BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDY ABROAD PADUA

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDY ABROAD PADUA"

Cody Gregory
6 years ago
Views:

1 BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDY ABROAD PADUA COURSE COURSE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR INSTRUCTOR OFFICE HOURS SCHEDULE COURSE VALUE LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAM COURSE DESCRIPTION LEARNING STATEMENT TEACHING METHODOLOGY COURSE MATERIALS (books and/or copy pack) CAS IT 344 TOPICS ON ITALIAN MUSIC HISTORY Italian Piergabriele Mancuso, Ph.D. Tuesday and Wednesday, from am to am; Thursday, from am to pm Tuesday and Thursday, from am to 10.50am 4 CREDITS Demonstrate increased proficiency in Italian language from elementary to low-intermediate and from intermediate to advanced level. Demonstrate knowledge of Italian culture with respect to three of the following areas: history, politics, economics, religion, literature, film and the arts. Develop an awareness of the cultural difference and an understanding of culture s role in shaping beliefs and practices Develop new perspectives on one s own culture and an ability to think critically about one s own values and beliefs. Music is probably one of the commonest and most accessible forms of art. Being non-semantic and non-iconic, music has often been said to have a universal language and a message that everybody can understand. This is only partially true: music is product of a specific cultural milieu and the expression of a socio-cultural evolution. Every composer and every composition bear the peculiar marks of a specific time and socio-cultural environment. Course will include field trips in Venice, an evening at the Fenice Opera House. No prior knowledge of history of music or skill in music practice are required. In addition to two 110-minute class meetings per week, students are required to read and study all home assignments as indicated in the syllabus, to prepare short review of previous classes and submit a final paper to work on immediately after the assignment of the research topic. All this will certainly require at least 8 hours per week from a student. One of the key aspects in the study of history of music is the ability to exercise critical understanding and frame a specific music topic in the broader socio-cultural context. An interdisciplinary approach, it follows, is strongly encouraged. Opera and instrumental compositions will also be analyzed analytically, reading from the original scores. Course material for this course consists in: Main course textbook (@BU): Mario Baroni, Enrico Fubini, et als., Storia della musica. Einaudi, Turin, 1988 (Reprint 1999). A copy pack including the following readings and that students will purchase before the course starts: Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena - Storia dello spettacolo musicale. A cura di

2 Alberto Basso. 6 voll. Turin, Vincenzo Coletti, Da Monteverdi a Puccini Introduzione all'opera italiana. Einaudi, Turin, Lorenzo da Ponte, Don Giovanni Dramma giocoso in due atti, a cura di Anna Biguzzi. Bonacci editore, Roberto Favaro and Luigi Pestalozza, eds., Storia della Musica. Milan, Piergabriele Mancuso, Eine Kleine Freimaurer Kantate (Una piccola cantata massonica) - Riflessioni circa l ultima opera massonica di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Hiram Rivista del Grande Oriente d Italia, 3, 2012, pp BIBLIOGRAPHY Videos and DVDs: ( available at BU Padua s library): Orfeo e Euridice, by Claudio Monteverdi. Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor. Das Monteverdi-Ensemble, Munich, The Fairy Queen, by Henry Purcell. William Christie, conductor. Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Glyndebourne Chorus, Ercole sul Termodonte, by Antonio Vivaldi. Alan Curtis, conductor. Il Complesso Barocco. Italy, Il matrimonio segreto, by Domenico Cimarosa. Michael Hampe, conductor. Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra, Le Nozze di Figaro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Renè Jacobs, conductor. Theatre des Champs-Elisées. Paris, Don Giovanni, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. James Levine, conductor. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. New York, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, by Gioacchino Rossini. Claudio Abbado, conductor. Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Nabucco, by Giuseppe Verdi. James Levine, conductor. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. New York, Otello Giuseppe Verdi. James Levine, conductor. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. New York, OTHER READINGS HELPFUL FOR ASSIGNEMENTS AND FINALS Cavalleria rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Georges Pretre, conductor. Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, One of the richest sources students should use for composition of final papers and presentation is JStor, available for free at BU s website from any registered account; for more information see here: on&wc=on

