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Sex, Death and the Ecstatic in Music (MUSI40058)

HonoursPoints: 12.5Not available in 2017

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Overview

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An examination of examples of Western music from Hildegaard to the present, including some twentieth-century “popular” songs, which contain one or all of the themes of sex, death, and the ecstatic in their compositional circumstances, title, pre-compositional intent, or lyrics (if song or aria). Consideration of these works will be viewed through perspectives from key cultural theories of the late twentieth or early twenty-first century.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject students should be able to:



  • Demonstrate a deeper understanding of, and knowledge of contemporary and historical attitudes towards, music that embodies the elements of sex, death, and/or the ecstatic in music
  • Evaluate and criticise the different ways in which people write about sex, death and the ecstatic in music
  • Analyse and articulate the workings of sex, death, and/or the ecstatic in music compositions
  • Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the aesthetics and historical context of the work presented in class with regard to one or more of the qualities under consideration in this subject

Generic skills

On completion of this subject students should possess:

  • A capacity to make critical, informed and sophisticated responses to new musical ideas, methodologies and theoretical frameworks
  • The ability to engage with new ideas and respond to them in a thoughtful, critical and in-depth way
  • The ability to communicate effectively
  • Knowledge, skills and practices which provide a basis for independent critical inquiry and research-based writing

Last updated: 3 November 2022