Selected Topics (435-0-1)
Topic
American Art Song
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 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
The art song literature composed in the United States between the nineteenth century and the present day is prolific and pluralist. Ranging from the pious to the experimental, American art song embraces a wide range of musical styles and poetic voices, thereby expressing diverse aspects of American life. This course will survey and conduct new research into American art song traditions, including African American song and songs by women composers, with special attention given to issues of performance practice and the history of American poetry, including Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. Intersections between the art song repertory and American cultural history will also be studied, and one of the main questions will be how classical art song interacts with popular and sacred music repertoires, especially in the period around 1900. A core repertory of songs by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, William Grant Still, Charles Ives, Florence Price, Amy Beach, Samuel Barber, Margaret Bonds, and Aaron Copland will be balanced by attention to lesser known materials, as well as forays into country music and the Blues.
Learning Objectives
-Develop in-depth knowledge of a core repertory of American Art Song by Charles Ives, William Grant Still, Margaret Bonds (a Northwestern alumna), Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and others;
-Explore how German Lieder, Spirituals, Hymnody, and folk traditions influenced the repertory of American Art Song;
-Gain knowledge about the poets composers set to music and hone strategies to critically engage with poetry;
-Learn about important periods in cultural history such as the Harlem Renaissance and American Transcendentalism as reflected in poetry and music.
Teaching Method
Pro-seminar style focused on research. (Lectures, discussion, weekly research projects)
Evaluation Method
A final project (choice of research paper or art song music video) and several intermediary research projects
Class Materials (Required)
Materials will be posted to Canvas or available in the library. No purchases necessary.
Class Notes
The class is aimed at voice, piano, and musicology students, as well as those interested in American music and American poetry. The ability to read music is essential.