Time Schedule:
Stephen C Rumph
MUHST 508
Seattle Campus
Prerequisite: MUHST 500.
Class description
THE INTERPRETATION OF MUSICAL ARTWORKS
This seminar explores diverse approaches to musical interpretation. Each student will choose a musical composition to study throughout the quarter, and will also study the compositions chosen by the other members of the seminar. Music of all styles, genres, and cultures are welcome. Weekly readings will explore different interpretive strategies--close reading, cultural studies, semiotic analysis, dialogic and intertextual studies, and social and political critique.
The seminar will unfold as an evolving dialogue, focusing on a shared body of works. Students will take turns assigning readings from their own research, and will present their work in a final paper. This seminar offers students a chance to study music outside their normal experience, as well as within their own repertory, and to explore different paths to musical meaning. Class performance is encouraged.
This course is open to all graduate students in music and welcomes popular, film, and world musics, as well as Western art music.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
