Unit information: Tudor Music in 2012/13

Unit name	Tudor Music
Unit code	MUSI30100
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Allinson
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	N/A Single Honours Music. Joint Honours students must normally thave taken Issues in History I or II at Level C
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This course traces music's place in the complex tapestry of 16th Century English culture and politics. We will consider the impact of religious upheavals on music and see how the changing tastes of the four monarchs affected musical styles and performance contexts. We will look at the lives of professional musicians, from guild and parish activities to life at court; from commercial activities to secret Roman Catholicism. We will also turn to areas in which little evidence survives - early publications of broadsheet music, or the role of women in musical life, for example - and explore the extent to which textbook histories weave such uncertainties into their narratives. This cultural backdrop will help us to make sense of the varied musical styles of the period, and with the analytical approaches which may fruitfully be brought to bear on them.

Aims:

This unit aims to introduce an approach to the history of 16th-century English music which takes into account cultural practice as well as internal stylistic features, and includes music of social classes and groups not usually included in traditional histories of music, particularly minstrel traditions and the music-making of women. After two introductory lectures, the bulk of the course will be focused on seminars founded on specified scholarly literature and musical repertoire, with considerable opportunity for student discussion.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this unit will enable the student to:

• display general knowledge of the repertoire

• display general knowledge of the politics, religious upheavals and musical culture of 16th-century England

• demonstrate a detailed understanding of the stylistic features of several pieces of Tudor music, and be able to relate such features to their musical and cultural context.

And additionally (specific to Level H) to:

• incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content

• argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)

• display to a high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control

• describe, evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking

• discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations

• take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature

• engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions

• demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise

• situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)

• apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).

Teaching Information

Seminars (NB. taught together with Year 2).

Assessment Information

Coursework essay (c. 3000 words) (50%) and 2 hr examination (50%)

NB the essay and examination questions will be specific to this level, as will the assessment criteria.

Reading and References

• Hugh Benham, Latin Church Music in England (1977)

• John Caldwell, The Oxford History of English Music volume 1 (Oxford, 1992)

• Iain Fenlon (ed.) Man and Music: The Renaissance (1989)

• Frank Harrison, Music in Medieval Britain (1958)

• Christopher Hogwood, Music at Court (1977)

• John Stevens: Music & Poetry in the Early Tudor Court (London, 1961, 2/1979)