Syllabus

Music 116. ART SONG -- Music, Poetry, Gender	http//www.jenniferlarmore.com
Fall 2005; TR 8:30 – 9:55 a.m., Booth 208
Irene Girton

Contact information:

· igirton@oxy.edu; office hours T Th 10-11 and by appointment. Booth M24. NB: you can also find me in Fowler 414.

· 323.259 2590 (my office)

· 323.259 2785 (Music Department office)

· 323.341 4983 (fax)

· Check the class Blackboard site often for updates and class information: http://blackboard.oxy.edu

Required texts:

Readings on Electronic Reserve, and other readings as assigned.

Concert attendance: You must attend at least one concert including art song this term. You have options:

1) One of the Music Department recitals, including MOFAs (you’ll receive information about these recitals when they are scheduled)

- or –

1) A vocal recital off-campus. There are many wonderful possibilities this fall. Check the listings at the LA Opera (Cecilia Bartoli and Dmitri Hrostovsky), USC Thornton School of Music, UCLA’s Music Department, and CSUN. The local papers also have listings for all sorts of vocal concerts at local churches, schools, libraries, and museums. Let the class know if you discover something that sounds wonderful.

Class presentation:

Each student will make a 15-minute presentation to the class about a song from their own experience which they consider to be an art song, according both to criteria discussed in class, and to personal criteria. You can choose music you love from any tradition, providing it exhibits a strong text-music correspondence, a richly-conceived text, and has an emotional and artistic significance for you.

You should either provide the entire class with a hard copy of the text (10 copies in all) -- or, better yet, send me an electronic copy at least 3 days before your presentation and I'll make sure it's available on Blackboard for display during your presentation.

Introduction: Music 116 looks at the art song genre from several different points of view. Each segment of the course will examine the relationships between text and music, between composer and performer, and between music and society, including issues relating to gender and sexuality.

The course begins in 19th century Germany with songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann (Robert and Clara), and Mendelssohn (Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel) set to poetry by Goethe, Heine, Eichendorff, and Müller, among others. Next we discuss turn-of-the-century developments in song and poetry in Germany and France (Brahms and Wolf, Fauré, Duparc, Ravel, Debussy, and Satie), as well as English and American works of the first half of the 20th century (Ives, Partch, Copland, Britten, and Barber, among others). The last module of the course will explore the art song of the past 25 years: music by composers such as Ned Rorem, William Bolcom, Jake Heggie, Janika Vandervelde, Eve Beglarian, Libby Larsen, and Maury Yeston, among others.

Grading Policy:

Paper 1	20%
Midterm	20%
Paper 2	30%
Class presentation and recital attendance	10%
Final exam	20%

At the end of each class period, you should summarize for yourself the main point(s) of the lectures and discussions, as well as any unanswered question(s) you still have.

For the Occidental College policy on student conduct and honor, please visit the following link: http://www.oxy.edu/departments/registrar/catalog/genpolicy.html. Students with learning disabilities are encouraged to speak with me concerning exam arrangements.

Schedule of classes

Lieder: the source

Week 1, 9/1	Introduction. Lieder. Beethoven.
Week 2, 9/6, 9/8	Goethe and Schubert. The song recital. Renée Fleming at Lincoln Center.
Week 3: 9/13, 9/15	Schubert and other poets: the 3 great cycles. Winterreise films.
Week 4: 9/20, 9/22	Select dates for class presentations. More Schubert.
Week 5: 9/27, 9/29	Schumann. Paper 1 outline due (by Friday).

Late 19th-century developments

Week 6: 10/4, 10/6	Dichterliebe and Liederkreis. Paper 1 draft due.
Week 7: 10/11, 10/13	Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel.
Week 8: 10/18 ONLY	Brahms, Wolf in Germany. Nmon Ford class visit. Paper 1 due.

