On Fri, 23 Feb 2001, William Weber wrote:
> I'm curious if you know anybody who has taught a course, such as I am
> doing now at Cal State Long Beach, on the history of concert programs.
> My work on the rise of classical repertories has taken me into the
> history of programs themselves, and to collecting a lot of them, c.
> 1750-1914, from London, Paris, Leipzig, Vienna and a few other places.
> The program has a history, but this is also a good way by which to
> teach the history of musical taste. The course is focused upon the
> programs themselves, asking what their frameworks were, what meanings
> were embedded in that structure, and how they developed. The main
> themes is the shift from 'miscellany' to 'homogeneity' as the central
> principle behind programming, happening around 1870. Since it's for
> MA students, 8 of them, it's an ideal focus for discussion.
>
> So--has anybody tried this? Bill Weber
This sounds absolutely fascinating; I know I'd love to take such a course.
I haven't ever tried it myself, though occasional discussions in the
art-song lit courses I teach touch on it (changing ideas about what makes
good program structure).
But I wanted to mention two books I find fascinating in connection with
this, one of which you probably know, the other you (and others) may not.
They may not even be directly usable in this course, but they're still
good to know about.
One is Bernard Shaw's music criticism (reprinted several times, available
complete in 3 or 4 volumes depending on the edition), in which he has
quite a lot to say about the nature of orchestral programs he attends.
The other is THE SONGMAKERS' ALMANAC by Graham Johnson, a 20-year history
of the vocal group of that name which he founded. It lists all the events
which they presented during that time, and for a substantial portion of
them the program listing itself and Johnson's program notes are included.
As he has taken program-building in a variety of directions (one-composer,
national, particular city on date X, palindrome, alphabet, a month's
calendar, etc., often with readings between the musical performances),
this provides a number of discussion points. Plus, it's just plain fun to
read.
Jon Alan Conrad
Department of Music
University of Delaware
conrad@udel.edu
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