Visual musical riddles as a coherent whole. On the visual aspect of musical riddles and its contribution to a symbolic message.

Abstract

In this thesis I will discuss several visual musical riddles from approximately the 16th century and take a close look at their visual aspects. Is it true, as many music theorists say, that the visual aspect adds no extra value or meaning to a piece at all? Is it just silly amusement? Or do visual aspects add some extra meaning? The main question as this thesis may thus be formulated as follows: What can visual aspects add to visual musical riddles as a coherent whole? To answer this question, I will take a look at visual musical riddles in three distinct categories: those that convey a political message, those that have Christian connotations, and those that explore certain intellectual or philosophical thoughts. I will talk in detail about the anonymous 'Salve Radix', Ulrich Braetel's 'Ecce Quam Bonum', Jacobus Vaet's 'Qui Operatus Est Petro', Adam Gumpelzhaimer's 'Crux Christi - Quatuor Evangelistae', Pieter Maessens' 'Per Signum Crucis' and the canon from the Florentine Chansonnier.