Listening to Classical Music

3 units

Classical music pervades musical cultures around the globe: in concert halls, choir classrooms, and music lessons, but also in "music for studying" playlists, retail stores, advertisements, films, Olympic ceremonies, and numerous other practices and products. In these many contexts, classical music has shaped the way listeners think about issues fundamental to their broader engagement with the arts and humanities: 1) Most importantly, classical music has commanded extraordinary cultural prestige since the nineteenth century, and it is central to beliefs about what artworks count as "masterworks" and what constitutes creative "genius" (and what a "genius" looks like). 2) White European men have dominated the classical-music canon and the way it's often taught-however, a wave of scholarship and performance in the past decades has illuminated ways in which women and musicians of color have engaged passionately and creatively with classical music. This course therefore invites us to consider how canons form, whom they marginalize, and what we can learn by looking beyond them. 3) Classical music has played an important role in forming listeners' beliefs about music and the performing arts more generally: the importance of self-expression, the roles and responsibilities of creator and performer, the extent to which art can be detached from its context, and how (indeed whether) we can both enjoy and critique an artistic tradition. In this course, we will learn to engage with classical music through critical listening and historical investigation. This course is not a historical survey. Rather, we will explore rich case studies that build our critical and interpretive skills, and that use classical music to illuminate broader questions in the humanities. Our readings will expose us to a variety of writing styles and perspectives, including historical figures, present-day critics, and musicological scholars. We will also attend at least one on- or off-campus performance and reflect on how it connects to our course. This course does not require any prior musical experience, knowledge of classical music specifically, or the ability to read music.