American and English song in the 20th century

Week 9: 10/25, 10/27	In-class midterm 10/25; take-home midterm due 10/27.
Week 10: 11/1 ONLY	French song.
Week 11: 11/8, 11/10	Britten and Barber. Paper 2 outline due.
Week 12: 11/15, 11/17	Song since World War II. The song cycle revisited. Maury Yeston.

Millennial developments

Week 13: 11/22 ONLY	Songs by American women, Black American composers. Paper 2 draft due.
Week 14: 11/29, 12/1	AIDS Quilt Songbook. 2000 and beyond.
Week 15: 12/6	Paper 2 due

Final exam: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. (!)

Tests and assignments

Week 1:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Introduction”, “Historical Background”, and “Ludwig van Beethoven.” 5-18; 47-52 (Electronic Reserve)

· Reading 2: Hampson, “Lexicon of song” (Electronic Reserve): re symbols, metaphors, and images in German Romantic poetry.

· Listening: Beethoven, An die ferne Geliebte (on the ListeningArts website, and on reserve in the Music LIbrary

Week 2-3:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Franz Schubert,” 57-68 (Electronic Reserve).

· Reading 2: Kennedy, “Circle of Friends” (Electronic Reserve): about Schubert and his artistic companions, his personal life, and the process of recording the complete collection of Schubert’s songs during the 1990’s.

· Listening: Schubert, Die schoene Muellerin songs 1, 8, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 (on Blackboard)

Week 4:

· Reading 1: Youens, “Die Nebensonnen” and “Der Leiermann” (Electronic Reserve): analysis of the last two songs from Schubert’s Winterreise.

· Websites: Please review http://www.hampsong.com/blog/winterreise.php?id=C0_22_11, http://83.65.7.42/~Hampson/blog/winterreise.php?id=P767, and http://www.gopera.com/winterreise/ for some fascinating material about Schubert's song cycle Winterreise (Winter's Journey).

· Listening: Schubert, Winterreise songs 1, 3, 5, 14, 15, 20, 23, and 24 (on Blackboard) and Schwanengesang Kriegers Ahnung, In der Ferne, Der Atlas, Der Doppelgänger, and Die Taubenpost (on Blackboard)

Week 5:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Robert Schumann,” 69-76 (Electronic Reserve)

· Websites: Please review several performer sites on www.listeningarts.com/music/art_song/art_song_links, paying special attention to the two Thomas Quasthoff sites.

· Listening 1: Schumann, Frauenliebe und Leben, on Blackboard and on reserve in the Music Library: M1621.4 S4 Op42 Bz11 CD

· Paper 1 outline due (9/30)

Week 6:

· Reading 1: Ostwald, in Schumann: inner voices of a musical genius, pp156-164 (on reserve): re the Liederjahr of 1840

· Reading 2: Rothenberg, “ ‘Thus far, but no farther’: Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s unfinished journey” (Electronic Reserve).

· Reading 1: Ostwald, in Schumann: inner voices of a musical genius, pp156-164 (on reserve): re the Liederjahr of 1840

· Reading 3: an excerpt from Nancy Reich's book on Clara Schumann ” (Electronic Reserve), ready by Saturday, 10/8).

· Listening: Schumann, Liederkreis and Dichterliebe, both in Sound files and texts. Review the texts and choose two poems from each which speak to you; listen to the corresponding songs and be prepared to discuss on Thursday, 10/6 and, for those of you absent on 10/6, on Tuesday, 10/11. This discussion will be graded.

· Listening 2: Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, all five songs (in Sound files and texts, in the Schumann folder)

· Paper 1, draft 1 due (10/7).

Week 6:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Johannes Brahms“, 81-88 (Electronic Reserve)

· Reading 2: Hancock, “Johannes Brahms: Volkslied/Kunstlied,” in German Lieder, Rufus Hallmark, ed. (on reserve).

· Paper 1, first draft due.

Week 7:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Hugo Wolf,” 89-98 (Electronic Reserve)

· Reading 2: “Hugo Wolf: subjectivity in the fin-de-siècle Lied,” in German Lieder, Rufus Hallmark, ed. (on reserve).

