Undergraduate Course: Genre and Form in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music (MUSI10079)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Music |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | New musical genres and forms, originally developed in sacred and theatrical contexts, flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries. Some of the earliest sonatas, for example, are found in sacred works by Monteverdi. Similarly, formal procedures such as through-composition were initially developed in vocal music and instrumental interludes known as ritornelli. These origins influenced the development of musical forms and genres over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but the continuities are often overlooked in modern surveys, which traditionally emphasise the existence of so-called 'Baroque' (pre-1750) and 'Classical' periods (post-1750).
The aim is to introduce students to a wide range of music within a broad chronology (c.1650-c.1790), and how it can be interpreted with special reference to concepts of musical genre and form.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| Students will meet with a range of materials and sources, such as facsimiles of original scores, treatises, modern editions, recordings, and a range of literature on the subject from the past forty years, from which they will be encouraged to develop interpretative skills. They will gain an appreciation of a range of repertoire and analytical abilities, and will be encouraged to develop critical awareness of how this music has been interpreted in modern times. |
Assessment Information
| Two c. 3000-word essays (40% each), the first submitted on Wednesday 7 November 2012 (Week 8) by 16:00, the second during Revision Week on Wednesday 5 December 2012 by 16:00. A presentation of 15 minutes (20%) is to be scheduled by the Course Organiser. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
The class will meet for weekly 2-hour seminars. A typical session will be broken up into mini-lectures, listening exercises, group exercises, and discussion, modelled on the approaches encouraged by the Institute for Academic Development. Each session will be concerned with a particular topic: 'Why genre and form?'; 'Forms and formulas'; 'Dance forms'; 'The idea of through-composed form'; 'Sonata'; 'Concerto (to 1720)'; 'The idea of "sonata form"'; 'Concerto (1720-1790)'; 'The writings and performing career of Charles Rosen'. In Week 5, the session will be partly devoted to 'Writing essays and recap' in preparation for the first essay assignment. |
| Syllabus |
1. Introduction: why genre and form?
This class will ask why questions of genre and form relevant to an understanding of eighteenth-century music. It will introduce the main forms and genres that developed in this period, and how 'slippery' the terminology can be. The students will be asked about their current knowledge.
2. Forms and formulas
This class will examine some of the standard formulas used by composers in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries (such as the passacaglia and La Folia) and their relationship to formal procedures and techniques (such as ostinato). It will examine the origins of these formulas in improvised practices.
3. Dance forms
This class will introduce the concept of bi-partite (and tri-partite) form as used in instrumental dances of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The main dance forms will be considered and how they were applied in non-dance settings.
4. The idea of through-composed form: c.1650-1720
This class will look at how through-composed forms evolved in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It will look at the genres and forms in which they were principally developed, in particular in the instrumental passacaglia and Da Capo aria.
5. Writing essays and recap session
This class will ask for written and verbal feedback, discuss the first essay assignment, and address anything that the students feel could be covered again
6. READING WEEK
7. Sonata
This class looks at the various kinds of instrumental pieces that were called 'Sonatas'. It will attempt to tease out how the term was understood in various contexts.
8. Concerto (to 1720)
This class will look at the development of ritornello procedure as a special kind of through-composed form, and its relationship with the Da Capo aria, focussing on the ¿Venetian¿-type concerto
9. The idea of 'sonata form'
This class examines extended binary form procedures, and later movements in 'sonata form'. It will look at the influence of through-composed procedures, focussing on sonatas for solo keyboard. Examples by Domenico Scarlatti and Haydn will be considered.
10: Concerto (1720-1790)
This class examines how formal procedures associated with ritornello and sonata forms were brought together in the solo concerto. It will look at examples by Italian composers and Mozart.
11. Case study of modern interpretation: Charles Rosen
This class will introduce the interpretations of the pianist Charles Rosen, both as a writer and performer. In particular, the class will look at Rosen¿s writings on, and performances of, Mozart¿s piano sonatas and concertos.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (New York, 1971, rev. 1976) (EU Main Library: ML195 Ros.)
Charles Rosen, Sonata Forms (New York, 1980) (EU Main Library: ML1156 Ros.)
Eleanor Selfridge-Field, Venetian Instrumental Music from Gabrieli to Vivaldi (Oxford, 1975) (EU Main Library: ML290.8.V26 Sel.)
Peter Holman, Henry Purcell (Oxford, 1994) (EU Main Library: ML410.P93 Hol.)
Michael Talbot, Vivaldi (London, 1984) (EU Main Library: MT92.V78 Tal.)
David Schulenberg, The Instrumental Music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Ann Arbor, 1984) (EU Main Library: ML410.B16 Sch.)
Neal Zaslaw (ed.), Mozart's Piano Concertos: Text, Context, Interpretation (Ann Arbor, 1996) (EU Main Library: ML410.M9 Moz).
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
The class will meet for weekly 2-hour seminars. |
| Keywords | Music Genre Form |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Woolley
Tel:
Email: Andrew.Woolley@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Brad Herbert
Tel: (0131 6)50 2422
Email: brad.herbert@ed.ac.uk |
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