This seminar examines several art song traditions, primarily nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century musical settings of texts by German, French, English, and American poets and writers. Despite a broad chronological framework, this course is expressly not intended to function as a survey of the wide-ranging repertories of art song literature. Instead, we will approach the loosely defined musical genre of art from several critical perspectives, including themes of word-music relations, nature, travel, memory, subjectivity, gender, sexuality, politics, performance, and reception.

Free composition in various forms and media.

Free composition in various forms and media.

In this class, we will trace the rise of entrepreneurship in musical practice and discourse from the nineteenth century to today. While the focus of the class will be on music, we will also read quite a bit of work from other disciplines, like political economy and cultural theory. We will delve into the frightening world of managerial literature in an effort to trace the changes in business values that have characterized recent transformations in U.S. capitalism. You will learn about Marxism and socialism, liberalism and neoliberalism, and, perhaps surprisingly, the Protestant Reformation.

The history of 20th-century music from Strauss to Minimalism, emphasizing masterpieces, but with reference to developments in the other arts, psychology, science, and technology.

Not available at this time