Undergraduate Course: Beethoven: Man, Music, Myth (MUSI10094)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines Beethoven's life, music, and the mythical status he has attained in cultural history of the last two hundred years. Combining close engagement with the music with critical reflection on its reception history, it provides students with a deeper and more critical understanding of Beethoven both as a composer and as mythic persona in modern culture. |
| Course description |
Ludwig van Beethoven is arguably the most central figure in Western music history. Not only do his compositions provide the foundation for the Western musical canon but what he has been taken to stand for has long informed the values deemed necessary for musical and artistic greatness. This course examines Beethoven's life, music, and the mythical status he has attained in cultural history of the last two hundred years. Combining close engagement with the music with critical reflection on its reception history, it provides students with a deeper and more critical understanding of Beethoven both as a composer and as mythic persona in modern culture.
Topics covered will typically include: the relation between biography and artistic reception; the notion of periodisation and division into three style periods; Classicism, Romanticism, and the Enlightenment; heroism, teleology, and intensive time; lyricism and extensive time; 'late style'; reception: musical impact history in 19th and 20th centuries; the political role and appropriation of Beethoven to the present day; popular depiction in film and iconography; challenges to Beethoven's canonic status.
Students can expect to engage with the course content through participating in ten 2-hour weekly seminars led by the Course Organiser. These will include weekly tasks (e.g. listening to a given piece; reading a specific article) set from the preceding seminar. There will be two seminars set aside for presenting and receiving formative feedback on their two assessments.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Music Analysis (MUSI08076)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least two semesters in Music History. We will only consider University/College level courses.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1) Programme note, 1,500 words, 40%, due in/around week 7, relating to Learning Outcome 1.
2) Essay, 2,500-3,000 words, 60%, due at the end of the Semester, relating to Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Further information
Programme note comprises an analytical and critical account of a piece.
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is a Programme note, 1,500 words.
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is an Essay, 2,500-3,000 words.
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
You will receive formative feedback in various modes throughout the course including facilitated group discussions and a formative presentation session in week 10. Feedback will primarily be given verbally during each session, arising from dialogue with the Course Organiser as well as your peers and will be tailored to the development of your programme note in Weeks 5-6 and then essay in Weeks 9-10. This formative feedback will guide the direction and realization of your work in support of your final summative submissions.
Summative Feedback
You will receive individual written feedback and grades on summative submissions, which will be provided via LEARN VLE following university regulations. This will be written by the course organiser.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Discuss specific important compositions by Beethoven in appropriate detail.
- Explain the historical provenance of several key themes in music history (the notions of genius, originality, monumentality, ethical imperative of art).
- Evaluate the political uses to which a composer's life, music, and legacy may be put.
- Assess and revise customary narratives and values of music historiography.
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Reading List
Adorno, Theodor W. , Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music, ed. Rolf Tiedermann, trans. E. Jephcott (Cambridge, 1998)
Bonds, Mark Evan, Ludwig van Beethoven: A Very Short Introduction (New York, 2022)
Burham, Burnham, Beethoven Hero (Princeton, 1995 Glenn Stanley (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Beethoven
Dahlhaus, Carl and Mary Whittall, Ludwig van Beethoven: Approaches to His Music |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Research and enquiry: Analytical engagement with Beethoven's music, aesthetics and legacy through various interpretative stances will help students to develop the ability to evaluate information, undertake critical analysis, and make informed judgements.
- Communication: By articulating ideas and information in written form about current ideas and debates in musical historiography students will become a more effective communicator |
| Keywords | Beethoven,reception history,musical canon,musical values,19th century,1900s |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Benedict Taylor
Tel: (0131 6)50 4155
Email: B.Taylor@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Rowan Paton
Tel:
Email: rpaton5@ed.ac.uk |
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