3 One of the most comprehensive music databases is Music Periodical Database (ProQuest), available for to BU s registered account at Other very useful online sources (Music Index; Music Industry Data and Music Periodicals Database) can found at BU website: AIMS OF THE COURSE GRADING CRITERIA An incredibly rich source for music score is Wikipedia s International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP or Petrucci Music Library/Biblioteca Musicale Petrucci; see here ) that contains more than works of more than 6000 composers, all accessible and downloadable for free. In 2011 IMLSP merged with the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA), another major online free database. Students are warmly advised to make sure of any potential copyright infringement before downloading. The aim of the course is to offer a general outline on European music history, especially the study of birth, evolution and characteristics of Italian opera. The aim of the course is also to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of music production in Italy and to give them the necessary interpretative and critical tools for further analysis and research. Attendance and class participation: 15% Mid-term written exam: 20% 1 Class presentation: 15% Final paper 25% Final oral exam: 25% (includes all topics studied and discussed in class during course, including visit s topics and student s presentations. Attendance and class participation: Students are expected to be punctual, ask and answers questions (especially when concerning homework and course readings), express curiosity and participate actively in the discussions. Before each class students will be asked to make short review (3-5 minutes max) summarising and explaining the main topics and contents of the past class. Field trips are part of the curriculum and participation is absolutely mandatory. Mid-term written exam: the exam consists of 15 multiple choice questions and three questions with long answers (ca. 500 words each) on any aspect of the topics studied in class and the field trips during the first part of the course, from the time of the first melodramas composed in late Renaissance Florence (ca ) to the beginning of the Baroque age (ca. 1650). Students are expected to offer concise but also comprehensive analyses as well as to offer a general chronological contextualization together with the exact and punctual references to the events, places and most prominent historical figures. Mid-term exam will be done on Thursday 21 March One class-presentation: An in-class presentation on a subject or topic approved by the professor. Presentations should last no more than 40/50 minutes. Use of PowerPoint and other similar technological devices and tools are strongly encouraged. Final paper: A comprehensive analysis on a selected topic assigned by the teacher and concerning any aspect of Italian music and operatic

4 lore, 5-6 pages longs, written in Times New Roman 12 doublespaced and justified, together with footnotes and bibliography that can include also a list of relevant websites. Bibliography is required for evaluation, but it should be not included in the 5-6 pages paper. Students will send their work by (gmancuso@bu.edu) to the instructor by Thursday 4 May Final oral exam: students will be asked to answer orally questions concerning any topic studied during the course, (from the beginning of melodramatic production in late Renaissance Italy to the opera of Giuseppe Verdi), including on-site visits, guest speaker s lecture and fellow students presentations done during the course. The instructor will provide a list of specific questions on concepts and facts discussed during the course on which students are expected to show their historical and critical competence. Students will be sitting this exam on Tuesday 9 May BU POLICY ATTENDANCE Boston University Padua students are expected to attend each and every class session, tutorial, and field trip required for the class. Students should note that attendance will be taken into account by faculty when determining final grades. PLAGIARISM Simply stated, plagiarism is taking another s work and presenting it as your own. Dictionary definitions of plagiarism frequently include terms such as theft or steal. Plagiarism is, in fact, intellectual theft. It is one of the most serious forms of academic misconduct. Plagiarism committed by a student will certainly result in course failure and may result in suspension or dismissal. For more details please see Boston University s Academic Conduct Code: RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS Boston University s Office of the University Registrar states: The University, in scheduling classes on religious holidays and observances, intends that students observing those traditions be given ample opportunity to make up work. Faculty members who wish to observe religious holidays will arrange for another faculty member to meet their classes or for cancelled classes to be rescheduled. See Chapter 151C of the General Laws, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS If you are a student with a disability or believe you might have a disability that requires accommodations, please contact the Office for Disability Services (ODS) at to coordinate any reasonable accommodation requests. For more information, please visit:

5 CALENDAR DATE TITLE AND CONTENT OF THE LESSON ASSIGNEMENTS (readings, exercises, papers ) 1 - January 31 Tuesday Introduction to the course. Study and research methodologies, class participation and grading criteria. 2 February 2 Thursday The music of Renaissance Italy: styles, mecenatismo and the political ideology of Italian Renaissance. musica, pp February 7 Tuesday The sacred and secular polyphonies of 16th century Italy: the state, the court, the church and other centres of music production. musica, pp ; Favaro- Pestalozza, Storia della Musica, pp February 9 Thursday Instrumental and vocal music. The Italian madrigal. Reading and analysis of four madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi. Reading and analysis of a madrigal score (text in the copy pack). Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. I, pp February 14 Tuesday The gradual passage from polyphony to monody. Myth and hypotheses about the birth of the Italian melodramma. musica, pp February 16 Thursday NO CLASS 7 February 21 Tuesday From the court to the streets, from Italy to Europe: popular music and premelodramatic genres in early modern Europe: Spanish zarzuela, German singspiel, French ballet, etc Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. I, pp ; February 23 Thursday Orfeo e Euridice by Claudio Monteverdi: the genesis, the composition and the main technical features of an early Italian dramma in musica. musica, pp ; Coletti, Da Monteverdi a Puccini, pp Screening of selected scenes from Act One and Act Two 9 February 28 Tuesday Melodramas in English garb. The operatic production of Henry Purcell. Analysis of selected passages and scenes from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy Queen. Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. I, pp March 2 Thursday The development of early opera: study and analysis of Claudio Monteverdi s Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria. Screening of selected scenes from Act One, Two and Three. Coletti, Da Monteverdi a Puccini, pp , Arie e recitativi ). 11 March 7 Tuesday Introduction to Baroque music:

