Research Seminar: “Dante's Musical Journey: from Unholy Racket to Heavenly Polyphony” - Francesco Ciabattoni (Georgetown)

Francesco Ciabattoni is a specialist in medieval Italian literature. He received his Laurea in Lettere from the Università degli Studi di Torino in 1996 and his PhD in Italian Studies from The Johns Hopkins University in 2006. He has also taught at Connecticut College and Dalhousie University. Dr Ciabattoni’s research focus lies on Dante and the middle ages, the twentieth century short story and the interplay of music and literature. He has published articles on Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, a book on the role of music in the Comedy (Dante’s Journey to Polyphony, University of Toronto Press, 2010) and edited volumes on Primo Levi and Italian medieval literature. He has also published poems in Gradiva and a collection of lyrics titled Paradosso terrestre (Rome: Il filo 2008). 

In Dante's Journey to Polyphony, Francesco Ciabattoni's erudite analysis sheds light on Dante's use of music in the Divine Comedy. Following the work's musical evolution, Ciabattoni moves from the cacophony of Inferno through the monophony of Purgatory, to the polyphony ofParadise and argues that Dante's use of sacred songs constitutes a thoroughly planned system. Particular types of music accompany the pilgrim's itinerary and reflect medieval theories regarding sound and the sacred. Combining musicological and philological scholarship, this book analyzes Dante's use of music in conjunction with the form and content of his verse, resulting in a cross-discipline analysis also touching on Italian Studies, Medieval Studies, and Cultural History. After moving from infernal din to heavenly harmony, Ciabattoni's final section addresses the music of the spheres, a theory that enjoyed great diffusion among the early middle ages, inspiring poets and philosophers for centuries.