Seminar in Opera (557-0-1)
Topic
Opera Seria and its Sources
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 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
This graduate seminar focuses on 18th-century Italian opera seria as performative spectacle rooted in neo-classicism. Focusing upon operas by Hasse and Jommelli with librettos by Metastasio, as well as comparative examples from Handel, J. C. Bach, Traetta, Mozart, and others, the course will explore the sources of opera seria librettos in the literature of classical antiquity, engage recent musicological scholarship about the voice, body, and operatic performativity, contextualize operatic topics with Enlightenment thought, and explore the notated and improvisational conventions of galant music. Over the quarter, each student will research the history of a specific libretto by Metastasio, explore performance practice, compare operatic treatment of history with visual representations of the same topic, and develop new research on related material. Students will also learn about challenges to editing 18th-century music. Knowledge of Italian helpful but not essential.
Registration Requirements
Open to Graduate music students (PhD, MM, DMA) or by permission of the instructor.
Learning Objectives
• master the history, forms, performance practices, and scholarly literature concerning 18th-century opera seria in Italy and abroad
• connect opera seria sources and aesthetics with literature from Classical Antiquity
• explore the significance of different voice types, including castrati
• gain research skills working with Italian language librettos and music manuscripts
• consider the challenges of reviving an 18th-century opera
Class Materials (Required)
No expenditure expected. Class materials will be posted to Canvas or available in the library.