Sex, Death and the Ecstatic in Music

Subject MUSI40058 (2014)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2014.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 1 two-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment:

120 hours

Prerequisites:

AMEB Grade 5 or equivalent, or permission of the coordinator

Corequisites:

N/A

Recommended Background Knowledge:

N/A

Non Allowed Subjects:

N/A

Core Participation Requirements:

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability will impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit.

Contact

Coordinator: lindaik@unimelb.edu.au

Contact Centre
T: 13 MELB (6352)
E: 13melb@unimelb.edu.au

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
VCA and MCM Student Centre
E: mcm-ugrad@unimelb.edu.au
W: www.conservatorium.unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

An examination of examples of Western music from Hildegaard to the present, including some twentieth-century “popular” songs, which contain one or all of the themes of sex, death, and the ecstatic in their compositional circumstances, title, pre-compositional intent, or lyrics (if song or aria). Consideration of these works will be viewed through perspectives from key cultural theories of the late-twentieth or early twenty-first century.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this subject students should have gained:
• a deeper understanding of, and knowledge of contemporary attitudes towards, music that embodies the elements of sex, death, and/or the ecstatic in music;
• an ability to undertake scholarly work using bibliographic tools and discussion/analysis of primary sources.

Assessment:

Four short assignments due throughout the semester of 400 words each (5% each); mid-semester written-up class presentation of 1200 words (40%); one take-home examination essay of 2000 words (40%) due during the examination period.

Prescribed Texts:

A reading pack will be available for purchase from the Melbourne University Bookshop before the start of semester.

Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

On completion of this subject students should have developed:

  • a capacity for independent critical thought
  • an openness to new ideas
  • knowledge, skills and practices which provide a basis for independent critical inquiry and research-based writing.
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Composition
Ethnomusicology
Musicology
Performance

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