Music as Drama

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In music theory, we describe dominant and tonic as cycles of tension and release, modulation as a journey away from a home key, and musical form in literary terms such as exposition, development, and recapitulation. In this course, students will interrogate the premise that music can function like drama, suggesting characters, agency, conflict, and narrative. The course will focus on both opera and instrumental music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with some forays into late Romanticism and early modernism. In addition to familiar concepts from music theory such as harmony, phrase structure, and form, we will also investigate the role that texture—specifically musical topoi—plays in supporting music’s dramatic structures. By exploring the metaphor of music as drama, students will hone their connection between music analysis and their performative, expressive choices and deepen their understanding of how music elicits imaginative engagement from listeners. The course is discussion-based with emphasis on score study. Assignments will include essays and oral presentations designed to develop students’ ability to write and speak analytically and critically about music. Students will also have opportunities to apply course knowledge through model composition.