Music 690L - Music and Language

This course engages the centuries-old debate about music?s ability to communicate, and investigates the types of evidence available to this discourse. We will look into the various ways scholars have argued for and against music?s connection to language, ranging from the philosophical to the neurological. We begin with a historical review of the topic, considering the viewpoints of philosophers such as Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Hegel as well as composers such as Wagner and Bernstein, focusing on the sorts of evidence they use to make their arguments. The course will then take a decidedly empirical turn: we will study how contemporary linguists and music theorists tackle this issue with varying types of evidence, including the neurological, philosophical, psychological, and computational.

This course is open to Music Graduate students in any concentration. Undergraduate Music Majors must submit a departmental Course Override Form with instructor permission to request enrollment.