75790 - Philosophy of Music (1) (LM)

Course contents

A course on the philosophy of music can be a powerful tool to reflect critically on the use we make of several categories in our musicological work. Concepts to which we are used to, which are part of our daily thinking, so that we take them for granted, are actually the endpoint of a long cultural tradition. The work of art, the canon, ‘art’ and ‘folk’ music, world music are some examples of these concepts.

The course will focus on some of these ideas, enabling and fostering individual work and common discussions.

Should there be any linguistic issue, a targeted bibliography can be arranged with the teacher.

Readings/Bibliography

Compulsory bibliography:

Philip V. Bohlman, World Music. Una breve introduzione, Torino, EDT, 2006.

Matthew Gelbart, The invention of "folk music" and "art music": emerging categories from Ossian to Wagner, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Choose one of these alternative themes:

1. Exoticims/Orientalism (both texts have to be read):
   • Ralph Locke, On Exoticism, Western Art Music, and the Words we use, “Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft”, 69/4, 2012, pp. 318-328.
   • Jonathan Bellman, Musical Voyages and their Baggage: Orientalism in Music and Critical Musicology, “The Musical Quarterly”, 94/3, 2011, pp. 417-438
2. Encounter music (choose one of the following articles):
   • David Irving, The Pacific in the Minds and Music of Enlightenment Europe, “Eighteenth-Century Music”, 2/2, 2005, pp. 205-229.
   • Vanessa Agnew, A Scots Orpheus in the South Seas: Encounter Music on Cook’s Second Voyage, “Journal for Maritime Research”, 3/1, 2001, 1-27
3. Music as the language of nature:
   • Matthew Gelbart, “The Language of Nature”: Music as Historical Crucible for the Methodology of Folkloristics, “Ethnomusicology”, 53/3, 2009, pp.363-395.
4. World Music (choose one of the following articles):
   • Bruno Nettl, On World Music as a Concept in the History of Musical Scolarship, in The Cambridge History of World Music, a cura di Philip V. Bohlman, pp. 23-54.
   • Nicholas Cook, Western Music as World Music, in The Cambridge History of World Music, a cura di Philip V. Bohlman, pp. 75-100.
5. National musics in the Eighteenth century (choose one of the following sub-themes: Eastern music, Hindostannie Air, Scottish national music):

a) EAST

Catherine Mayes, Eastern European National Music as Concept and Commodity at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century, “Music&Letters”, 95/1, 2014, pp. 70-91

b) HINDOSTANNIE AIR

Ian Woodfield, The ‘Hindostannie Air’: English Attempts to Understand Indian Music in the late Eighteenth Century, “Journal of the Royal Musical Association”, 119/2, 1994, pp.189-211.

or

Nicholas Cook, Encountering the Other, Redefining the Self: Hindostannie Airs, Haydn’s Folksongs settings and the “Common Practice” Style’, in Martin Clayton and Bennet Zon (eds.), Music and Orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s- 1940s, Ashgate, 2007, pp. 13-37.

c) SCOTTISH NATIONAL MUSIC

Matthew Gelbart, Allan Ramsey, the Idea of ‘Scottish Music’ and the Beginnings of ‘National Music’ in Europe, “Eighteenth Century Music”, 9/1, 2012, pp. 81-108.

Claire Nelson, The Creation of a British Musical Identity: The Importance of Scotland’s Music in Eighteenth-Century Aesthetic and Philosophical Debates, “Context: Journal of Music Research”, 22, 2001, pp. 111-120.

Teaching methods

Lecturing, oral presentations by students, collective discussions

Assessment methods

Paper (max 5000 words) in which the student has to present in a polished form the major themes developed during the lessons and has to link them with the particular theme he chose to focus on.

Teaching tools

Audio and video

Office hours

See the website of Maria Semi