Course Description
The forms, relationships, and aesthetics of music and literature, with special emphasis on the relevance of the works analysed to contemporary social and ethical concerns.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional reading, research, and writing assignments.
Athena Title
Literature and Music
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
- to introduce students to the central issues in the study of literature and its relation to music, with special emphasis on the relevance of the works under discussion to contemporary social and ethical concerns; - to study a series of literary works with important ties to music; - to enhance students' critical skills through the analysis of individual works of literature; - and to develop students' communication skills through oral presentations and expository writing assignments. Students' performances will be assessed through presentations, papers, tests, and a final examination.
Topical Outline
The focus of the course varies with the individual instructor, with common topics including opera as literature; literary representations of music; the music of poetry; literary and musical metrics; timbre, tone and voice; and ethnomusicology and the function of the word in traditional music. The following is a sample syllabus of the works considered in a single semester: Opera as Literature Monteverdi. Orfeo Mozart. The Marriage of Figaro Rossini. The Barber of Seville Verdi. Otello Wagner. Tristan and Isolde Puccini. Madame Butterfly Prokofiev. War and Peace Britten. Billy Budd Wilson. Einstein on the Beach