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 have:
gained a deeper understanding of, and knowledge of contemporary attitudes towards, music that embodies the elements of sex, death, and/or the ecstatic in music.
Generic skills
On completion of this subject students should have developed:
a capacity for independent critical thought
an openness to new ideas
knowledge, skills and practices which provide a basis for independent critical inquiry and research-based writing