Topic Description

This delivery of Intertextuality in Music, entitled Music – Text – Voices, examines the relationship between music, words and the human voice, at once the most basic and most sophisticated of musical instruments. Through a structured series of lectures, seminars and presentations, we will consider a number of significant vocal compositions, examining various composers’ approaches to the use of the human voice in musical composition, the setting of texts and the relationship of the text to the musical material. A framework for discussion will be developed incorporating some knowledge of the basic physiology of vocal production, an understanding of the relationship of words and their associated meanings, and the use of musical imagery and intertextual relationships.  A range of vocal works will be considered with a focus on selected exemplars. The delivery of the module may include attendance at concert performances, field trips and visits from guest lecturers.  Assessment for this module comprises one essay and one oral presentation.

Module Description

Through a structured series of lectures, seminars and presentations, students will examine the nature of music in the context of the other arts and explore the character of musical form and identity. In discussing music, terms are often applied to it which have become, through over use, taken for granted. What, for example, do we mean when we describe a musical work as Baroque, neo-Classical or Impressionistic? What is it for a piece to have ‘form’ and what would a work without form be like? In considering these issues music from a range of musical periods and cultures will be examined, in order to place it within an appropriate historical, cultural and aesthetic framework. Delivery of the course will be supported by a number of guest lectures from experts in related fields and also by group visits to relevant concerts, exhibitions and talks at local museums and art galleries. Each delivery of the module will offer one or more options drawn from an advertised list. Options may include: Music, Form and Identity; Music-Text-Voices, Music of the Spheres; Reinventions. Assessment comprises a mid-semester presentation and a prepared essay.