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Music and Meaning
The following two seminars, taught by two members of the Music department, combine the study of music with the experience of music--both the listening and the making. Living together in Longsdorff Hall, students in these seminars will have the opportunity to explore multiple aspects of music in a liberal arts context, both in and out of the classroom.
Assisting the faculty to support these programs is a Learning Community Coordinator who also lives in Longsdorff Hall: Elise Newhouse, '13, a Music Major.
Engaging Cultural Ideas via Twentieth-Century Music
Over time, philosophers and audiences alike have described music as an “abstract” and “universal” art-form, denying the medium its roots in social, historical, and intellectual movements. And yet, throughout history music has meaningfully engaged with current events, philosophical ideas, and artistic currents to express the attitudes and ideas of a generation. This seminar seeks to challenge such assumptions by placing specific twentieth-century musical masterpieces in their creative, political, and cultural context, thus allowing students to understand how recent composers have encoded their pieces with social and humanistic meaning. Students will explore the historical and cultural contexts of twentieth-century classical music through myriad interpretive lenses, including historical and interpretive writings, compositional manifestos, critical listening exercises, concert reviews, and first-hand interactions with guest performers. The class culminates in a formal concert, in which students will contextualize and perform a variety of post-1950s compositions written for performers and non-performers alike.
Professor: Amy Wlodarski, Music
Time: 11:30 MF
Musical Performance as a Liberal Art
The composer Aaron Copland once described musical performance as collaboration between a “creative mind” (the composer), and “interpretive mind” (the performer), and a “gifted listener.” His description situates musical performance at the center of an interpretive exchange, in which composers translate their ideas into musical notation, performers prepare and execute these ideas based on their reading of the score, and listeners appreciate and critique the concert experience. This seminar explores select genres and composers of twentieth-century classical music – including chamber music, opera, and avant-garde performance art – from the vantage point of all three figures, providing students with an experience of music as an integrative, liberal art. Students will engage with diverse materials, such as musical scores, performance treatises, recordings, critical listening exercises, and guest performances. The class culminates in a formal concert, in which students will realize a variety of post-1950s compositions written for performers and non-performers alike.
Professor: Jennifer Blyth, Music
Time: 11:30 MWF