6 The age of political absolutism: kingdoms, courts and the meaning of baroque in European art and music. musica, pp ; Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. II, pp /13 March 9 Thursday From Venice through Europe to London. Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Friedrich Handel. The biography and works of two opera composers in comparison. Study of the plot, analysis of the music scores, and screening of the selected scenes from Vivaldi s Ercole sul Termodonte and Handel's Rodelinda. Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. I, pp On-site evening class at Auditorium Pollini, Padua: Daniel Huppert, Conductor Gary Hoffman, Cello With musics by György Ligeti, Robert Schumann, Piotr Il'ich Tchaikovskij, And Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (t.b.c.) 14 March 14 Tuesday On-site class at Roberto Lanaro s luthier studio: Shape, physiognomy of a Western stringed instrument: materials and acustics. March 16 Thursday NO CLASS 15 March 21 Tuesday MID-TERM WRITTEN EXAM 16 March 23 Thursday Male, female, castrato: the reason why the evicted cantor got the first row in the European stages (and bypassed the war of sexes ). 17 March 28 Tuesday 18TH CENTURY CLASSIC MUSIC - INTRODUCTION The French Revolution, the European Enlightenment and the birth of the Classic style. The growing European middle class: the success of opera buffa ad the development of instrumental music. Coletti, Da Monteverdi a Puccini, pp , especially pp , "Le voci. musica, pp ; n.b. Start reading Lorenzo da Ponte's three librettos, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte and Figaro. 18 March 30 Thursday Bourgeoisie on stage: Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto. Cimarosa's career and the spread of 18th century Italian opera buffa in Europe. Vincenzo Coletti, Da Monteverdi a Puccini, pp , see section "L'opera buffa". Screening of selected arias and passages, Act One and Two. 19 April 4 Tuesday Instrumental music: a minor genre? The case of quartet music in the classic repertoire. Mozart s Dissonance quartet and its Italian forefathers April 6 Thursday Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's and Lorenzo da Ponte s buffo triptych: Cosi fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Origin and features of the plots; analysis of the most important music features - Screening and analysis of the selected Favaro-Pestalozza, Storia della Musica, pp musica, pp

7 scenes and passages from the Da Ponte- Mozart s triptych. April 11 Tuesday NO CLASS 20 April 13 Thursday Venice 1785: the Most Serene Republic, Mozart and the Freemasons: hypotheses about the birth and genesis of a secular Cantata Mancuso, Kleine Freimaurer Kantate, pp April 13 Thursday THE DAWN OF EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM INTRODUCTION A magnificent case of Italian Classic nostalgia : Rossini and the birth of Romantic opera in Italy. Study, analysis of the music and libretto of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Screening and analysis of selected scenes from Act One and Two. musica, pp April 18 Thursday NO CLASS 22 April 20 Thursday 1861: the birth of the Italian Kingdom. One state, one language, one opera. Toward the creation of a national operatic style. From Rossini through Donizzetti and Bellini to Giuseppe Verdi ( ) April 26 Wednesday (evening class) On-site class at Fenice Opera House, Venice. The tradition of mid-19 th century Italian belcanto Lucia di Lammermoor, by Gaetano Donizetti h pm (t.b.c.). musica, pp n.b. start reading William Shakespeare s Othello. Text in the copy pack. Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. II, pp Read libretto of Lucia di Lammermoor (provided online by the teacher). 24 April 27 Thursday Italian Verismo. Mascagni, Leoncavalli and the decadence of operatic tradition. Aa. Vv. Musica in Scena, vol. II, pp April 27 Thursday Class presentations 26 May 2 Tuesday Class presentations 27 May 4 Thursday Overview and general discussion about the course May 9 Tuesday FINAL ORAL EXAM FINAL PAPER DUE

TOPICS ON ITALIAN MUSIC GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE ITALIAN MELODRAMA

TOPICS ON ITALIAN MUSIC GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE ITALIAN MELODRAMA CAS IT 344 Spring 2012 Tuesday-Thursday, h. 9.15-11.00 Instructor: Dr. Piergabriele Mancuso COURSE OUTLINE Music is