Composer Topics (346-0-1)
Topic
Beethoven
Instructors
Drew Edward Davies
847/467-3367
dedavies@northwestern.edu
Specialist in 16th- through 18th-century musics of Latin America and Iberia in global contexts, and 20th-century Britain. Articles and reviews published in Eighteenth-Century Music, Sanctorum, Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia, Journal of the Society for American Music,Heterofonía, BoletínMúsica (Havana) and The Courtesan's Arts: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Dissertation <cite>The Italianized Frontier: Music at Durango Cathedral, Español Culture, and the Aesthetics of Devotion in Eighteenth-Century New Spain</cite> received the 2006 Wiley Housewright Award from the Society for American Music. Mexico City Regional Coordinator for Musicat, the Seminario Nacional de Música en la Nueva España y el México Independiente (National Seminar on the Music of New Spain and Independent Mexico) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Monograph Music and Devotion in New Spain under contract with Oxford University Press.
Meeting Info
RCMA Lower Level 113: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
Scholars, critics, and concertgoers alike regularly characterize Ludwig van Beethoven as the West's, if not the world's, "greatest composer." Why? The answer lies in a complex web of issues, based partially on the unquestionable power and aesthetic appeal of Beethoven's music, but also on concepts of genius, heroism, politics, myth, and meaning in music that were shifting in the early nineteenth century. This course aims to better understand Beethoven's music by situating it within the aesthetics of the French Revolutionary period, the genres of Classicism and the new subjectivity of the nineteenth century; probing the gestural intersections between Beethoven's vocal and untexted repertoires; mapping Beethoven's expansion of music genres; exploring important performers of Beethoven's music; understanding connections between Beethoven's music and late eighteenth-century religious philosophies; and considering performance practice from the nineteenth century to today in a global context.
Learning Objectives
1. Learn examples of Beethoven's music across a breadth of genres
2. Engage how historical narratives about Beethoven's music are constructed and repeated, and explore alternatives
3. Identify traditions and lineages of performance practice through listening
4. Hone the ability to write (and talk) about Beethoven's music for distinct audiences, including writing program notes and learning acceptable German pronunciation
Teaching Method
Mix of lectures, group discussions, and mindful listening
Evaluation Method
Four written projects and one quiz, each worth 20% of the grade
Class Materials (Required)
All class materials are provided on Canvas or freely via electronic resources such as Naxos Library, MetOnline, MediciTV, or YouTube
Class Notes
Students taking this course should have some background in music history and/or performance; music literacy (ability to read a score) is necessary; reading knowledge of German is a plus but not necessary