Seminar on Opera | Music | Amherst College

Spring 2022

Seminar on Opera and Musical Theatre

Listed in: European Studies, as EUST-320 | Music, as MUSI-420 | Theater and Dance, as THDA-320

Faculty

Description

(Offered as MUSI 420, EUST 320 and THDA 320) This course examines the two genres of lyric theater (opera and musical) with special attention to composers’ musical characterizations of the women and men who populate them. The first part of the class will focus on case studies of works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Rogers & Hammerstein, and Sondheim. Analyzing these works will help us develop an understanding of how composers work with conventions of vocal type and musical gesture to define character. The second part of the class will be devoted to developing independent research projects. Health conditions permitting, some of the works studied will be chosen in coordination with performances we can attend in New York or Boston.

Spring semester. Professor Schneider.

Expectations

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: watching and listening to sections of operas and musicals, reading plays, historical documents, and secondary literature, short response papers, 1 group or independent project consisting of a research paper and presentation. Students with documented disabilities who will require accommodations in this course should be in consultation with Accessibility Services and reach out to the faculty member as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations can be made in a timely manner.

Offerings

2022-23: Not offered
Other years: Offered in Fall 2019, Spring 2022

Section Navigation

Spring 2022

Seminar on Opera and Musical Theatre

Faculty

Description

Offerings