Catholicism as Musical Discourse: The Reconversion of Women through Seventeenth-Century French Sacred Songs [Hardcover]

Catholicism as Musical Discoursereveals the important role that French-language sacred songs, written primarily for women, played in the evolution of the Catholic Reform over the long seventeenth century. By singing sacred songs--calledcantiques, spiritual or devotional airs--reformers believed that principles of Catholicism would be easier to learn, remember, and affect women's behavior. This book shows that various interpretations of Catholicism were not only transformed over time but also how and why. Most importantly, it demonstrates that sacred songs became a part of the Catholic Church's effort to mediate and shape the role of women in French society.Catholicism as Musical Discoursereveals the important role that French-language sacred songs, written primarily for women, played in the evolution of the Catholic Reform over the long seventeenth century. Thought to be one of the best ways to facilitate a deeper spiritual experience and alter behavior, sacred songs became a part of the Catholic Church's effort to mediate and shape the role of women in French society. Whether contrafacta of secular songs or newly composed texts and music, sacred songs (cantiques,airs spirituel, orairs de d?votion) were non-liturgical and written primarily by clergymen. The songs gave voice to various, even contradictory, interpretations of Catholicism. Some texts were educational, some expressed a female religiosity focusing on love for Jesus and God, and some communicated Jansenist notions regarding sin and penitence. The intended public--women--determined the repertory's discursive properties: the messages communicated, language used, prescribed function(s), and musical features.Through an analysis of the musical repertory over time,Catholicism as Musical Discoursedemonstrates how transformations within the church were linked to religious, political, and social and cultural trends, including the wars of religion, the ls5