MUSC7300 - SONG

Modern singer-songwriters like Missy Elliot and Taylor Swift may seem far removed from the trobairitz and
trouvèresses of the European Middle Ages, while the preponderance of “greatest hits” records appear to have
little in common with the great chansonniers of the fifteenth century. Yet, while many centuries separate the
songs that infiltrate our lives and media today from the songs of antiquity through to the sixteenth century,
the concept of “song” as we understand it began to be formed, reformed, developed, and expanded in early
and pre-modern Europe. This seminar examines song in its diverse contexts through a variety of lenses—
text, music, history, gender, theory, art, materiality, theology, performance, movement. Examining a wide
array of premodern song traditions, this course offers participants interdisciplinary perspectives on song that
draws together through discussion and close musical and poetic readings and analysis.
Through the seminar participants will gain a grasp on the concept of song and its historical position up to the
sixteenth century. While the subject matter of this course is specific, namely early and pre-modern song, the
larger ideas explored in the seminar have a broad relevance to the humanities and to the continued
production of “song” into the twenty-first century. From song as a form of personal expression,
communication, and religious worship, to song as functional, practical, and as a musico-poetic genre, this
seminar introduces students to the concept of locating one type of artistic creation within historical, cultural,
political, and religious frameworks. The seminar will enable participants will take larger theoretical ideas
explored in this seminar and apply them to other song genres, while the research skills we will develop
through assignments and seminar activities will be useful for research in music studies more broadly