Music and History (HI2K4)

Module Convenor: Roger Fagge & Tim Lockley

 

Taking a broad musical and historical perspective, ranging from opera, symphonic and chamber music through to folk, jazz and hip-hop, this residential module taught in Venice will study the way history was represented in music, and how music itself sometimes became the subject and part of making history. It will draw on a rich historiography, and use relevant primary sources to explore the way this relationship works. Written, video and audio sources will be utilised. Key themes will include, Ancient History, War, Landscape and Nostalgia, Religion, Nationalism, Political movements, and Slavery

 

Syllabus

Session 1: Opera as art form in Venice:' L’Incoronazione di Poppea'

Session 2: Monarchy: 'Gloriana'

Session 3: War: 'The Leningrad Symphony'

Session 4: Revolutionary change: 'Hamilton'

Session 5: The colour line: Showboat

Session 6: Nostalgia and ruralism: The Kinks, Neil Young, Paul Simon

Session 7;: Slavery and Imperialism: Reggae, Rastafarianism and History

Session 8: Vietnam, War and America: Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Country Joe and the Fish

Session 9: Black Power and Black Lives Matter: Nina Simone, Gil Scott Heron, Public Enemy, Kendrick Lamar

Session 10: Heavy Metal and History: Rammstein and Iron Maiden

 

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• To evaluate and critique the relationship between music and history
• To understand how the study of music can be accessed through a range of written and audio-visual sources
• To engage with historiographical debates and think about the history and legacy of different historical concepts
• To encourage independent research, historiographical engagement, and the development of critical analysis
• To gain interpersonal and communication skills through the delivery of a presentation

 

Indicative Reading List

Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht (ed.) Music and international history in the twentieth century.[New York: Berghahn, 2015.]
library ebook

Richard D. Wetzel The globalization of music in history [electronic resource] /. [New York : Routledge, 2012.]
Jeffrey H. Jackson and Stanley C. Pelkey (eds) Music and history : bridging the disciplines / [Jackson : University
Press of Mississippi, 2010.] library ebook

Hesmondhalgh, David. Why Music Matters. John Wiley and Sons, Incorporated, Newark, 2013.
Wall, Tim. Studying Popular Music Culture. SAGE, Los Angeles, 2013, doi:10.4135/9781526401960.

Wendy Heller “Tacitus Incognito: Opera as History in "L'incoronazione di Poppea"” Journal of the American
Musicological Society, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Spring, 1999), pp. 39-96

Edward B. Savage ‘Love and Infamy: The Paradox of Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione di Poppea"’ Comparative Drama,
Vol. 4, No. 3 (Fall 1970), pp. 197-207

Heather Wiebe 'Now and England': Britten's "Gloriana" and the 'New Elizabethans' Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 17,
No. 2 (Jul., 2005), pp. 141-172

Colleen Renihan “Take These Tokens That You May Feel Us Near”: Remembrance and Renewed Citizenship in
Britten’s Gloriana’ From: Benjamin Britten Studies: Essays on An Inexplicit Art, Boydell Press (2017) (pp. 236-258)

David Gow ‘Shostakovich's 'War' Symphonies’ The Musical Times, Vol. 105, No. 1453 (Mar., 1964), pp. 191-193

David B. Greene ‘SHOSTAKOVICH AND THE PURSUIT OF THE COMMON GOOD: A Musical Contribution to Civic
Republicanism’ Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 92, No. 3/4, Arts of Democracy (Fall/Winter 2009), pp.
239-257

Elissa Harbert ‘Hamilton and History Musicals’ American Music, Vol. 36, No. 4, Hamilton (Winter 2018), pp. 412-428

Loren Kajikawa “Young, Scrappy, and Hungry”: Hamilton, Hip Hop, and Race American Music, Vol. 36, No. 4,
Hamilton (Winter 2018), pp. 467-486

Special issue American Music, Vol. 36, No. 4, Hamilton (Winter 2018)

Warren Hoffman ‘Only Make Believe: Performing Race in Show Boat’ From: The Great White Way: Race and the
Broadway Musical, Rutgers University Press (2014) (pp. 31-55)

Robin Breon ‘Show Boat: The Revival, the Racism’ TDR (1988-), Vol. 39, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 86-105

Bradley, Doug, and Craig Werner. We Gotta Get Out of This Place : The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War, University of
Massachusetts Press, 2015. Ebook

 

Assessment

• Class Presentation/Podcast/Powerpoint with audio (10 minutes) (60%)

  • Related to theme of seminars

• 3000 word essay (80%)

  • Students will reflect on a question related to the themes of the module, with reference to relevant historiographical debates