Course for international guest/part time students

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Organization

BTK Department of Russian Language and Literature

Code

BMI-ENGSEMIO-211

Title

Fundamentals of Music History – Semiotics of Music

Usual semester

Autumn

ECTS

4

Language

en

Learning outcomes

A) Knowledge - by completing the course, the students know the major periods and sytles of (notated) Western art music - know the theoretical aspects of musical meaning (in terms of semiotics and music aesthetics) - know the most common musical forms, as well as the historical and socio-cultural contexts of their formation and use - know the foundations of musical topic theory B) Skills - by completing the course, the students become capable of recognizing different musical styles - ability to distinguish and identify potentionally meaningful musical parameters - ability to interpret musical form as a potentially meaningful process - ability to interpret musical pieces in the cultural, social, and historical contexts of their composition and/or performance - ability to identify musical topics and to interpret them in the context of a given composition C) Attitude - interpreting musical composition through critical thinking skills - awareness of the socio-cultural context of musical composition and performance - readiness to understand musical representation as a practice of cultural thinking D) Autonomy/responsibility - readiness and ability to interpret and analyze music through critical thinking skills - Awareness of the socio-cultural, or even political context of musical representation and interpretation - interpreting musical compositions within a practice of social communication

Course content

The course concentrates on the general concepts concerning the history of Western art music with a particular emphasis on the problem of musical meaning. Throughout the semester it will be addressed how music is conceptualized and understood in different cultural and historical contexts. Topics:      - Introduction to the general aesthetic and philosophical concepts of music, and music history      - Introduction to the necessary terminology of musical practice and theory      - Introduction to the general semiotic foundations of musical meaning      - Music semiotics in a historical context – topic theory      - The theory of musical meaning in aesthetic and historical context      - Musical meaning in the context of musical form – markedness, narrativity in music

Assessment method

Five-level oral exam or written essay.

Bibliography

Agawu, Kofi: Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music. Oxford University Press, 2008. Chandler, Daniel: Semiotics: The Basics. Routeledge, 2007. Fludernik, Monika: An Introduction to Narratology. Routeledge, 2009. Grabócz, Márta: Musique, narrativité, signification. L’Harmattan, 2011. Grabócz, Márta (szerk.): Narratologie musicale. Topiques, théories et stratégies analytiques. Paris: Hermann, 2021 Hatten, Robert: Musical Meaning in Beethoven: Markedness, Correlation, and Interpretation. Indiana University Press, 2004. Kramer, Lawrence: Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History. University of California Press, 2002. Monelle, Raymond: The Sense of Music. Semiotic Essays. Princeton University Press, 2001. Monelle, Raymond: The Musical Topic: Hunt, Military, and Pastoral. Indiana University Press, 2006.

Programmes of the course