· Listening: Brahms folk songs and Wolf Lieder, on Blackboard

Week 8:

· Reading: Catch up with old reading assignments.

· Paper 1 due (10/18).

Week 9:

· Midterm exam (10/25 and 10/27).

Week 10:

· Reading: Meister, selections re French composers (Electronic Reserve)

· Listening: French song : Berlioz, Fauré, Duparc, L’invitation au voyage, la vie antérieure (CD to be provided).

Week 11:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Contemporary England and the U.S.A.,” 183-189 (from Benjamin Britten to Samuel Barber)

· Reading 2: Rorem, “The American art song: dead or alive?” (Electronic Reserve)

· Listening: Britten, Folksong Arrangements (Waly, Waly, and Foggy, Foggy Dew, M1620 B8F6 TA 41 LP

· Paper 2, outline due.

Week 12:

· Reading 1: Meister, “Contemporary England and the U.S.A.,” 189-195.

· Reading 2: Davis, “On wings of song” (Electronic Reserve): re song recitals.

· Listening: Songs by Hundley, Musto, Thomson, Bowles, M1619 Z9 RD 19 LP

· Paper 2, first draft due.

Week 13:

· Reading 1: Rothstein, “Did a man or a woman write that?” (Electronic Reserve)

· Reading 2: Rorem, “Ladies’ music” (Electronic Reserve)

· Reading 3: Ross, “Listening to Ned Rorem” (Electronic Reserve)

· Listening: Bolcom, Cabaret Songs, personal CD on reserve. Rorem, To You and My Papa’s Waltz, M1613.3 B28 Op.3 BN 29 LP.

· Listening: Art Songs by Black American Composers, M1619.A7 SM15 LP

Week 14:

· Reading: Catch up with readings not yet read…

· Listening: The Aids Quilt Songbook, personal CD on reserve

Week 15:

· Paper 2, final version due.

Reserve books:

· Beach, David, ed. Aspects of Schenkerian Theory. Especially Schachter, Carl. “Motive and text in four Schubert songs,” pp 61-76. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. MT6.A766 1983

· Contemporary Music Review, Paul Driver and Rupert Christiansen, issue editors. v5, December 1989. ML197.C7514 v.5. (in Periodicals Stacks)

· Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich. Schubert’s songs: a biographical study. New York: Knopf, 1977. ML410.S3 F573 1976

· Friedberg, Ruth C. American art song and American poetry. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1981. Call number: ML2811.F75 v.1-3.

· Hall, James Husst. The art song. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press [1953, 1977 printing]. Call number: ML2800.H17.

· Hallmark, Rufus, editor. German Lieder in the nineteenth century. NY: Schirmer Books, 1996. Call number: ML 2829.4 G47 1996.

· Hughes, Ted. New Selected Poems. New York: Harper and Row, 1982. PR6058.U37 A6 1982

· Kramer, Lawrence. Music and poetry: the 19th century and after. Berkeley: UC Press, 1985. ML3849.K7 1984. Reviewed in JMT vol. 30 no. 2, 1986, p304; Musical Quarterly vol. 71 no. 3, 1985, p278; Notes vol. 42 no. 2, 1985, p299.

· Matheopoulos, Helena. Diva: the new generation: the sopranos and mezzos of the decade discuss their roles. ML400 .M3593 1998

· McClary, Susan. Feminine endings: music, gender, and sexuality. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c1991. Call number: ML82.M38 1990.

· Meister, Barbara. Nineteenth-century French song : Fauré, Chausson, Duparc, and Debussy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. Call number: ML2827.M36.

