OVERVIEW

The course can be taken 

- complete (9 CFU for 54 class hours) 

- only part 1 (6 CFU for 36 class hours)

Part 1: European music from Bach to Brahms: a journey from Baroque to Romantic Age

Part II: Niccolò Paganini, the Violin Legend from Genoa to Europe

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at offering a guide to main styles and forms of musical theatre and instrumental music, considered in the

chronological development of history of music.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

9 CFU

The course aims at providing the student with the capabilities to understand symbols and meanings of musical language, increasing the awareness of the numerous relationships between music, literature, arts and sciences. The main assumption of the course is that the knowledge and competence about genres, forms and authors from the history of western music completes significantly the cultural preparation of any student of humanities. 

By the end of the course students will be able to understand a significant time span of the history of western music, having developed tools to understand musical language which could be applied also to other contexts. They will be able to recognize the main genres of art music in Europe between Bach and Debussy, undestand the aesthetic and style options of the composers taken into account, judge proximity or distance between movements and single composers. 

6 CFU

The course aims at providing the student with the capabilities to understand symbols and meanings of musical language, increasing the awareness of the numerous relationships between music, literature, arts and sciences. The main assumption of the course is that the knowledge and competence about genres, forms and authors from the history of western music completes significantly the cultural preparation of any student of humanities.

By the end of the course students will be able to understand a significant time span of the history of western music, having developed tools to understand musical language which could be applied also to other contexts. 

PREREQUISITES

General interest in music and its use as an art form.

TEACHING METHODS

Class lessons with CD and DVD examples.

The class will visit the exhibition Paganini Rockstar at Palazzo Ducale.

The class will be invited to attend concerts and operas on stage in Genoa, when related to the course program.

Attending class is strongly recommended.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course might be chosen in a 6 or 9 (6+3) credit format.

No specific background in music is required.

Part 1 (6 credits) will enquire the development of Western Music 1680 to 1890, from late Baroque to the Romantic age. The general outline of that historical period will be regularly exemplified in class through CDs and DVDs, leading students to a solid knowledge of styles, genres and main composers of Western Music from Bach to Brahms. The course will explore four seasons of European Music: Baroque, Galant, Classic and Romantic styles. 

Part 2 (3 CFU) discusses one of the most innovative artists in Romantic landscape: the Genoa-born violinist Niccolò Paganini, extraordinary virtuoso and talented composer, the true prototype of the modern artist, the inventor of a legend which has thrilled all of Europe in the 19th century and has never ceased to fascinate audiences and fellow composers who have been inspired by his music for two centuries. The course will explore the different aspects of the artist, his myth, his output, the works inspired by him in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The course is going to be completed by the attendance of the exhibition Paganini Rockstar in Palazzo Ducale. 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Readings in English (see page in Italian for Readings in Italian)

Part 1 only (6 CFU)

2 books to be chosen among: 

Heller W. (2014), Music in the Baroque, Norton, New York.

Rice J. (2014), Music in the Eighteenth Century, Norton, New York.

Frisch W. (2013), Music in the Nineteenth Century, Norton, New York.

Auner J. (2013), Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, Norton, New York.

Part 1+ 2 (9 CFU)

2 books to be chosen among: 

Heller W. (2014), Music in the Baroque, Norton, New York.

Rice J. (2014), Music in the Eighteenth Century, Norton, New York.

Frisch W. (2013), Music in the Nineteenth Century, Norton, New York.

Auner J. (2013), Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, Norton, New York.

+

Grisley R., Mellace R. edd. (2018), Paganini Rockstar. Incandescente come Jimi Hendrix, Catalogue of the Exhibition, Palazzo Ducale, Silvana Editoriale, 2018.

Kawabata M. (2013), Paganini. The "demonic" virtuoso, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge-Rochester.

Listening of works by Paganini (a list of works will be available on Aulaweb once Part 2 of the course has started).

Books are normally available at the University Library, via Balbi 2, 3rd floor.

Listening experience during the preparation to the exam is strongly recommended. CDs and DVDs are also available at the same library. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

RAFFAELE MELLACE (President)

LUCA BELTRAMI

MATTEO NAVONE

LESSONS

LESSONS START

I semester (36 h.) (Part 1)

II semester (18 h.) (Part 2)

Class schedule

HISTORY OF MUSIC

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral Exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will consist in an oral interview on the course program and its bibliography. Students will be tested on (instrumental and vocal) genres and forms, styles and main authors of the portion of history of music considered in the course program, paying specific attention to the evolution of each style.

Students will be tested on the knoledge of the course programme (topics discussed in class, readings taken from the bibliography or uploaded in the course "aulaweb"), on their capabilities in discussing the course topics and in the accuracy in employing the specific language.

The knowledge of notes taken at class will by no means considered enough.

Exam schedule