Musical Cultures in the 20th Century

3.0 credits

This class explores currents in global music history from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. In addition to examining biographical details and important works by different composers, this course takes the idea of “culture” as a central point of investigation. Sometimes people distinguish between “capital C” culture (e.g., Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) and “little c” culture (e.g., how we relate to our friends and family or how we formulate our dreams and values). For this class, we do not need to think of culture in such binary terms, but instead, we can situate a work like Puccini’s Tosca within a range of personal, political, and social forces. Cultures may come into conflict within a nation, a city, or even a classroom. Conversely, cultural values and trends may be shared among individuals around the world who may have never met each other. We will examine musical cultures in all their complexities and contradictions across time and around the world.