Composers: Verdi and Shakespeare

1 Course Unit

This course will center on the biography, works, and cultural context of a specific composer or group of composers. As well as introducing students to the musical works of the composer(s), the course will examine issues such as reception history, the canon, mechanisms of cult formation, authorship and attribution, identity, historical and social contexts, and nationalism and patriotism. Fulfills Arts and Letters Requirement. Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi wrote three famous operas based on Shakespeare, Macbeth (1847), Othello (1887), and Falstaff (1891). We will examine the intriguing relationships between the plays and the operas, explore Verdi’s entire output and the conventions and contexts of Romantic opera, and finally discuss issues of race, gender, and performance that were as relevant for these two authors as they are for us today. The course is intended for non-majors, but music majors are welcome. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit