Themes of Christian Spirituality, New Plastic Forms, and the Perception of Visual Formulas in Twentieth-Century French Musical and Theatrical Works

For the first time, the author of this article considered a set of themes related to Christian spirituality in the works by P. Claudel, A. Honegger and O. Messiaen which were created for the XXth century French synthetic theater and offered a new reading into the holiness and Christian behavior. New plastic forms of stage movement and dance, which depicted modern ways of organizing stage space, have been defined as an integral part of French works for musical theatre. What has also been found is the results of perceiving visual formulas in some of the XIIIth and XVth cenury paintings. Special plastic forms, which are subject to the laws of dance, shaped about a concept of "dancing form" in the XXth century French musical and theatrical works. In synthetic musical and theatrical works, a game of form, proportions, light and color was designed. Some XXth century French playwrights and musicians perceiving visual formulas in the XIIIth and XVth century paintings led to expanding the range of interacting elements pertaining to various arts in several musical and theatrical works. Those by P. Claudel, A. Honegger and O. Messiaen play a significant role on the stage and reveal both a “considerate attitude towards the past” and “mediation with modern life”, as H. G. Gadamer said.

Christianity, spirituality, plasticity, dance, Giotto, Cimabue, Fra Angelico, opera, mystery play, the saints