| Unit name | Orchestral Music in German Thought and Culture, 1830-1890 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI39005 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Focusing on both canonical and lesser-known German composers of orchestral works, this course is divided into three areas. First, it considers those composers-Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Bruckner-who engaged directly with Beethoven&?s legacy in their symphonic works. Here, allusions to the works of Beethoven, structural issues and critical reception will be taken into account. The second area of study centres on the musical debates of the mid-nineteenth century, particularly on progressivist musicians who interpreted Beethoven&?s introduction of voice into the Ninth Symphony as both an indication that the genre had become superseded and as a quest for unification of the arts of music and poetry. Franz Liszt&?s symphonic poems will be examined here as illustrating the resultant new musical aesthetic on compositional practice. The third area of orchestral works addressed in this course centres on Franz Lachner, Joachim Raff and Brahms. While all three composers grappled with the symphony itself, they also, reacting against the progress-centred ideals of the New German School, revisited the style and genres of earlier ages in the form of suites and serenades.
