For the first time, a musical work has been created by an Italian university: the Juditha Dubitans, with original music by Marco Uvietta and lyrics by Francesco Ghia and Carla Gubert. The work will debut on Wednesday 21 September in the church of San Francesco Saverio in Trento as part of the 36th edition of MusicAntica Festival
The biblical episode of Judith, who heroically saves her own city – Bethulia, at the gates of Jerusalem – from the siege of the enemy – the Assyrian army led by General Holophernes – inspired multiple works of art. In painting, with works by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Gentileschi and Klimt, among others; in literature, with Anglo-Saxon and German poems, a reference in Dante's Comedy, up to nineteenth-century reinterpretations; but also, in music, with the oratorios by Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Mozart, Meyerbeer in the nineteenth century, and Honegger in the twentieth century.
Now, for the first time, an oratorio dedicated to this episode has been conceived, composed, created, promoted and produced by an Italian university.
The "Juditha dubitans" of the University of Trento will debut on Wednesday 21 September at 20.30 in the church of San Francesco Saverio in Trento as part of the 36th edition of the MusicAntica Festival.
The idea and music of the oratorio are by Marco Uvietta, professor of Musicology and music history at UniTrento and composer. The authors of the libretto are Francesco Ghia, professor of Moral Philosophy, and Carla Gubert, professor of Contemporary Italian Literature.
Uvietta's work focuses on the figure of Judith, her doubts and her mysterious and enigmatic relationship with Holofernes. The oratorio is the result of a multidisciplinary work that involved the Department of Humanities and the Center of Advanced Studies in the Humanities - CeASUm of the University, with the collaboration of Italian and international experts.
Professor Uvietta created a hesitant Judith (dubitans) who first lost all hope ("Elohim, why have you abandoned us"), then led her people to fight, and finally, tormented by doubt, asked Holofernes three questions to understand who he is: a man to be seduced, to be killed or to be seduced and killed? The dialogue between Judith and Holofernes, interspersed by the Gregorian chant "Adonai, domine Deus [...] qui dedisti salutem in manu feminae", is the heart of the oratorio. The setting is in line with the Bible's description, but the fragility and ambiguity of the characters are typical of the twentieth century.
The debut of the "Juditha dubitans" was introduced last autumn by five seminars entitled "Gli enigmi di Giuditta. Sguardi multidisciplinari su un archetipo culturale". The seminars proposed a reflection on the Book of Judith, the philosophical interpretation of some of its main motives, the analysis of significant and paradigmatic moments of Judith's interpretation in the history of art and literature, the explanation of some fundamental steps of the re-interpretation of the figure of Judith in drama and music.
The performance of the oratorio involves professional musicians and singers, but also the Polyphonic Choir of the University, established in 2016 to involve the entire University community in a musical project.
"Juditha dubitans. Oratorio in tre quadri", is produced by the University of Trento in collaboration with Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara. The initiative has been co-funded by MIUR through CeAsum, the Center of Advanced Studies in the Humanities of the Humanities Department of UniTrento.
Access is open to all and free of charge. The attendees will receive a booklet published by the Department of Humanities containing the libretto of the work and a series of essays that analyze the theme of Judith and Holofernes from various perspectives.
For more information visit www.centrosantachiara.it or call the toll-free number 800013952.