89966 - History of Music of the Seventeenth-Eighteenth Century

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: knows the major musicians of the 17th and 18th centuries and their works, also by listening; knows genres, styles and musical techniques of the 17th and 18th centuries music history; knows how to relate musical knowledge to philosophical, theological and literary culture in the historical-social background.

Course contents

Knowledge and comprehension of the History of music implies three different levels:

(1) Listening;

(2) Reading a score;

(3) Situating the musical art work into its aesthetic and historical context.

Special attention will be paid to music listening. Today, more than ever, in a noisy society invaded by often cheap, trivial music, there is a need to learn techniques for listening consciously. It is necessary to learn how to distinguish the different types of music, understand their aesthetic value and be aware of the compositional processes behind them. A guide to listening, deemed as a guide to the pleasure of music (and of the silence which music presupposes), has a high educational value: conscious listening activates the processes of perception, enhancing attention and heightening sensitivity; at the same time, it leads students to “listen to” silence as a privileged moment for reflection and for getting in touch with their inner sphere. In this perspective, History of music is at the base of Citizen education and an indispensable source of culture for Humanities students.

Readings/Bibliography

- E. Surian, Manuale di Storia della musica, vol. I: Dalle origini alla musica vocale del Cinquecento, chap. 12-16 (6th rev. ed., Milan, Rugginenti, 2012), and vol. II: Dalla musica strumentale del Cinquecento al periodo classico (5th rev. ed., Milan, Rugginenti, 2010);

- Storia della musica, Turin, EDT, 1991, vol. 5: L. Bianconi, Il Seicento, chap. I (il madrigale e Monteverdi); chap. III, § 16 (le musiche devozionali cattoliche); chap. IV, § 19-26 (l’opera in musica nel Seicento); vol. 7: G. Pestelli, L’età di Mozart e Beethoven, chap. II, § 16-17 (l’opera in musica nella seconda metà del Settecento e Gluck); and chap. III, § 22-24 (Sturm und Drang e Haydn) and 26 (Mozart);

- Handout and related Appendix, with audio examples, available on Virtuale. For the audio examples, students can also visit the Musica e Spettacolo Library (Dipartimento delle Arti, via Barberia 4).

For the final examination, students are expected:

- to demonstrare their knowledge of the topics treated in the texts of history of music;

- to demonstrate their knowledge of the materials included in the Handout and related Appendix, available on Virtuale. Students may get some help by reading Consigli per l'ascolto e per l'esame della partitura, available on Virtuale;

- to demonstrate their knowledge of the rudiments of the Italian versification (cf. teaching materials, available on Virtuale);

- to report on a musicological event (lecture, meeting, conference, etc.) they have recently attended to (candidates shall bring along the relevant program);

- to report on at least five concerts or performances of Western art music they have recently attended to (candidates shall bring along the relevant concert programs).

Assessment methods

In order to complete the module, students have to take an oral examimation that will consist in:

- a question, the answer to which shall contain the correct chronological order of three music compositions: 3 points;

- a question requiring a short definition of a notion, genre, style, form (including metrical forms), or the description of a concert or musicological event: max 3 points;

- a question on the 17^th century: max 8 points;

- a question on the 18^th century: max 8 points;

- a question on the listening of an anthology piece (Handout and Appendix): max 8 points.

 

N.B.: Students who need to make up for exams are required to follow this program.

It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents, the use of a proper specific language, a structural and historical-contextual understanding of the pieces studied, the originality of the reflection as well as the familiarity with the tools of analysis of the History of Music from the Seven-Eighteenth Century. It will be assessed as discrete the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, not articulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of History of Music from the Seven-Eighteenth Century. It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, lack of knowledge of the instruments of History of Music from the Seven-Eighteenth Century. It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the recommended bibliography and inability to analyse the History of Music from the Seven-Eighteenth Centuries.

Teaching tools

Supplementary didactic activities

In a.y. 2022/23 the following didactic activities are planned (some promoted by the Department’s Center “La Soffitta”):

· Concerts in the DAMSLab/Auditorium, piazzetta P. P. Pasolini 5/b;

· Conferences.

A detailed calendar of these activities will be communicated during the course; more details are available at the information point of the Dipartimento delle Arti (via Barberia 4) and on the relevant web sites.

 

Thesis

For Students of the old system (4- or 3-years) as well as of the new system (3 years-) DAMS:

Students who intend to write the thesis in History of music are required to agree with the supervisor an appropriate subject. They will prepare a short outline of the project (with bibliographic references) and submit it to the supervisor. Once the project has been approved, the supervisor will designate a second advisor (obligatory for the 4-year DAMS) and the student will start working on the thesis and will report periodically on the study progresses. If the supervisor is not reported about the research within a six-months period, she will be free to assign the same subject to a different candidate. The 3-years thesis is different from the old only for a smaller size (40-50 type-written pages of 30 lines per 60 characters a line).

The pre-requisite for being assigned a thesis is an in-depth knowledge of the lecture notes about the criteria for writing a musicological text prepared by the teacher and provided on student request.

Office hours

See the website of Elisabetta Pasquini