Topics in 17th Century Music (352-0-1)
Topic
Venice
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: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
This course will focus on the centrality of Venice - and the musical styles that disseminated from Venice - to the history of seventeenth-century European music, including baroque opera. We will navigate the unique topography of Venice to interrogate why musical styles such as monody, polychoral church music, and opera developed and flourished there; how printing and commerce drove musical style and practices; how popular and elite music intersected; and how music interacts with the verbal, architectural, and visual arts. Much of the course focuses on music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi, and Francesco Cavalli, in addition to music in the Venetian styles created outside of Venice by Heinrich Schütz (Saxony), Marcin Mielczewski (Poland), and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (Mexico). Students will tackle articles from scholarly journals, monographs, and primary sources; engage the concept of "baroque" within the frame of cultural studies; and debate the social functions of vocal music.
Registration Requirements
None, but see class notes below
Learning Objectives
- Understand genres of early baroque music in depth, including monody, opera, and vespers music;
- Develop familiarity with the music of Claudio Monteverdi, Giovani Gabrieli, Barbara Strozzi, and Francesco Cavalli;
- Discern the uniqueness of Venice as a place and musical center though study of its history, politics, geography, and institutions;
- Learn to read early baroque music from its original notation.
Teaching Method
Lectures, readings, discussions
Evaluation Method
One quiz and four written projects
Class Materials (Required)
All materials for this course will be available on Canvas or in the library. No purchases necessary.
Class Notes
The course is aimed at students with some previous background in baroque music. The ability to read music is essential. Italian and/or Latin language skills are useful but not required.