FYS 1001: Freshman Seminar: Relating Music to the History of Ideas

Required Texts: Joseph Kerman and Gary Tomlinson, Listen, 6^th edition, Boston and New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2008, ISBN 978-0-312-43419-9,

 Joseph Kerman and Gary Tomlinson, 3-CD Set for Listen, 6^th edition, Boston and New York: Sony / BMG Music Entertainment, 2006, ISBN 978-0-312-45889-8, and

 Lee Jacobus, A World of Ideas, 8^th edition, Boston and New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2010, ISBN 978-0-312-38533-0.

Additional Listening Resources are available for this course through the Manhattanville College Library Blackboard link at: http://blackboard.mville.edu. You will need the course password to sign on.

Readings in World of Ideas and Chapters in Kerman and Tomlinson’s Listen

Class Assignments

This seminar will engage the students in listening to musical works from various style periods and where applicable pair them with texts and/or discussion of religious, social and political events and their implications. The principal concern of the course is European classical music and its representations in the United States . The main work of the course will be learning how to listen to the works in a meaningful context, including cultural background, insightful musical considerations, and for aesthetic appreciation.

Students should be prepared to demonstrate their comprehension of the material in a quiz on basic music materials given at the conclusion of Chapter 4 and two essays which will take the place of in class exams (Due dates are October 23 and December 11, 2009).

Within each essay, the student is to address the science, function, social context and aesthetic of the music and relate these considerations wherever possible to the reading materials drawn from A World of Ideas. First, we will develop an aesthetic of music based on experience, pleasure, family taste or peer pressure.  With study, we will refine this and develop a language to explain or defend our choices. 

Essay No. 1:  In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato discusses the disconnect between reality (science) and imagery (fantasy).  Draw on your musical experience to describe as many ways as you can think of by which the public (social context) may be manipulated (commercial exploitation or fostering of taste) in music.  For example: loud is better than soft; new is better than old; electronic is better than acoustic; music with words is better than abstract instrumental music.  Exterior Form vs. Interior Form.  The three great monotheistic religions all identify themselves with one true God and subscribe in a general way to a set of commandments which are presumed to be unquestionable and accepted worldwide.  These characteristics may be thought of as a common outer form for their beliefs.  However, each religion also defines itself by a host of different rituals and behaviors which distinguish it and these may be thought of unique, interior forms.   A parallel may be drawn in music where genres may exhibit similar general forms and titles but exhibit quite a bit of disparity in their surface characteristics and activity (tonality, meter, instrumentation, etc.).  Try to trace some examples of these differences in musical compositions studied in class and discuss them using musical terminology.  Do you think it possible to make value/aesthetic judgments on the basis of such a discussion?  For example, the form of the piece is A B A’ but the return of the A section is not in the same key and contains very little of the first A section.  Another important musical innovation is the advent of polyphony.  Is it possible to relate this to a philosophical or social development? 

Essay No. 2:  Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance a sea change took place in mind of man.  It was not just the shift in the roles of the Church and the Court but the increased emphasis on and exploration of new philosophical directions based more on empiricism than doctrine.  By the time of the Baroque, the struggle between the Church and State reached monumental proportions as seen in mighty, prolonged wars for territory and power.  Machiavelli, Rousseau and Bacon were all part of the other tug-of-war- for the mind of man.  Composers responded by developing the ability to construct large-scale compositions, push the human voice to its virtuosic limit and portray larger-than-life characters and grandiose emotions which set the course for Western art music for some time to come and were reflected in the visual arts, as well.  Study the readings from the second half of this semester and look for characteristics which are reflected in the music we have heard.   Machiavelli with his ends justify the means mentality and rigid class structure that Francis Bacon experienced at the English Court of Queen Elizabeth I and Rousseau with his “social contract” seem like three characters right out of central casting.  The real-life intrigue of the Courts and the fascination with mythology influenced visual and musical art along with the Church’s absorption of some of the characteristics of opera into its rituals and music.  All of this contributed to the over-all spirit of the time.  

Develop an essay that discusses how the conditions of society (the Court) and religion (the Church) may be reflected in music. Always try to refer to musical elements in your essay – larger-than-life characters demand larger musical forces and longer pieces, grand emotion demands more dramatic rhythmically intricate, soaring vocal writing and perhaps more dissonance given by virtuosic performers, while complicated scenery with special effects and elaborate costuming delight the eye.   Religious music may range from simple chant to large, dramatic works filled with pomp and majesty. 

Essay No. 1 is to be 2-3 pages and Essay No. 2, 3-4 pages.  They are to be word processed, double-spaced and submitted in hard-copy.

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