Music and Nationalism in the Romantic Period
MUS3-5a-Fri1
Gil Harel
This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.
March 14 - April 11
The 19th century witnessed a profound spike in nationalistic sentiment across Europe. From failed revolutions in Hungary, France, and Austria (1848) to the formal establishment of Italy (1861) and Germany (1871), the Romantic period was one of both political upheaval and unforgettable musical brilliance. In this class, we will set out to identify the relationship between music and national identity. In doing so, we will ask not only what makes the music beautiful, but also what makes individual works unique and often connected to a national culture.
Our class will begin in the German-speaking world, where Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven established an unofficial musical center of Europe. From there, we will consider the “Risorgimento” in Italy, a movement in which Verdi was not only involved, but indeed championed. We will then cast our gaze to the east and consider Russian composers who castigated those who sought to imitate western Europeans. In our final sessions, we will analyze English composers such as Elgar and Vaughn Williams, then look across the channel and see how French composers reacted to the humiliating defeat their nation suffered at the hands of Bismark's Prussian army. To conclude our musical tour, we will look north, and see how Grieg (Norwegian) and Sibelius (Finnish) put Scandinavian composers on the map.
More lecture than facilitated discussion.
There will be articles and program notes sent out for reading each week. Authors will include musicologists, as well as performers and others immersed in the interpretation of the works we study.
Approximately 2 hours of reading and listening per week.
Gil Harel (PhD. Brandeis University) is an award-winning musicologist and composer whose interests include styles ranging from western art music to contemporary musical theater. He is Full Professor of Music at CT State Naugatuck Valley, where he conducts the college chorale, a cappella ensemble, teaches music history and theory, and serves as musical director of theater productions.