· Ostwald, Peter. Schumann: the inner voices of a musical genius. Boston: Northeastern Press, 1985. Call number: ML410.S4 O87 1985

· Pinsky, Robert. History of my heart. New York: Ecco Press, 1984. PS3566.I54 H5 1984

· Rich, Adrienne. The fact of a doorframe : poems selected and new, 1950-1984. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984. PS3535.I233 A6 1984

· Ronk, Martha. Desire in L.A. : Poems. PS3568.O574 D4 1990

· Rorem, Ned. Pure contraption: a composer’s essays. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1974. ML60.R784 P9

· Rosen, Charles. The romantic generation. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1995. Call number: Music ML196.R67 1995. Already on reserve; check at circulation desk.

· Stein, Deborah, and Stillman, Robert. Poetry into Song: performance and analysis of Lieder. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. MT120.S74 1996

Reserve recordings:

· Art songs by Black American composers. M1619 .A7 SM15

· Barber. Songs. M1620.B28 S6 AL55

· Barber. Hermit Songs. M1621.4 B28H4 PI 88

· Beethoven. An die ferne Geliebte. M1620.B4 S6 PB 24

· Berg, Schoenberg, Schreker. Frühe Lieder. M1621.4.B48 S5 SE61

· Brahms. Four Serious Songs. M2010 B8 Op.45 BA 66

· Brahms. Folk Songs (etc.) M1621.4.S4 Op.48 SB37; also M1620 B8D4 SC 75

· Britten. Folksong arrangements. M1620 B84F6 TA 41

· Britten. The holy sonnets of John Donne. M1621.4 B84 Op.74 FD 99

· Debussy. Ariettes oubliées, Chansons de Bilitis. M1620.D4 S6 DA36; also M1620.D4 M4 HN41

· Duparc. Songs. M1620 D89T9 SO 58

· Faure. La bonne chanson. M1621 F28 Op.61 SO 64

· Heggie. The Faces of Love. M1620.H45 F33 HG45

· Hundley, et al. Contemporary art songs. M1619 Z9 RD 19

· Ives. Songs. M1620.I9 S6 DG52 CD

· Poulenc, Ravel, Debussy, Chabrier, Satie. Chansons. M1619 Z9 BN 33

· Ronk, Martha. Desire in LA : Poems. PS3568.O574 D4 1990

· Rorem. Songs (with Barber, Dover Beach). M1613.3 B28 Op.3 BN 29; also M1620 R68S6 CT 38

· Schubert. Die schöne Müllerin M1621.4.S3 D.795 LX 25 CD

· Schubert. Winterreise M1621.4.S3 D.911 SL 89 CD

· Schubert. Schwanengesang M1621.4.S3 D.957 PR 6 CD

· Schubert. Goethe-Lieder. M1620 S3 G6 AM 15; also M1620.S3 S2 FD17

· Schumann, Clara, with Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Alma Maher. Lieder. M1619.H63 L53 HG64 1995

· Schumann, Robert. Dichterliebe. M1621.4 .S4 op.48 FD52 CD (with Liederkreis, Op. 39)

· Schumann, Robert. Frauenliebe und Leben. M1621.4 S4 Op.42 FE 71 (with Brahms Four Serious Songs); also M 1621.4 S4 Op42 Bz11 CD

· Schumann, Robert. Liederkreis, op.39. M1621.4 S4 Op.39 FD 66

· When I have sung my songs [the American art song, 1900-1940]. M1619 W5 NW 47

· Wolf. Goethe- and Mörike-Lieder. M1620.W7 L5 ZK78 CD; also M1621 W7M6 AM28 (Ameling, Das verlassene Mägdlein)

· Woman’s Work: songs by women composers. M1000 W6 RA 10

Reserve films

· Schubert. Winterreise. A film by Peter Weigl. M1621.4.S3 W53 1999

· Schubert and Fischer-Dieskau. Autumn Journey. ML420.D54 D54 1998 pt. 1 and pt. 2, and booklet.

