Music 443 - Seminar in The Virtual Realities of Romantic Music

Romantic composers loved to escape from the realities of every 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 interpretation.

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

Requisite: MUSI 341. Professor Móricz.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: musical analysis, listening, written work, readings, independent research, oral presentations, group work.