22W

Romantic song cycles are chock-full of narratives about women and foreigners, and as demonstrated by recent media reevaluations, much goes missing when individuals are not invited to the table and given a chance to tell their side of their stories. This seminar, organized in collaboration with the Salieri institute, is conceived as two intertwined branches, one artistic and one theoretical, and which begin (with an extensive opening session held on a Saturday) and end (with an artistic/scholarly presentation) together.

Throughout the seminar, we will look closely at art song cycles, beginning with Schumann’s Dichterliebe and extending to Hermann Riedel’s Der Trompeter von Säckingen, Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, Schumann’s Frauenliebe- und Leben and Libby Larsen’s Songs from Letters among others. Through close readings of these musical texts and contextualizing research, we will explore how these implicit characters’ narratives are painted by their poets and composers, and think about how unmentioned aspects of social class, nationality and location play into and shape them, and what this particular lens focuses on versus what it omits.

In addition, using Dichterliebe as a focal jumping off point, we will examine recent benchmarks at reimagining/translating/updating these cycles to be more inclusive, including discussions and reflections from creators of “The Poet’s Love(er)” at the University of North Texas, Spitalfields’ Schumann Street in the UK, the Ambitus Extended initiative “Dichterliebe Extended” and The Erlking’s Schumann-Rock approach. Reflections on how this changes our interaction with the cycle, and how it extends to other works potentially will be explored during the theoretical part, with student-led expansions and reimaginings of cycles explored and created under guidance in the artistic section. The seminar / module combination will conclude with a performance / discussion / event showcasing collaborative student outputs in March

This seminar will be taught in a mix of English and German, depending on the relative needs of the students. Students are invited to present / discuss / contribute in either language, depending on their individual comfort level.