LAPR 863 The Symphony from Beethoven to Mahler

Division of Liberal Arts

3 credits 45.0 hours
200 level undergraduate course

The long century of Romanticism and Revolution coincides with the ascendancy of the Central-European symphony as the preeminent expression of abstract musical thought - indeed the embodiment of art as philosophy. The course charts the origins and evolution of the genre in the changing relationships between aesthetics and politics throughout the 19th century; the rise of the interpretive conductor as well as technical developments in musical instrument design that fueled the symphony’s broad appeal; and the historical continuities underlying the construction of the artist-hero, the tortured genius and “maker of the worlds.” Individual works selected for close examination will fall into the four categories: the seminal works of Beethoven; the Romantic generation from Mendelssohn to Brahms; the post-Wagnerian synthesis of orchestral writing, from Bruckner to Tchaikovsky; followed by the genre’s earliest dialogue with modernity in the symphonies of Mahler.

Prerequisites LACR*102 or LACR*103

This course is not repeatable for credit.