· Berlioz. Les nuits d’été. M1001.B47 op.14

· Mahler. Das Lied von der Erde. M1613.M3 L5 DB42

· Hampson, Thomas. I Hear America Singing. M1629 .H34 1997

· Ives, Charles. A Good Dissonance is Like a Man. ML410.I94 G6 1988

· Fleming, Renée. Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Renée Fleming. ML400.F54 L33 2002

· Various. The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century. M1505 .A78 2002

Some art-song URLs

· A very good general Lieder and opera page: http://www.gopera.com/; see also http://www.gopera.com/lieder/ for excellent Lieder links

· The African-American Art Song Alliance: http://www.darryltaylor.com/alliance.html

· American soprano Renée Fleming’s site: http://www.renee-fleming.com/

· Nmon Ford’s site: http://www.nmonford.com. He’s a terrific young baritone who’ll be visiting us this semester.

· Thomas Quasthoff’s site: http://www.gopera.com/quasthoff/. Another absolutely tremendous baritone.

· Thomas Hampson’s site: http://www.hampsong.com. Yet another great baritone.

· Daring-Diva’s Descriptive Art Song Catalogue: http://www8.addr.com/~pazzobas/cat/homecat.html

· Schubert’s Winterreise: http://www.gopera.com/winterreise/

· Another site devoted to Schubert’s Winterreise: http://www.bway.net/~hartung/schubert.html

· The Lied and Song Text page: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/

· An art song syllabus from the University of Chicago: http://humanities.uchicago.edu/classes/zbikowski/seminar.html

· Contributions to the Lieder repertoire, 1900-1999: http://www.pjb.com.au/mus/lieder_writers.html. This Australian web page is short on women and American composers, but it’s a start…

Individual composer sites:

· Ludwig van Beethoven: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/beethovn.html

· Franz Schubert : http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/franzschubert/intro/

· Robert Schumann: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schumann_r.html

· Clara Schumann: http://www.geneva.edu/~dksmith/clara/schumann.html

· Felix Mendelssohn: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mendelssohn.html

· Fanny Mendelssohn: http://utopia.knoware.nl/~jsmeets/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=mendelsf

· Johannes Brahms: http://brahms.unh.edu/

· Hugo Wolf: http://42.1911encyclopedia.org/W/WO/WOLF_HUGO.htm

· Gabriel Fauré: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faure

· Henri Duparc : http://www.naxos.com/composer/duparc.htm

· Claude Debussy: http://public.srce.hr/~fsupek/

· Maurice Ravel: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/ravel.html

· Charles Ives: http://www.msu.edu/user/sullivan/Ives114PostQuote.html (Ives on Ives); also http://www.housatonic.org/ives.html

· Benjamin Britten: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/1523/britten.htm

· Samuel Barber: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/barber.html and http://vocalist.org/html/9902/msg00995.html

· Ned Rorem : http://www.nedrorem.com/

· Jake Heggie : http://s92847765.onlinehome.us/

Music 116 Paper 1: Up to 5 pages (NOT including poetic texts and bibliography). Outline due Friday, September 30; first draft due Friday, October 7; final version due Tuesday, 10/18. Texts and translations will be distributed in class.

Topic 1: Discuss aspects of persona and mode of address in the first and last songs of Schumann’s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben (on Blackboard and on reserve, M 1621.4 S4 Op42 Bz11 CD). Look at poetry and music both, separately and together.

Topic 2: Trace the use of poetic imagery (image, symbol, metaphor, simile) in Schubert’s song Ganymed (on Blackboard and M1620.S3 S2 FD17 on reserve). Then discuss ways in which the composer translates those poetic modes of communication into music.

Topic 3: Create a model (or personalize an existing one) for song analysis which assigns value to song’s components: text (language, words) and music. Then apply your model to one of the following songs: Schumann, Waldesgespräch (in Liederkreis, op. 39, on Blackboard and on reserveM1621.4 .S4 op.48 FD52 CD), Ich grolle nicht (#7 in Dichterliebe, op. 48, on Blackboard and on reserve, M1621.4 .S4 op.48 FD52 CD), or Schubert’s Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (on Blackboard and on reserve, M1620.S3 J3 BK83 LP).