Postgraduate Course: Venice, 1690-1740: Critical Approaches to Music and Culture (MUSI11070)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In the early 18th century, the allure of Venice resided not only in its unique lagoon location and architecture but also its extraordinarily abundant and fashionable musical culture, which attracted large numbers of musicians and tourists from throughout Europe.
This course explores Venetian musical outputs as artefacts of production and consumption practices that evolved within the framework of early modern social, political and economic hierarchies as well as cultural and religious beliefs and practices. |
| Course description |
On the surface, the musical culture of early 18th-century Venice seems quite modern: Thousands of tourists from throughout Europe flocked to the city to get a glimpse of internationally famous star singers, who have been compared to modern rock stars, and attend all-female vocal and instrumental performances at the city's celebrated conservatoires. However, these phenomena were embedded in cultural context very different from our own, which we will explore in this course.
Topics will include Venice¿s social hierarchy, political organisation, topography, international reputation, annual calendar, musical institutions, the working conditions and career paths of female and male musicians and relationships with their patrons, as well as the functions, meanings and aesthetics of music created and performed in early 18th-century Venice.
The course will be taught in weekly 2-hour blocks consisting of seminar discussions based on weekly course readings, listening and viewing, and a lecture introducing the topic of the ensuing session. The sessions will include one visit each to the National Museum of Scotland, St. Cecilia¿s Hall and an archive (National Records, Scottish National Library or University Special Collections), timetabling and availability permitting.
Learning to interpret and contextualise period sources will figure importantly throughout the course. Knowledge of musical notation is not required but students will have opportunities to use advanced skills in musical notation and analysis. Knowledge of foreign languages is not required but students with advanced skills in Italian, French, German, Latin or Spanish may choose to work with primary and/or secondary writings in these languages in addition to English-language course materials.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Additional Requirements:
Non-Music students should have completed 3 or more courses in the humanities or social sciences at SCQF level 10 or above.
This course does not require any additional costs to be met by the student. |
| Additional Costs | This course does not require any additional costs to be met by the student. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed 3 or more university-level courses in the humanities or social sciences. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 9,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9,
External Visit Hours 2,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
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 components of assessment:
1. Individual poster presentation (live or recorded), Weeks 7-9, 50%, Learning Outcomes 1-3. Students will have the option of presenting in a public forum, such as the Music Research Seminar series.
2. Essay, 2,000-2,500 words, May Exam Diet, 50%, Learning Outcomes 1-3.
Resubmission Information
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
1. The resubmission task for the Individual poster presentation is an Individual poster presentation (recorded), 50%. Students will present on a different topic.
2. The resubmission task for the Essay is an essay, 2,000-2,500 words, 50%. Students will write on a different topic.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Throughout the course, you will receive oral feedback from your peers and course organiser in weekly seminar discussions.
The format of the academic poster presentation will be introduced in a teaching session early in the course. You will be provided with guidance and a template and have the opportunity to practice presenting a poster in an unassessed group poster presentation (Weeks 4-6). The course organiser will offer feedback on each presentation as well as overarching feedback that you can apply to your summative presentation.
For the essay, you will be invited to submit and discuss a draft outline and bibliography with the course organiser (weeks 10-11).
Summative Feedback
You will receive written feedback on both assessment components via Learn. The feedback for your poster presentation will serve as feedforward for your essay.
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:
- apply current methodologies to musical production in 18th-century Venice and the socio-economic contexts, hierarchies and practices that shaped it;
- conceptualise the functions of musical genres within early modern musical institutions as well as religious and political annual calendars, using early 18th-century Venice as a case study;
- locate, work with and critically evaluate period source materials from the perspectives of their original creators as well as current approaches to 18th-century studies.
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Reading List
Addison, Joseph. Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c., in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703. London: Tonson, 1705.
Burney, Charles. The Present State of Music in France and Italy. London: 1771
Burke, Peter. The historical Anthropology of Early Modern Italy: Essays on Communication and Perception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Baldauf-Berdes, Jane L. Women Musicians of Venice: Musical Foundations, 1525-1855. Oxford: Clarendon, 2023.
Desler, Anne. ¿(Im)possible Love? The Galanteries of Farinelli¿. In Eighteenth-Century European Opera and Ballet from Vienna to Brazil: Essays in Honor of Bruce Allan Brown. Edited by Vanessa Rogers and Janet K. Page. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
Selfridge-Field, Eleanor. Song and Season: Science, Culture and Theatrical Time in Early Modern Venice. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical Thinking, Reflection and Inclusivity: Critical engagement with early modern Venetian society on its own terms will encourage you to reflect on and question cultural norms and values you may take for granted, helping you to become more open to different views and perspectives.
Curiosity: Learning to interpret and contextualise early modern Venetian cultural artifacts will inspire you to interrogate and discover the hidden meanings and stories in the cultural artifacts that surround us.
Communication: Developing insight into the manners in which music and related arts represent and convey ideas, as well as presenting your own academic poster to your peers (and/or the public) and expressing your ideas verbally, will help you hone your skills at communicating effectively and strategically. |
| Keywords | music,cultural studies,historiography,early modern,Venice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Anne Desler
Tel:
Email: a.desler@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Duff
Tel:
Email: lduff4@ed.ac.uk |
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