ATS2804 - From the erotic to the exotic: Music in the nineteenth century - 2017

From coffee houses to opera houses, people from all classes of society in the nineteenth century participated in a wide range of musical activities. This unit studies the private, public and commercial institutions that supported the composition and performance of music in the nineteenth century and the changes to social structures and advances in technology that made such music-making possible. By examining key musical styles across a range of genres, the unit also explores the rise of the scholarly study of music that emerged in the nineteenth century, a development that fuelled numerous debates between composers, critics and the public over musical taste.

Upon completion of this unit, students are able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the social and cultural forces that underpinned the production of nineteenth-century music;
2. Appreciate the role and function of popular music and art music and their relevance to our understandings of class and morality;
3. Evaluate performance practices of the period and their relationship to twenty-first century ideas concerning musical performance;
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the key philosophical debates about music from the period and their ongoing relevance to contemporary music research.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Paul Watt

Music

Ethnomusicology and musicology

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.