GRMUS H613 — The Stories of Music History

What is the story of music history? Who tells this story, and for whom is it intended? This course introduces students to the many intermingled narratives that form the discipline of musicology, offering a critique of the discipline as an active space for interpretation. A variety of theoretical approaches will be considered, from musicology’s 19th-century origins to the advent of social history and birth of the “New Musicology” to more recent scholarship addressing the evolving canon. Students will write thesis-driven essays and construct abstracts and proposals for concert-lectures; assess the way in which technology affects the creation and dissemination of knowledge; and develop skills and habits of mind that are critical for performers to make accurate and ethical use of music history.