Sacred and profane music in Dante's Purgatorio

Abstract

The essay proposes an interpretation of the soundscape of Dante's Purgatorio, taking into account the penitential and expiatory function of songs and Robert Hollander's valuable lesson on the use of psalms in the Commedia. In the second canticle, which mediates between the divine and the human, cleansing the latter of the dross of evil, music plays an important role in the process of spiritual reparation. Dante evokes music, both sacred and otherwise, throughout the ascent of purgatory. A veritable 'middle ground' even in a musical sense, the holy mountain resounds above all with psalms and hymns sung by penitents, and with marvelous ceremonial melodies, the beatitudes performed by the angels, which underscore the passage from one terrace to another and affirm the pilgrim's spiritual progress. But even in this essentially liturgical setting, two examples stand out for seemingly disturbing or evading the thaumaturgical function of sacred songs: these are the musician Casella's performance of "Amor che nella mente mi ragiona" (Purgatorio, II), the canzone that opens the third book of the Convivio; and the dangerous musical episode of the siren (Purgatorio, XIX). The journey of purification ends in the earthly paradise with a richness of repertoire and styles in the performance of songs, a prelude to the polyphonies of heaven.