Seminar in 18th Century Music (453-0-1)
Topic
Opera/Aesthetics in 18th Century France
Instructors
Scott Douglas Paulin
s-paulin@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: E-mail Instructor
Scott D. Paulin is a musicology lecturer specializing in 20th-century topics including music and sound in film, popular genres, American music, and the history of recorded sound. Recipient, AMS-50 Dissertation Fellowship from the American Musicological Society for "On the Chaplinesque in Music: Studies in the Musical Reception of Charlie Chaplin." Author of articles published in books such as Music and Cinema (Wesleyan University Press, 2000) and Wagner and Cinema (Indiana University Press, 2010) and journals including American Music, Music and the Moving Image, Camera Obscura, and Spectator. Papers presented at conferences of the American Musicological Society, Society for American Music, International Musicological Society, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, and International Association for the Study of Popular Music, among others.
Meeting Info
RCMA Lower Level 111: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Opera and Aesthetic Controversy in 18th-century France:
Across the 18th century, opera in France was the focal point of a series of querelles - battles, carried out in print. These pamphlet wars argued the merits of Lully's established style vs. Rameau's modern sound; of the French tragic tradition vs. the new comic opera imported from Italy; for or against the opera reforms of Gluck. The debates, and the topic of opera more generally, attracted some of the era's leading philosophes and other intellectual figures, too, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau (who also tried his hand at opera composition) and Denis Diderot. Further, scholars have shown that the querelles were never just about music: opera was entwined here with key political and philosophical debates of the age. In this course we will study several operas that were heard in Paris in the 18th century and played a role in these querelles, including Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Rousseau's Le devin du village, and the competing versions by Gluck and Piccinni of Iphigénie en Tauride, among others. We will also read a broad selection of 18th-century French writings (in translation) on music, language, and aesthetics. While getting to know this operatic repertoire in depth, students will further gain an appreciation of how aesthetic controversy may both respond to and shape musical culture.
Evaluation Method
Participation in class, two short written exercises, a group project including both presentation and written components, and a take-home final exam. Graduate students enrolled in Musicology 453 will complete an independent research project in lieu of the exam.
Class Materials (Suggested)
No materials required for purchase. All assigned reading, listening, and viewing will be made available through CANVAS.