DMA/MUS 298
Survey of Hip Hop Media, Production, and Culture
This class aims to introduce you to the world of hip-hop by examining recordings, music videos, films, fashion, dance styles and other creative media relevant to the development of hip hop culture. This course will consider hip-hop as a framework for understanding community, cultural identity, entrepreneurship, and creativity. These concepts will be put into practice through audio assignments such as the creation of original music.Students will also learn the basics of digital audio production and editing software as well as practical skills for creating musical compositions.
ITS/MUS 293
Italian Music: A Modern Cultural History
This course will introduce students to Italian music from a social and cultural perspective. The course has a twofold approach: the first part explores the historical developments from national unification to date; the second part has a thematic approach and highlights a few emergent topics within critical cultural studies, at the intersection between Italian and popular music studies. Starting from the assumption that music is able to unveil many aspects of the present society by representing them in unprecedented forms, the aim of the course is that of presenting another perspective on Italy, in order to enlarge its understanding. The central role played by music in contributing to shape national character is tested through a constant comparison with other musical cultures and connections with other media and art forms (cinema, television, radio).
MUS 101
Introduction to Music
The aim of this course is to explore the language and structure of
classical Western music, through the study of fundamental elements of
music theory and its application to musical forms and genres. The
course will include elements of music theory, basic approach to melody
and harmony, and the study of musical instruments. Designed for
students with little or no musical background, the course will provide
the foundations for reading music and will
study the principal composers who determined the course of history of
Western Music. Last, the course will also include concert and opera
evenings, on-site visits to the Museum of Musical Instruments, and jazz
seminars.
MUS 102
Italian Opera
Opera is perhaps one of Italy's most important cultural innovations, continuing to fascinate the world since its birth over four hundred years ago. The aim of the course is to examine the birth and development of opera in Italy from the late Renaissance to contemporary Italian opera. The inherent problems in the union of music, text, and drama in this complex music form are explored in the solutions that the most important operatic composers have provided. The aim of the course is then not only to understand and appreciate a story set to music, but the different and varied aspects of opera, its creation, and production. The course explores the history of Italian opera from its birth in the late Renaissance, its development in the 17th century, Italian opera abroad with G.F. Handel and W.A. Mozart, the Belcanto operas, G. Verdi, the Verismo movement, 20th century and contemporary opera. Form and structure in opera, relations between text and music, the world of singers and the characters they portray, historic study of the operatic orchestra, notions of opera production: staging, sets, costumes and the Italian opera house.
MUS 299
Special Topics in Music
An in-depth treatment of a current area of special concern within the field of music and musicology. Topics may vary. Topics previously taught include: The Music of Rome: Gregorian Chant to the Baroque Opera.
May be taken more than once for credit with different topics.
MUS/PH 306
Opera and Philosophy
(Prerequisites: One previous philosophy course or Junior Standing Co-requisites: EN 110; Recommended Junior Standing)
This course explores the complex interplay of ethics, cultural criticism, and philosophy in the history of opera. Opera was invented at the end of the 16th century by musicians, thinkers, and music theoreticians of the Camerata Fiorentina who regarded the polyphonous music of their contemporaries as morally corrupting. They turned to ancient Greek tragedies and philosophies for inspiration, seeing these as providing useful techniques for cultivating people’s virtues. Similarly, Richard Wagner developed his reform of opera and his concept of a total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk) by engaging with Greek tragedy. The course examines these developments and helps you to develop a familiarity with the issues and ideas and your ability to discuss, reflect on and defend your own views.
PH/MUS 306
Opera and Philosophy
(Prerequisites: One previous philosophy course. Co-requisites: EN 110. Recommended:Junior Standing)
This course explores the complex interplay of ethics, cultural criticism, and philosophy in the history of opera. Opera was invented at the end of the sixteenth century by musicians, thinkers, and music theoreticians of the Camerata Fiorentina who regarded the polyphonous music of their contemporaries as morally corrupting. They turned to ancient Greek tragedies and philosophies for inspiration, seeing these as providing useful techniques for cultivating audiences’ virtues. Richard Wagner subsequently developed his innovative reform of opera and his concept of a ‘total work of art’ (Gesamtkunstwerk) by engaging with similar concerns and sources. On this course, you will examines these developments and cultivate a familiarity with the issues and ideas that they raise.
