RUSS 307
Music and Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature
Last Offered Fall 2006
Division I
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Albeit distinct art forms, music and literature have enjoyed a very fruitful relationship in a number of artistic traditions, and this was particularly true in the rich and varied cultural life of nineteenth-century Russia. Musicians, composers, or even specific compositions, sometimes became the subject of literary masterpieces. Other times it was a celebrated work of literature that inspired incidental music, romances, and operas. In this course we will examine the broad and fascinating relationship between literature and music in short works by Odoevsky, Pushkin, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Kuprin, and Chekhov. We will study the role that music played in belles lettres as thematic element, cultural commentary, and structuring principle. All primary texts will be read in the original, but some secondary readings will be in English. Class will be conducted entirely in Russian.