi; the ability to communicate with animals, the emphasis on strict poverty and humility and as bearer of the stigmata. However a chapter on St. Francis and popular culture reminds us that many of the medieval mystics and saints remain dear to us because they did not shy away from questioning the Church and that St. Francis in this regard, is clearly a case in point. It remains unclear to me why St. Francis is not specifically named in the title of the book, although the book’s specialized interest in his one canticle is probably most geared toward those who immediately recognize the source of the title.
An overview of the true origin and semantics of the canticle is followed by an essay celebrating the sun from an astrophysical perspective. To the novice, this paper delves into mathematical diagrams and signs too involved for the average reader, but it nevertheless provides a fascinating read and contributes significantly to the scope of this collection of essays and articles. One of the most inclusive and timely chapters which stood out from the section on scientific essays is the recognition that certain nature scientists, fairy tale characters and saints are blessed with the ability to be sensitive to animals’ needs. As a subcategory in the chapter ‘The Canticle of St. Francis and Popular Culture’, the author leads us into the all-inclusive world of St. Francis by beginning with mention of the film ‘the Horse Whisperer’. Instead of looking for divisive characteristics about an ill saint who communicated with creatures, this chapter recognizes that there must be a role for the sensitive and intuitive nature even more so today to complement the stronghold technology and hard science have set in our society.
Popular culture includes also all anyone has ever needed to know about St. Francis in film, and Reinhold Zwick reveals that Francis is the third most popular subject of film hagiographies after Jesus and Joan of Arc. Not surprisingly, a number of the films discussed are Italian and never made it out of the country. To his credit, the author notes in his title that the focus is on the aesthetic and theological aspects of these films, and so the chapter offers little in the way of traditional filmic analysis. This chapter includes a useful Filmography.
About 100 pages of the book are devoted to the musical influences of the canticle. This is further categorized into musicals and songs (including Paul Winter and numerous Italian composers) and then the more traditional classic composers such as Liszt , Messiaen, Schubert to whom each a chapter is devoted. These latter chapters offer extensive analytical commentary on libretto and music complete with notational excerpts. While the chapters on film relied heavily on theological concentration, the interpretation of Messiaen’s ‘Sonnengesang’ in his opera Saint François d’Assise, for example, offers a very thorough presentation of this standard classic including an interpretation of the medieval sources. Schubert’s ode to the canticle is celebrated for the use of the pure key of C and the decrescendos at the beginning and ending of the piece Die Allmacht, reminiscent of the rising and setting of sister sun. This book has so much to offer it feels pedantic to call attention to the fact that especially in regards to Messiaen, more consistent cross references would be useful.
The color plates found in this book (there are 17 pages of them including the complete El Càntic del Sol ) are a beautiful addition and attest to the quality of information found in this volume. A significant contribution to this volume is from the contemporary artist Rune Mields, whose series of paintings Cantico del sole are reprinted and commentated on by the artist herself. It is the simplicity of the canticle that most strikes Miele, and Francis’s ‘equanimity of all God’s creatures’ so necessary to be embraced by our society today. 700 years have passed since St. Francis wandered the earth, and today we have available to us significant scientific facts and procedures to ‘know’ the world in which we live. And yet, so many mysteries still surround us. The musicians and artists featured in this book are keenly aware of society’s loss of reverence and awe for the world in which we live.
The volume concludes with a chapter by Johannes Freyer entitled Ökologisiche, bioethische und sozialkritische Fragen. Zur Wertediskrepanz zeitgenössischer und franziskanischer Ideleale to reflect on Francis’ ideals of the pure simple life and how this is something for which many people today strive. Every scope of life (much like the contributions to this book) must confront the complexity of a society plagued by the realities of modern life (environmental pollution, social inequalities, globalization, political unrest, disease and hunger among so many others). An insightful contribution compares the spiritual, physical and existential nakedness or poverty found in WW2 Germany as described in the well-known German poem by Günther Eich, Inventur, along with writings by Germans Reinhold Schneider and Nelly Sachs to the ‘being and having nothing’ of St. Francis.
Francis familiarized death as our ‘sister death’ at whose coming we are ushered into the next stage of our journey. This collection of essays challenges the reader to go beyond the nostalgic longing of the past to accept and continue learning to grasp St. Francis’s vision of natural reality in which even while maintaining a hierarchy, we identify with the brothers and sister of nature around us. Several authors bemoan that while capable of glorifying the natural beauty around us, our society is unwilling to accept the virtue of the one most cherished aspect of the teaching of St. Francis, that of humility (demut). This book attests to the universal call to live the cherished line that closes the Canticle of Brother Sun: “Glory and praise to God, and thank and serve Him with great humility."