Mu 135 - Music and Storytelling

Musicians and listeners have long been fascinated by the potential for music to portray something outside of itself: to tell a story, paint a picture, or suggest a narrative without using words. This course explores ways that composers have tried to express specific ideas through sound at various points in history. We will investigate the musical techniques composers have used in these efforts, as well as a variety of theories from the past and present about music and meaning. We will also consider the role of listener interpretation, including instances where listeners-perhaps even ourselves-have perceived stories and images in music that the composer did not intend. Music for study is drawn from historical eras ranging from the Renaissance to the present.