Music in the Romantic Era: Aesthetics and Ideologies

3 units

This course explores pivotal developments in 19th-century thinking about music's cultural and aesthetic significance -- developments that reverberate well beyond that historical period. Rather than surveying repertoire, we will emphasize in-depth exploration of selected issues and music, reading important contemporary writings and grappling with challenging musical works. Our topics will include discourses about musical interiority, the post-Beethovenian symphony, the Lied tradition, performance aesthetics and the creative agency of the performer, intersections of music and literature, and canon formation and its consequences. Our topics will include, to cite but a few examples, discourses about musical interiority, the post-Beethovenian symphony, the Lied tradition, performance aesthetics and the creative agency of the performer, intersections of music and literature, and canon formation and its consequences.