Music 690K - Shakespeare and Music

This seminar is an exploration of opera, ballet, symphonic music, song, and incidental and film music inspired by Shakespeare?s dramatic and poetic works. It considers a variety of issues surrounding the music of Shakespeare?s day in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, the musical settings of his writings over the centuries, and the musical works inspired by his plays and sonnets. In addition, it investigates the styles and aesthetic priorities of particular periods and specific composers, the various ways in which words and music have been effectively and meaningfully combined, as well as the different contexts (social, political, religious) within which music was composed, performed, and heard. By examining early printed books and libretti, images and scores, audio and video, students will develop techniques of musical listening and writing about music, will research the details of compositions and their performances, and will reflect on the musical receptions of Shakespeare?s works. This course will encourage students to think critically about numerous musical interpretations, adaptations, and translations of the same stories and the same characters, and to communicate persuasively the shared and different approaches of composers and performers over time.

This course is open to Music Graduate students in any concentration. Undergraduates must have completed MUSIC 301 and request enrollment via Music Course Override Form.