Instructor
Professor Nathan Link
Office: Grant Hall, Room 314
Office Hours: MWF 10:20–11:20 , 2:50–3:50
E-mail: nathan.link@centre.edu

Meeting Times

MWF 9:10–10:10 Grant 403

Course Description

An exploration of the interaction between 19th-century Western music and the literary, cultural, and philosophical movement known as Romanticism. Focus especially upon such Germanic Romantic composers as Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, investigating the ways in which their musical compositions display Romantic sensibilities. In conjunction with this examination of 19th-century musical works, the course considers contemporary literary and philosophical writings, seeking evidence of mutual influence among musicians, writers, and philosophers of the 19th century.

Required Texts

•  Leon Plantinga, Romantic Music: A History of Musical Style in Nineteenth-Century Europe , Norton, 1984

•  M.H. Abrams, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition , Oxford , 1953

Other Texts

Other readings will be drawn from the works listed at the end of this syllabus. In these cases, either the full work or photocopies of the relevant excerpts will be left on our Course Reserve in the Doherty Library.

Course Policies

•  Attendance: Attendance is expected at all class meetings. Excused absences will be granted either with prior approval, with written confirmation of a medical condition, or through official college permission. Students will be allowed to make up missed quizzes only in the case of excused absences. Two unexcused absences are allowed during the course of the semester with no penalty. Each subsequent unexcused absence will result in a 2% deduction from the final grade for the course.

•  Performances: You are asked to attend the Moscow Classical Ballet performance of The Nutcracker at the Norton Center , Tuesday, November 28, at 8:00 PM .

•  Communication: I will check my e-mail on a daily basis, and will make every respond to all e-mails within 24 hours. I ask that you also check your Centre e-mail account at least once a day in order to stay abreast of any announcements or unexpected changes.

•  Class participation: Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings and compositions previously assigned. Full participation in class discussion is an important component of the final grade.

•  Reading assignments: All reading assignments are either drawn from the Plantinga or Abrams textbooks you have purchased or will be on reserve in the library. When the readings are particularly complex or dense, I will provide you with a “reading guide” to assist you as you work through the texts, drawing your attention to the most salient points for our purposes.

•  Listening assignments: All scores and CDs will be placed on reserve at the Doherty Library. You should listen along with the full score, and use a translation when relevant. It will likely be helpful to listen at least to certain passages more than once, in order to gain familiarity with the pieces. We will also listen to and discuss excerpts in class to complement the listening you do on your own. Please be sure that you have listened to the entire piece by the date indicated on the schedule below.

•  Quizzes: There will be thirteen quizzes short throughout the semester: seven short-answer/short-essay quizzes and six listening quizzes. The short-answer quizzes are simply to ensure that you have done the readings and processed the information from class discussion for the preceding unit. These will be administered the Monday following the completion of a unit, and will cover the reading materials from the previous unit. These quizzes are not designed to be difficult, and will not focus on arcane elements of the readings, but instead will give you an opportunity to show your understanding of the fundamental concepts explored. The listening quizzes will occur on the last day of a given unit, and will be in the form of “need-drop” exams: I will play several excerpts from the piece under study, and ask you to provide certain information about each excerpt. Again, these excerpts will typically be from “highlights” of the respective works, which we will have discussed in class, or which you will have seen emphasized in your readings. I will provide you further instruction and advice prior to each listening exam.

•  Presentation: The last day of each of the first five major units, a student will be asked to lead the class, beginning with a twenty-to-thirty-minute oral presentation, and then leading the discussion for the remainder of the period. Each student will give one presentation during the course of the semester. You are free to choose your own topic, but you must meet with me at least a week in advance of your presentation to have your topic approved.

•  Paper: You are to complete a paper of approximately ten pages, on a topic of your choice, chosen in consultation with me. This may take the form either of a research paper or an analytical study, and need not be based on one of the pieces covered in class. In accordance with Centre College policy, papers will be submitted via www.turnitin.com (Class ID number: 1589863 , password: centremusic). If you have not done so already, you will need to set up a user account. Please contact me if you have any trouble navigating the site. You may submit your papers at any time, but no later than December 8, which is the last day of the exam period

•  Exam: The final exam will consist of several short-essay questions and one long-essay question, all of which will call upon the knowledge you have gained during the semester. You will be able to select your essay questions from among several choices, i.e., you will not have to answer every question that you are given.

Grading

Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

• Weekly quizzes            25%                 
• Presentation                 25%     
• Paper                            20%     
• Final Exam                   20%     
• Class Participation        10%

Scale

• 92–100             A
• 89–91               A-
• 86–88               B+
• 82–85               B
• 79–81               B-
• 76–78               C+
• 72–75               C
• 69–71               C-
• 60–68               D
• 59 or below      U

Course Outline and Schedule

FINAL EXAM: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 8:30–11:30 AM
Reading List

Daverio, John.   Nineteenth-Century Music and the German Romantic Ideology. New York : Schirmer, 1993.

Hoffmann, E.T.A. E.T.A. Hoffmann's Musical Writings .   Edited by David Charlton and translated by Martyn Clarke. Cambridge :   Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Kleist, Heinrich von. “On the Marionette Theater,” translated by Christian-Albrecht Gollub. In German Romantic Criticism , edited by A. Leslie Willson, 238–244. New York : Continuum, 1982.

Kramer, Lawrence. Music and Poetry: The Nineteenth Century and After . Berkeley : University of California Press, 1984.

Novalis. “Aphorisms and Fragments,” translated by Alexander Gelley. In German Romantic Criticism , edited by A. Leslie Willson, 62–83. New York : Continuum, 1982.

Richter, Jean Paul.   Horn of Oberon: Jean Paul Richter's School for aesthetics , trans. Margaret R. Hale. Detroit , Wayne State University Press, 1973. PN45 .R513

Schlegel, August Wilhelm. From “Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature,” translated by Ralph R. Reed. In German Romantic Criticism , edited by A. Leslie Willson, 175–218. New York : Continuum, 1982.

Wackenroder, Wilhelm Heinrich. Confessions and Fantasies . Translated by Mary Hurst Schubert. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1971.