Stendhal Syndrome
Stendhal Syndrome
History
Throughout Europe in the mid-18th century there were numerous publications of inspiring works by novelist and writers from every country. One of those Authors was Goethe, later known through his writing as Stendhal, earned his spurs in Napoleon’s entourage (Not Napoleon Dynamite from Jared Hess’ 2004 arthouse film. I’m talking about Napoleon Bonaparte who failed miserably in his saga of campaigns to invade Russia just to freeze his toes off and starve. WHOOPS!) Stendhal liked to pepper his French with anglicisms, or phrases that are peculiar to British, one of those phrases being the word ‘tourist’ in French.
In one of his visits to Italy in 1817, Stendhal described an experience that brought the literary swoon into tourism. While visiting the Basilica of Santa Croce, he pulled up to a monk who was totally cool with him sitting on a genuflecting stool which is like a regular stool but.. low.. so he could tilt his head back and take in the prospect of volterrano’s fresco of the Sibyls without interruption. He said the pleasure was keen. He was in “ecstasy” and “...he had reached that point of emotion where the heavenly sensation of the fine arts meet passionate feeling”. He had palpitations, the life went out of him as he had sensations comparable to astral project.
Cultural impact and putting it into perspective:
Sometime during the 18th century, around the time of the French Revolution there was a manifestation of Romanticism in Art and literature in Western Europe. Readers had swooned when they encountered the ‘true voice of feeling’ in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel La Nouvelle Helouise (el-o-eeze) formally known as Julie, or the New Heloise, explored autonomy and authenticity as moral values. The novel was well-received across Western Europe as historian Robert Darnton argued that Julie “was perhaps the biggest best-seller of the century”. Publishers could not print copies fast enough so they rented the book out by the day and even by the hour.
Examples in modern media:
When I first experienced watching Star Wars empire strikes back for the first time, my first read of author Paulo Coelho’s allegorical novel O Alquimista, both works being profoundly influential to my life philosophies with their respective motifs; both being “a hero’s journey to self-discovery and identity”
What piece of art effects you most?
Before getting into the example let’s get some Paul Lore:
I played the French horn from middle school all throughout college and I wasn’t all too bad at it. I was at the height of my career in music and just came back from touring across the country which had a monumental impact on my admiration for music and performance. By my first year of college, I was performing in the high wind ensemble on my campus when we were invited to play for an international music festival held in LA at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. For the concert, one of the songs in our repertoire was from the 19th century composer Richard Wagner. It was the 75th piece from his infamous opera “Lohengrin”. The story follows the people of the Duchy of Brabant who are divide by quarrels and political infighting. They were left under rule from the region’s pagan past and sought to subvert the prevailing monotheistic government in order to return the Duchy to pagan rule. A mysterious knight, sent by God and possessing superhuman charisma and fighting ability, arrives to unite and strengthen the people, as well as hook up with some guys, gals, and nonbinary pals bAbeyyy. This nameless knight felt a sense of duty to defend the innocent noble woman, Elsa, from the court’s guardian Telramund false accusation of murder, but the knight imposes a condition: The people must follow him without knowing his identity. The piece we performed was from Lohengrin’s second Act during the opening of scene 4 when Elsa begins her procession to the cathedral. The Duke of the land’s guardian, known as Count Friedrich von Telramund, accuses Elsa of murdering her brother to become the duchess! So the duke is not having this type of slander and banishes Telramund and his lady, Ortrud, from the court where they solemnly listen to the party-music booming from the church because Elsa’s about to hook up with the aforementioned “mysterious, nameless knight”. Telramund then conspires against the knight by making yet ANOTHER slanderous claim by accusing him of sorcery, which is kind of obvious since this knight is comparable to a medieval Doctor Strange, yet everyone else seemed to be totally cool with that. During the beginning of the procession, the orchestra (in my case the wind ensemble) begins with a delicate flute solo that establishes a motif of innocence. The song then builds in intensity as new instruments are introduced as they respectively play a descending cadence representing Elsa and her newly accepted fate as the duchess and wife of the mysterious Nameless-German-God-Doctor-Strange-knight. The composition then builds in tension as the lower brass section supports the majestic trumpet entrance signaling the knights entrance. As the ensemble embellish on every chord progression we listen to the development of the procession as tension rises in both the scene of the opera and the overlaying of instruments and musical motifs that Wagner introduced into the composition. As the song anticipates a final resolve leading up to a key signature change, the orchestration and instrumentation begins to dilute in tension and highlight characters within the ensemble (compositionally alluding to what, and who, is lurking in the crowd which is Telramund and Ortrud (his wife I guess? And they be looking PISSED!). By this point, they’re ready to pull up on Elsa and say “HEY! Your man didn’t even reveal his name! Show..me.. the caRFAX! So our previous duel and defeat in combat by this “knight” is invalid! And! You’re a fucking sorcery bruv!” But the knight refused to reveal his identity and everyone is absolutely FLOORED at this point. Telramund and Ortrud then fall back into the crowd with Elsa and try to intimidate her and this is when the music is at its peak intensity. The lower brass section have an ascending passage that fortifies Elsa’s bravado by now contrasting the descending lines and motifs that were introduced into the piece in the beginning. This is where the French horn section begins to soar over the ensemble with a mountainous force. Wagner masterfully wrote the horn parts to completely shift the tone and pacing of the piece by having us raise the tension with ascending lines. A nuanced procession towards tension and resolve. A constant push into dissonance w/brief moments of resolve as we navigate the anxieties Elsa's faces during the confrontation with Teramund & Ortrud At this point a familiar wave of passion begins to flow through every breathe I take to play my part in Elsa's procession. The feeling was sensational. The climax of the piece was coming soon & l can feel the hair in my beard start to prickle in ecstasy as the piece developed. And as I looked up to the conductor to be sure I was still in tempo and following the direction of flow he wanted for the piece, I realized where l was. I was sitting on-stage with some of the best musicians l've come to know in the Walt Disney fucking concert hall. That realization, in itself, was exhilarating. Almost intoxicating. And without shipping a beat, l feel my body trembling not just from the copious amounts of wir l was exhorting out of my tiny body, not because I was sitting directly in front of the largest tuba player l've ever had the honor of tubing out with the night prior to our performance, but because there was a surprise guest that was added into our ensemble. Nested in the back of the all-wood concert hall lives a 6,125 pipe german engineered concert organ with pipes towering up and over us about 32-ft. high. If the mesmerizing design and aesthetics of the organ didn't evoke terrifying wander & amazement then the monstrous tones that came out f the organ during the climax of Elsa's procession definitely did. The sensation of being fully immersed in music and engulfed by this organ felt like I was being shifted outside of my body and invited into Valhalla. It was astonishing how powerful I felt in that
Citations
Amâncio EJ. Dostoevsky and Stendhal’s Syndrome. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2005; 63(4): 1099–1103.
Magherini G. La Sindrome di Stendhal. Firenze, Ponte Alle Grazie, 1989 [in Italian].
Barnas M. Confrontations: an interview with Florentine psychiatrist Graziella Magherini. http://www.metropolism.com/magazine/2008- no4/confrontaties/english (accessed 12 Nov 2010).
Bar-el Y, Durst R, Katz G, et al. Jerusalem syndrome. Br J Psychiatry 2000; 176: 86–90.
Inturrisi L. Going to pieces over masterpieces. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/06/travel/going-to- pieces-over-masterpieces.html (accessed 12 Nov 20
