Seminar: Aesthetics and theory of modern music around 1950
instructor: Dr. Marcus Zagorski
email: mz.uniba@gmail.com

course description

This course provides a seminar setting in which to discuss prominent trends in the aesthetics and
theory of music around 1950. A "seminar" is a chance for us to come together as equals to
collectively discuss the topics at hand; therefore, the success of the seminar depends upon your active
participation. It is essential that you complete the assigned readings before each meeting. All the
readings will be made available to you online.

course requirements and learning objectives

The most important requirement is that you do the assigned reading before each meeting, and that you
actively participate in discussion. You may be required to make a final presentation in the last
meeting on 10 April. Details about this will be discussed in class.
Through this course you will acquire greater familiarity with influential composers, thinkers, ideas,
and the cultural contexts relevant to the development of the aesthetics and theory of music around
1950. You will also practice critical reading of English-language texts, critical thinking about these
texts, and the presentation of your ideas before your peers.

13 March, 09:10 - 12:20: general introduction to the aesthetics and theory of music

13 March, 13:45 - 17:00: Adorno and the theory of "new music"
• Stephen Hinton, "Adorno’s Philosophy of Music," in Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Oxford and New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 25-29.
• Theodor W. Adorno, "Music and New Music," in Quasi una fantasia, trans. Rodney Livingstone,
London and New York: Verso, 1998, 249-268.
→ let me know if you want to the German original…
• James Miller, "Is Bad Writing Necessary? George Orwell, Theodor Adorno, and The Politics of
Language," in Lingua franca (December/January 2000), 33-44. [for fun…]

27 March, 09:10 - 12:20: serialism and Europe
• Richard Taruskin, The Oxford History of Western Music, vol. 5, The Late Twentieth Century, New
York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 1-26.
• Marcus Zagorski, "Material and History in the Aesthetics of ‘Serielle Musik’," Journal of the Royal
Musical Association 134/2, 271-317.
• Peter J. Schmelz, "Andrey Volkonsky and the Beginnings of Unofficial Music in the Soviet Union,"
Journal of the American Musicological Society 58/1, 139-207. [seems long, but there are many
musical examples, and you can skim it…]

27 March, 13:45 - 17:00: Cage and the avant-garde
• Marjorie Perloff, "’A duchamp unto myself’: ‘Writing through’ Marcel," in John Cage: Composed
in America, eds. Marjorie Perloff and Charles Junkermann, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1994, 100-124.
• Richard Taruskin, "No Ear for Music: The Scary Purity of John Cage," in The New Republic, 15
March 1993, 26-35.

10 April, 09:10 - 12:20: theorizing modernism (and its "other")
• Pierre Boulez, "Schoenberg is Dead,"
• Milton Babbitt, "Who Cares if You Listen?"
• Georgina Born, Rationalizing Culture, chapter 2

10 April, 13:45 - 17:00: student presentations/final papers