VICM2225 - Music and the Victorians

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1 demonstrate an advanced understanding of the place and significance of music in Victorian culture, and of key events and themes in the musical history of this period;
2 apply high-level historical, critical, and comparative methodologies to the study of selected examples of Victorian musical culture;
3 apply an advanced understanding of how developments in Victorian musical culture reflect aspects of the Victorian period;
4 demonstrate self-direction and critical independence in a sophisticated argument that uses appropriate evidence/illustrations and engages with contextual and critical literature.

Content:

‘We have the continental reputation of being the Great Unmusical Power of Europe – strong enough in commerce and steam, but devoid of musical talent, invention, and discrimination’ (F.J. Crowest, 1881) In music-history texts, if it is discussed at all, Victorian Britain is regarded as a musical wasteland – literally as ‘a land without music’. Searching in vain for a ‘British Beethoven’, critics conclude that (i) Victorian Britain was essentially an import culture, and (ii) that nothing of interest happened among native musicians until the sudden flowering of compositional talent epitomised by Elgar and his contemporaries in the closing decade of the century. Historians similarly have tended to marginalise Victorian music in their accounts of the period, though generally eager to acknowledge British achievements in literature, and the decorative and visual arts.

Recently, however, this received opinion has come under scrutiny: just how ‘unmusical’ was Britain in the Victorian era, and what were the peculiar cultural and ideological currents that brought about the experience of a ‘musical renaissance’ at the end of the period? As this module will show, music was central to the public and private lives of the Victorians. It provided a soundtrack to state and civic ceremony, worship, recreation, and courtship, and it both reinforced and was shaped by the prevailing ideological currents of the time. Music helped to articulate the Victorian imperial world-view, and offered a medium through which the Empire could assimilate the different cultures subsumed within it. A forum for self-improvement, conspicuous consumption, and gender/class demarcation, music offered a rich vein of symbolism to the writers and painters of the period.

Six key themes in the musical life of the Victorians are highlighted in the seminars that constitute this module. Students are not required to have any previous musical training, but must be willing to engage with sound recordings and other musical sources as part of their research. Attendance at appropriate musical performances will also be encouraged.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Seminars will make use of a number of learning and teaching methods including: short presentations by tutor; use of sound recordings; exercises in groups; informal presentations by students; plenary discussions. Students will be set reading and listening to complete before each seminar, and they will be expected to bring their own reflections to bear on the exercises and discussion. The 20-minute individual tutorial may take different forms as appropriate to the individual student (e.g. face-to-face discussion, e-mail consultations). These tutorials are intended to give students some guidance on their choice of essay question and on researching the topic.
Seminars
Contact hours: 6 x 2 hours
Intended Group size: 12

Tutorials
Contact hours: 20 minutes per student
Intended Group size: 1

Assessment: