MUS 133 (formerly 210) Men, Women, and Pianos (Not offered 1997-98)

This course takes the piano, its repertory, and its performers as the focal point for a social history of Western music in the Classic, Romantic, and Modern periods. In addition to exploring "serious" composers and works by such figures as Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, we will consider piano music often dismissed as "schlock" destined for both dedicated amateurs and the crowd-pleasing virtuosos, such as Liszt and Gottschalk. Performers in both the classical and jazz traditions, such as Clara Schumann, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Art Tatum, Thelonius Monk and Keith Jarrett, will receive our attention. Other topics to be addressed include the cult of the virtuoso, the rise and fall of the "piano girl," and the piano as a locus around which issues of class, sex and race are played out in nineteenth- and twentieth-century musical life.
Evaluation will be based on class participation, several short papers and quizzes, and a final project. No prerequisites. Two lecture/discussions per week.

BLOXAM