Jane Huber, a doctoral candidate at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, was a 2008-09 SARTS Student Fellow. She created, Keeping Time: Sung Gospels and Moving Images, a multi-media piece that explores theological and historical time. Read Huber's thoughts on her project and watch the final masterpiece performed on October 5, 2009 in James Chapel at Union.
Jane Huber: "Keeping Time: Sung Gospels and Moving Images is a multi media exploration, through music and visual imagery, of theological and historical concepts of time. Filmed segments of images were shown simultaneously with musical settings of texts from the gospel of Matthew for the season of Pentecost. The Moving Images were conceived and filmed by members of congregations and community members in churches where I worked in East Barnard, VT and Brooklyn, NY.
The Sung Gospels are settings of text to music following the 11th century theoretical practice of Oderanus of Sens. But in writing polyphony, I also chose not to observe that practice at times, learning much from both processes.
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e intent of the presentation was to use the multi media elements of the medieval manuscript (text, music, and illumination) as a model for the creation and performance of both contemporary music based on medieval example and the presentation of filmed images and sequences (corresponding to manuscript illuminations) which 'read' the gospel text. The multi media elements or the project invite conversation about theological concepts of time and the meaning of the gospel narrative in the present. At the same time, the movement back and forth between miracle, parable and chronicle in the gospel narrative of Matthew, like the movement back and forth between monophony, polyphony, filmed images and choreographed movements in Keeping Time encourage a cumulative rereading, an experience of history that comments continuously on the meaning of the gospel event and represent an attempt to facilitate recognition of that meaning in the present.
To watch the film, click here. Sung by Michele Kennedy, Kathryn Mulvihill and Caroline Shaw. Moving Images Edited by Liz Ludden and Filmed by members of the East Barnard Church, East Barnard, VT and Children of the Park Slope United Methodist Church, Brooklyn, NY. Choreography, Jody Oberfelder. Trumpet, Chris Venditti. Violin, Caroline Shaw.