Unit name | Music in Soviet Russia 1917-1991 |
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Unit code | MUSI20073 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Fairclough |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Music |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
From the 1917 Revolution until the fall of Communism in 1991, Soviet Russia produced some of the greatest music of the twentieth century. The changing fortunes of its cultural life prompted bizarre swings from modernism to conservatism and, in its later years, massive upheavals in musical language and form. While Shostakovich is still the central (though controversial) figure of the Stalin years, younger composers such as Schnittke, Part, Ustvolskaya and Silvestrov came to maturity in the 70s and 80s with their own unique ways of dealing with 20th century changes in musical language. This unit will cover core repertoire from the whole Soviet period of a variety of genres including symphony, opera, chamber music and film music.
Aims:
This unit aims to develop understanding of the complex relationship between art and politics and to acquaint students with a wide range of music from a major non-Western 20th-century culture. It will focus on topics including: music as propaganda, socialist realism, Jewish music, polystylism and spirituality. While there will be a certain amount of factual input from the unit director, the main focus will be on student participation in seminars, founded on specified readings and including an opportunity to engage in oral presentation and counter-argument.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including lectures and self-directed exercises.
1 x 2500 essay (60%) ILOs 1-5
10-minute podcast (40%) ILOs 6