Who the course is for: This course is taught in English. The course is suitable for musicians and those who are interested in the main features of the American musical landscape.

 

What are the main features of the American musical landscape in the current era? With a primary focus on concert music in the United States composed since World War I, we will look closely at selected works of four major figures representing different generations of American music making: Charles Ives (1874 - 1954), Aaron Copland (1900 – 1990), Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), and John Adams (b. 1947). We will also acquaint ourselves with additional figures of importance, including several women (Ruth Crawford Seeger, Pauline Oliveiros, Laurie Anderson), and consider the influence of folk music, jazz, musical theater, and recent popular music on the concert repertory over time. In the process of our musical investigations we will touch briefly on issues of aesthetics, biography, identity, culture, history, economics and politics as appropriate.

 

Assessment: Attendance / participation, presentation, essay.

 

Supervisor: George Fischer.

 

Time and place: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 10:30 - 12:10. Skipholt 31.

 

Time period: October 1 - October 24, 2019

Units: 4 ECTS

 

Should students decide to take a course without ECTS the teacher does not provide feedback for the students work. Difference in the price of the course is therefore based on the teachers’ workload. Courses taken without ECTS can be registered, without ECTS, on the students’ transcript of records.

 

Price: 49.000 kr. (without ECTS) / 61.200 kr. (with ECTS).

 

Preliminary requirement: Good command of English. The course is for students at BA-level.

 

Further information: Elísabet Indra Ragnarsdóttir, Department of Music Project Manager, indra [at] lhi.is