MUS 133(F) Men, Women, and Pianos
This course takes the piano, its repertory, and its performers as focal points for a social history of Western music, treating the piano as a locus around which issues of gender, class and race are played out in nineteenth century and twentieth century musical life. In addition to exploring "serious" works by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, we will consider parlor music and music by crowd-pleasing virtuosi such as Liszt and Gottschalk. We will also consider a broad range of classical and popular performers, ranging from Clara Schumann, Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein and Glenn Gould through Art Tatum and Liberace. Other topics will include the "cult of the virtuoso," Jane Campion's 1993 film The Piano, and musical nationalism as reflected in music for the piano.
Format: lecture/discussion. Two meetings per week. Evaluation based on participation, several short papers and quizzes, and a final project.
Prerequisites; ability to read music, or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19).
Hour: BLOXAM