Not offered 2007-2008
MUS 116 Music in Modernism (W)
The synthesis of the arts was a primary pursuit of modernist composers, artists, choreographers, and writers. Seeking either to realize Wagner's "total work of art" in the
theater, or to uncover the more general correspondences celebrated by Baudelaire,
modernists consistently looked beyond their own media. Collaborations on works of "total
theater" were common: Satie, Cocteau, Massine, Picasso; Brecht, Hindemith, Weill;
Stravinsky, Nijinsky, Bakst; Claudel, Honegger, Rubinstein. Modernists explored new
connections between music and color (Scriabin, Kandinsky), music and literature (Joyce,
Mann), and music and dance (Duncan, Graham). Occasionally, modernists attempted to
unite the arts on their own: Schoenberg painted, Pound composed, and Kokoschka wrote.
Our focus will be on those works of music, art, dance, and literature that explored new
relationships between the arts. One goal will be to investigate whether specific equivalents
exist between techniques of modernist painting, poetics, choreography, and composition.
Aware of the risks and rewards of interdisciplinary study, we will attempt our own theories
of artistic synthesis. This course is designed to bring multiple perspectives to the study of
music in modernism.
Format: discussion/lecture. Evaluation will be based on three papers (6, 8, and 12 pages in
length) and on class participation. Drafts of two of these papers will be required. Students
will receive detailed comments on each paper, allowing them to build upon those comments
in subsequent writing assignments.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 15 (expected: 10).
W. A. SHEPPARD