Sex, Death and the Ecstatic in Music

Subject MUSI30015 (2015)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2015.

Credit Points: 12.5
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2015.
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

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.
Assessment:

Four short assignments of 300 words each due throughout the semester (30%); mid-semester written-up class presentation of 1200 words (30%); essay of 1600 words due one week after the end of semester (40%).
Prescribed Texts:

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

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

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: Academic Electives

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