Module MUSI2591: HISTORICAL TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

Department: Music

MUSI2591: HISTORICAL TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

Prerequisites

• Readings in Musicology (MUSI1181) OR Analysis and Perception of Music (MUSI1151) OR Issues and Methods of Musicology (MUSI1141) OR Musical Techniques (MUSI1211) OR Contemporary Music (MUSI1211)

Corequisites

• Single Honours only: Theory and Analysis (MUSI2611).

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To build on and develop first-year work on musicology, in which historical, analytical and aesthetic issues (already explored in courses such as 'Techniques of Composition', 'Analysis and Perception of Music', 'Issues and Methods of Musicology' and 'Readings in Musicology') will be explored at a more advanced level.
• While aiming to equip the student with a working knowledge of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly in terms of central repertoire, the course also aims to develop the student's critical acumen, intellectual independence, and modes of enquiry which can subsequently be applied to musical repertoires, issues and trends of other historical periods in third year, and to core modules such as the dissertation (which requires independent research and thought).

Content

• This module seeks: to provide an historical outline of the main tendencies in Western music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• to focus on key issues in the composition, performance and reception of the music of the period.
• and to encourage students to engage with important debates surrounding these issues.
• Term 1 will be devoted to Romanticism from 1800 and will include a wide range of topics including some of the following: an investigation of the development of tonal harmony.
• issues in romanticism from Beethoven to Mahler.
• the development and hybridisation of genre (chamber music, symphony, song, etc.).
• an investigation of accompanying musicological literature and the aesthetics of music.
• Term 2 will be dedicated to Modernism and Postmodernism from its roots in the nineteenth century.
• Topics may include the study of some of the following: the Second Viennese School, atonality and serialism.
• Debussy.
• nationalism (Bartok and Janacek).
• Stravinsky and Neo-Classicism.
• Hindemith.
• Messiaen.
• Varese.
• the music of the Darmstadt school.
• minimalism.
• Cage and American experimental music.
• music of the last 20 years, though the content of the course may vary from year to year.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be expected to acquire a knowledge of the mainstream repertoire of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and be aware of the main issues and trends of the two centuries.

• Moreover, students will learn to apply appropriate methods of assessment from a broad range of critical standpoints, notably the historical, political, cultural and philosophical.
• The module also aims to develop the following skills: the ability to become familiar with historical accounts of the period covered.

• the ability to identify and conceptualise the issues raised.
• the ability to situate ideas in a context and to engage in critically informed argument.
• the ability to use appropriate analytical skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module consists of 22 lectures and 3 tutorials.
• The teaching takes place through weekly lectures and termly tutorials and will be accompanied by directed reading and formative assignments (or other appropriate exercises).
• Some reading exercises or analytical exercises will form assignments for tutorials.
• This format is designed to ensure the active participation of students in the learning process, offering opportunities for discussion and the development of critical thinking.
• Formative exercises 'bed down' knowledge-based and critical concepts taught in lectures, and may form the basis of discussion and hands-on training in tutorials.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will be asked to prepare short papers based on set works and texts for the tutorial groups, and will receive written feedback comments.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University