Music and Theatre

Course goals

Upon successful completion of this course

1. the student will have acquired a thorough understanding of musicological discourses on various theatrical genres in which music plays an essential role;
2. the student will be able to undertake a dramaturgical analysis of historical and contemporary theater productions with music using methods drawn from opera, theater and performance studies;
3. the student is able to place this dramaturgical analysis within current societal discourses;
4. the student is able efficiently to communicate the outcomes of this analysis in an oral presentation and a written academic essay.

Content

The course aims to familiarize students with different dramaturgical methods of analysing theatre in which music plays an essential role and to place these analyses within prevailing discourses in opera, theatre and performance studies. Students learn to analyse how different meaning-giving systems (textual, musical, visual, etc.) interact with each other in the overall conception of a production. This includes critically reflecting on the (historical) materials and media through which the productions are recorded and in what form they are experienced (e.g. digital vs. in person). In doing so, this course addresses both historical and contemporary discourses and their (critical) reception. We focus on opera and musical, two theatrical genres in which music plays an important role and which have been extensively researched. However, other genres such as operetta, melodrama, music theatre, and cabaret may also be addressed. In the second half of the course the dramaturgical analyses are placed within broader social themes.

Additional information

Language of instruction for this course is English, unless all enrolled students and the instructor are proficient in Dutch, in which case it will be taught in Dutch.  

This course has priority rules and a waiting list. Your enrolment is guaranteed if you are a student in the BA Muziekwetenschap and this course is part of your specialisation (verdiepingspakket).
In all other situations, you will be placed on a waiting list if you enrol in this course. For any remaining slots in the course, lots are drawn among the students on the waiting list.