Healing Cecilia. Sacred Music and People with Disabilities in Hospitals of the German- and Italian-Speaking Areas (16th–18th Centuries)
Dr. David Merlin
Medieval and early modern hospitals were multifunctional institutions that cared for people with chronic or temporary disabilities: the sick, the elderly, and those with sensory, physical, or cognitive impairments. Many of these institutions remained active until the 19th or even the 20th century. Despite the increasing medicalization over time, the prevailing belief was that healing came primarily from Christus medicus through frequent religious practices. The hospital residents prayed for themselves and for the benefactors of the hospital, and inside and outside the institution – not only in the church or chapel – an intensive musical practice connected to religious activities took place. In hospitals, the liturgy was celebrated on a daily, weekly, and annual basis (Eucharistic, sacramental, processional, and the Divine Office). Liturgical celebrations were accompanied by monophonic and polyphonic music and often participated the urban community as well. The daily practice of both private and communal prayer was regulated and could include the performance of religious songs in the vernacular.
The research project examines, through case studies from the cisalpine and transalpine regions, the liturgical and paraliturgical musical practices in early modern hospitals (ca. 16th–18th centuries). The focus lies both on the changes brought about by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and on the continuity of an unbroken tradition from the Middle Ages up to the threshold of modernity. All the so-called 'poor sick', including people with disabilities, took part in the religious ceremonies. They participated sometimes actively, sometimes passively, and in some cases even under compulsion, in the religious (musical) life of the hospitals. Investigating these aspects is a central concern of the project. The aim is to develop a nuanced understanding of the intersections between disability, music, and religion in the context of the early modern hospitals. It is based on music sources and prescriptive texts, as well as archival documents. The project is situated in the field of historical musicology and sheds light on a largely unexplored aspect of European music history: the musical tradition of hospitals. Furthermore, it contributes to Disability Studies, since the participation of people with disabilities – who constituted a crucial element of this tradition – has so far received little scholarly attention.
Dr. David Merlin
Researcher Music History
Biography
Publications
+39 06 66049221
david[dot]merlin[at]dhi-roma[dot]it
