Music 443 - Repertoire & Analysis

Romantic composers loved to escape from the realities of everyday life into the perilous virtual worlds they created in their music. How can we explore these worlds and understand the technical means with which they were created? How can we interpret the splendid sound of music by using words whose discursive strength seems to endanger music's ephemeral nature? Through close reading of nineteenth-century music by Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, we will explore the possibilities of musical expression and meaning, searching for parallels between poetic and musical interpretation. Works will be considered from a number of different analytical perspectives including methods current in the nineteenth century and those developed more recently. Writing assignments will combine technical analysis with poetic interpretation.

Two class meetings and two ear-training sections per week. Fulfills the departmental seminar requirement for the major.

Requisite: MUSI 242, 243, or 244. Spring semester. Professor Móricz.