Mozart's Operas
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Topics in Operatic Literature: Mozart’s Operas MUHL-M407 (2 credits) / MUHL-M807 (3 credits) Spring semester 2021 Class meetings Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:20 Note that this is a synchronous online course. In other words, we will meet on Zoom during the official class period. See below for more details. Prerequisites MUTH M203 (Theory IV) and MUHL M307 (Music History II), or permission of instructor Brief course overview This is a seminar-style study of a single topic in the history of opera. Course may be repeated for credit, as long as topic is different. (University Bulletin) This semester we will be focusing on the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His mature works (especially the three on which he collaborated with Lorenzo da Ponte) are the first operas to be continually in the performing repertory. We will examine these works in terms of the musical and dramatic conventions of their own time and their reception history. Course objectives By the end of the semester, students should be able (among other things) to: • explain the basic generic and stylistic features of classical opera seria, opera buffa, and Singspiel • explain how Mozart’s seven mature operas both use and play with the conventions of their genres • consider the cultural issues may arise in performing those operas today, given the different values and expectations of audiences in Mozart’s time and ours Students should also become more comfortable reading scholarly literature in music and using basic tools of scholarly research (such as Grove Music Online and RILM), developing skills they can use in other settings. Mozart’s operas (21s)—2 Instructor Dr. Alice V. Clark e-mail [email protected] Monroe Hall 303 phone 865-3065 Office hours by appointment (https://avclark.youcanbook.me) Pronouns: She, her, hers Preferred title: Dr. Clark Note that this semester I’m teaching entirely on-line, and I will probably only be on campus rarely. Please don’t think I don’t want to see you, though! I’ll try to set up some open Zoom hours, and I’m glad to make appointments at any time. The youcanbookme page is set up for only M-F 9-5, but I will accept meeting requests outside of that window—just e-mail me and tell me when you’d like to meet, and we’ll figure something out. It is often easiest to communicate with me by e-mail between classes; barring emergencies or natural disasters, I will answer messages within 24 hours, except on weekends, during breaks, and while attending conferences. (This is a minimal goal, and in real life I usually will reply much sooner, even on weekends!) Some background: I started my undergraduate career as a music education major, until I encountered a course in music history that answered questions I hadn’t known how to ask. While I don’t expect you to have a similar experience in this course (!), I hope you will come to value thinking and writing about music as useful in its own right, and as helpful to your work. Textbooks and other materials to be purchased by student There will be no textbook for this course. Readings and listening/viewing assignments will be on reserve or accessible through on-line resources. Class preparation and types of assignments A calendar of daily and weekly topics and assignments (with due dates) appears later in this syllabus; this section simply outlines basic expectations. More detail about these elements appears on Canvas. I am required to inform you that the two sections of this course (grad and undergrad) are merged here, just as we meet together on Zoom. If that raises concerns for any of you, please let me know. Preparation for class will usually include some combination of listening and reading. All assigned material will be linked in Canvas and/or available through library resources (such as Mozart’s operas (21s)—3 Oxford Music Online). Note that “preparation” means what it says: this work is to be done before class! You will make comments on some readings through Perusall. These will be due once a week (on Tuesday) at 8am for each of the seven core works we will study; this is both to help you in your preparation and so I can look at them before class. For each set of readings, you should make two substantive comments. To do these assignments, you will need to set up a (free) personal account on Perusall: • Go to https://perusall.com/ and click on the “log in” tab at the upper right corner of the screen. • Register for a new account, if you don’t already have one. You may sign in using your Facebook, Google, or Twitter account if you wish, or you may register a new account using your e-mail address. • Once you are logged in, select “I am a student,” and use the course code CLARK- GCTQZ to enter the site. • I will post readings on this site for you to annotate. These will include secondary sources, and probably also libretti. I doubt Perusall will play well with scores, so you can make observations about the music by annotating the libretto. Graduate students will also evaluate two additional articles during the core of the semester (weeks 2-4, 6-7, 9-10), as well as one article in week 11. Up to five students will report on articles each week—for choice of both week and article, first come, first served. In week 11, each grad student will report on an article (again, first come, first served). Lists of potential articles by week/opera are on Canvas and also appear as an appendix to this syllabus. Note that, while many of the options are available immediately through electronic resources to which our library subscribes, others will require additional time, either because they are in print in our library or because they must be acquired through interlibrary loan. Please allow enough time to get your article in hand before it’s time to read and report on it! These article reports will be made on a shared Google doc, so all may benefit from them—which means that Google doc is also part of everyone’s preparation for class! Note that in weeks 12-13 all students (grad and undergrad) will be reporting on articles. Please look at that part of the syllabus early on, and make your choices so you’ve got plenty of time to make any interlibrary loan requests or otherwise get the material into your hands with enough time to read it. Post-class assignments will include: Mozart’s operas (21s)—4 • Discussion board posts: These will be due most Fridays (by 10pm). Prompts will be rather open-ended and are intended to help you focus your thoughts and extend class discussion. The board is set up so that you can’t see other posts until you have made your own initial post; that is so that you can contribute your thoughts without being overly influenced by others. Once that’s done, though, do check out what your classmates have written! I will not require you to respond to each others’ posts, but I hope you will want to; I will also try to respond to posts at least occasionally. • Essays / short papers: Twice you will respond to a specific prompt (given below). These will take the place of exams. o Paper 1: due by 10pm Friday 19 February o Paper 2: due by 10pm Friday 16 April I reserve (but do not expect to use) the right to add other assignments as needed. You will also complete an individual project on a topic of your choice (subject to approval) relating somehow to Mozart’s operas or those of his contemporaries. This assignment can take just about any format, including creative ones! For instance, you may choose to: • perform an aria or ensemble • create a new setting of a text, or a substantively different arrangement of an aria or ensemble • create a short story, poem, dramatic monologue, children’s book, graphic novel, etc. that extends in some way one of the operas we’re studying, or a similar work • make a film, video, or podcast (fictional, documentary, etc.) that examines or extends in some way one of the operas we’re studying, or a similar work • make a Buzzfeed-style quiz or listicle, or a Facebook wall or Instagram page, or other social media relating in some way to one of the operas we’re studying, or a similar work • write an academic paper, annotated bibliography, digital exhibit, or web site Due dates are given in the course outline below and also appear on Canvas: • proposal: due by 10pm Friday 12 March • project: due by 10pm Friday 30 April In the end, this is your education—I’ve had mine—and if it’s going to be effective, you must take control of your learning. Like a personal trainer, I can help, but the ultimate responsibility, and the ultimate benefit, is yours. You are always welcome to come to me with questions or for study tips. Mozart’s operas (21s)—5 Class meetings One thing that makes a seminar different from a lecture class is that the students to a much larger extent determine what happens: basically, you will get out of this class what you put into it. That’s why your preparation, attendance, and participation are important! If your voice is missing, we all lose—just as if you were absent from a rehearsal or a performance. What that doesn’t mean is that you have all the answers; indeed, sometimes it’s more important to have questions, so try always to bring in something to ask or something you found interesting to contribute for each class.