Course content

The period around the year 1900 was marked by significant transformations in Europe. Romanticism had reached its peak, and modernism was on the horizon. People knew that a new era was imminent, which contributed to tensions between the old and the new, but also to great creativity. Technical advancements and new knowledge about the human being emerged alongside new ideologies and a broad variety of parallel movements within art, architecture, literature, drama—and music. For some, this led to optimism and hope for the future, while others experienced the times as apocalyptic. Political awareness about injustices and class disparities grew amongst marginalized groups. Women and workers began to demand their rights and take their place.

Vienna and Paris were two of the central metropoles in arts, but interesting things within arts, literature and music also happened in for example Moscow and London. In artistic circles many believed that the turbulent times was a sign that humanity was now evolving to a higher consciousness of self-realization and spiritual maturity. The soul needed to be cultivated through art, poetry and music. There was a great interest in astrology, numerology, yoga, spiritism, occultism, mysticism and other similar paranormal phenomena - not unlike the new-age movement in our own days.

In this course, we approach the aesthetic thinking of music at the crossroads between romanticism and modernism, the period called fin-de-siècle. Still, much of the music during this period was influenced by the romantic idea of music as the art of "the ineffable," unique in its expression of mysticism, spirituality, metaphysics, and "the essence of life." Musicians and composers, borrowing Nietzsche's ironic commentary, became "a telephone to the beyond" and "God's ventriloquist." At the same time, many were influenced by Freud's theories of dream interpretation and the unconscious, which opened up new understandings about the darker sides within human beings

We will explore some of the existential and ideological currents that influenced and inspired composers around the year 1900 in above all Vienna and Paris. Philosophers such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, the "father" of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, and Hanna Blavatsky who founded the theosophical movement, are among the influential thinkers we will study and discuss. We will also examine artistic and poetic movements such as modernism and symbolism. Of course, we will also listen to music, highlighting some key works by composers such as Gustav Mahler, Alma Schindler-Mahler, Claude Debussy, and Aleksander Scriabin, and analyze their music in light of the "zeitgeist" of this period.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

Candidates who successfully complete MUSV3146:

• Identify some central philosophers and ideological movements in the so-called fin-de-siècle period.
• Explain the relationship between music, societal development, and thinking in Europe around the year 1900.
• Name at least three composers and works that were created during this period, and explain why and how they express something of ideologies of the ruling "zeitgeist".

Skills:

Candidates who successfully complete MUSV3146 can:

• Formulate their knowledge in a coherent and convincing manner, both orally and in writing.
• Make independent and critical reflections based on and in continuation of the acquired knowledge.

Learning methods and activities

The course consists of lectures and seminars with mandatory attendance (minimum 80%), active participation, completion of continuous writing assignments and group assignments for reflection and in-depth study.

A 7.5 credit course corresponds to approximately 650 pages of course literature. It is expected that students read the course literature and participate in discussions at lectures/seminar.

Compulsory assignments

• Attendance at lectures and seminars (at least 80%)
• Give a short, oral presentation (10-15 min) on a topic of your choice within the subject
• Submission of minimum one assignment between lectures, individually and in groups

Specific conditions