First Nights 

樂興之時

Instructor：Jen-yen Chen

Semester：Fall 2006

Credit：2

Course description:

This course examines the premieres (“first nights”) of five famous works from the history of European music, spanning a period of over three hundred years:  Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo (1607); George Frideric Handel, Messiah (1742); Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 9 (1824); Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique (1830); and Igor Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps (1913).  Though often regarded as timeless masterpieces, these compositions are also important cultural expressions of their own times and help to illuminate the character of the societies to which they belonged (for example, Orfeo is one of the earliest examples of opera, a genre born out of the ideals of Humanism in early-seventeenth century Italy).  The study of the original performance contexts of these pieces is therefore intended to interrelate music with culture, and to emphasize the importance of the experience of listening to music.  However, recognition of the transcendent nature of the five works will remain a significant element of the course, and therefore “inner” musical style will also be given close consideration.  The course will incorporate some examples of contemporary music making in Taiwan and arrange visits to live musical events in Taipei.

Student objectives:

-          to understand musical works in relation to the historical, political, social, and philosophical currents of their times

-          to cultivate habits of “close listening” in order to appreciate the complex richness of individual masterworks of the musical repertoire

-          to develop a sensitivity to particular aspects of musical style such as text-music relationship, form, melody, harmony, and instrumentation

-          to appreciate the vital place of music in human societies of both the past and the present

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites for this course, other than an interest in studying music as a part of culture.  Students who wish to enroll do not need to have any prior musical training, and also do not need to be able to read music notation.

Requirements:

Regular listening to the five works is the most essential ingredient for success in this course.  Recordings of all the works, carefully selected for both their artistic merits and their degree of historical understanding, will be placed on reserve in the library and also be made available for purchase.  Buying the recordings is highly recommended:  it’s an investment that will bring a lifetime of enjoyment and enrichment!

The specific course assignments, and the percentage which each counts towards the fnal grade, are as follows:

First essay, 5-7 pages              25%

Second essay, 5-7 pages       25%

Midterm examination              20%

Final examination                30%

Textbook:

Thomas Forrest Kelly, First Nights (Yale University Press, 2001).  Additional readings (to be decided) will also be occasionally assigned.

Tentative Schedule of Lectures

Week 1.  Introduction:  Music’s Relation to Culture and Why Studying First Performances Matters

Week 2.  Monteverdi, Orfeo:  Italian Humanism, the Orpheus Myth, and the Birth of Opera

Week 3.  Monteverdi, Orfeo:  Arranging the Premier

Week 4.  Monteverdi, Orfeo:  Structure and Instrumentation

Week 5.  Handel, Messiah:  What is an Oratorio?  Music’s Intersections with Religion

Week 6.  Handel, Messiah:  Text-Music Relationship and the Controversial Use of the Bible

Week 7.  Handel, Messiah:  Choral Music and Texture

◎Essay 1 due

Week 8.  Beethoven, Symphony no. 9:  Performing a Symphony in Early 19^th-Century Vienna

Week 9.  Beethoven, Symphony no. 9:  Symphonic Form and the Quest for Joy

Week 10.  Beethoven, Symphony no. 9:  Influence and Modern-Day Significance

Week 11:  Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique:  Romanticism and Early 19^th-Century Paris (midterm examination during the first half of lecture)

Week 12.  Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique:  How Does Music Tell a Story Without Singers?  The Narrative Dimensions of Purely Instrumental Music

Week 13.  Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique:  Timbre and Instrumentation

◎Essay 2 due

Week 14.  Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps:  Avant-garde Culture in Early 20^th-Century Paris and the “Riot”

Week 15.  Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps:  Evoking Prehistoric Russia Through Music and Dance

Week 16.  Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps:  Melody and Rhythm

Week 17.  Experiencing Music in Contemporary Taipei:  Ethnography of a Symphony Concert

Week 18.  Experiencing Music in Contemporary Taipei:  Ethnography of a Performance of 歌仔戲

◎Final examination