THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Music

Undergraduate Course: Music and State Socialism in the Twentieth Century (MUSI10081)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course examines the role of music in twentieth-century socialist regimes. Students will be introduced to Marxist aesthetics, to the cultural politics of state socialism, and to a broad repertoire of music. The course will examine the reception of music within the context of Cold-War politics, and will consider how music served both as a tool of the state and as a vehicle for opposition. Students will engage in comparative studies of Soviet Bloc countries, Cuba, China and North Korea. Topics that will be covered include nation-building, propaganda, the canon, late socialism, and socialist pop.
Course description Week 1: Socialist art in the early USSR
Week 2: Socialist Realism and the Bourgeois Heritage
Week 3: Years of Terror: Stalin, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev
Week 4: Music and Nation Building: The case of the German Democratic Republic
Week 5: Crossing the Iron Curtain
Week 6: East meets West: Music and the Cold War
Week 7: Music as Opposition: Poland, the Baltics, and the GDR
Week 8: Socialist Pop: Sots Art, Kitsch, and the Aesthetic of Stiob
Week 9: Music as Opposition: Poland, the Baltics, and the GDR.
Week 10: Looking beyond the Soviet Bloc: Cuba, China, and North Korea
Week 11: Music and Post-Socialism: Nostalgia, Eurovision, and Musical Activism
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Music 2A: Music and Ideas from the Middle Ages to Viennese Classicism (MUSI08060) OR Music 2B: Music and Ideas from Romanticism to the Late Twentieth Century (MUSI08061) OR Composition 1 (MUSI08067)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have at least three Music courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 80 %, Practical Exam 20 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1 x 3000-word essay (40%) - Week 8
1 x 3000-word essay (40%) - December Examination Period
1 x contribution to class blog (20%) - throughout Semester
Feedback Students receive written feedback within 15 working days of the submission date.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. explain the major tenets of Marxist aesthetics;
2. identify the ways in which Marxist aesthetics have been interpreted by socialist regimes;
3. discuss the various roles that music played in state socialism and in the Cold War;
4. analyse a broad musical repertoire in its political and cultural contexts.
Reading List
A reading/resource list is available via the course LEARN site.
Additional Information
Course URL www.music.ed.ac.uk
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information 1 x 2-hour seminar each week.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Elaine Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 8248
Email: Elaine.Kelly@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Carrie Lyall
Tel: (0131 6)50 2422
Email: Carrie.Lyall@ed.ac.uk
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