MHST 432 Folk Music & the Exotic in the 19th Century
The starting point of this course is the fascination with unfamiliar cultures which characterized the work of a broad spectrum of artists and intellectuals throughout the 19th century in Europe. Core topics to be studied may include: the music of the gypsies (Rom); selected European folk repertoires; previously unknown repertoires of Asia, the Middle East and the New World; the general interst in unlettered rural life outside of cities expressed in urban music; painting and literature; the impact of these interests in related fields such as historiography, musicology, folklore , and science. Each of these topics will involve studying an assigned repertoire of opera, song and instrumental work relevant to these topics. The course will require working with examples of art forms other than music and with living folk and non-western repertoires. For independent research projects, students may choose among a variety of media and final projects, including 19th century painting; transcription of recorded source material from recordings, original composition, cultural studies, and comparative studies of 20th century repertoires.