MUS 238
Music in Modernism Spring 2025
Division I W Writing Skills

Class Details

The synthesis of the arts was a primary pursuit of modernist composers, artists, choreographers, and writers. Seeking either to realize Wagner’s “total work of art” in the theater, or to uncover the more general correspondences celebrated by Baudelaire, modernists consistently looked beyond their own media. Collaborations on works of “total theater” were common: Satie, Cocteau, Massine, Picasso; Brecht, Hindemith, Weill; Stravinsky, Nijinsky, Bakst; Claudel, Honegger, Rubinstein. Modernists explored new connections between music and color (Scriabin, Kandinsky), music and literature (Joyce, Mann), and music and dance (Duncan, Graham). Occasionally, modernists attempted to unite the arts on their own: Schoenberg painted, Pound composed, and Kokoschka wrote. Our focus will be on those works of music, art, dance, and literature that explored new relationships between the arts. One goal will be to investigate whether specific equivalents exist between techniques of modernist painting, poetics, choreography, and composition. Aware of the risks and rewards of interdisciplinary study, we will attempt our own theories of artistic synthesis. This course is designed to bring multiple perspectives to the study of music in modernism.
The Class: Format: lecture; discussion
Limit: 19
Expected: 15
Class#: 3426
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Three papers (6, 8, and 12 pages in length) and engaged class participation. Outlines and drafts of two of the papers will be required. Students will receive detailed comments on each paper, allowing them to build upon those comments in subsequent writing assignments.
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: If overenrolled, preference will be given to sophomores and juniors.
Distributions: Divison I Writing Skills
WS Notes: Three papers (6, 8, and 12 pages in length) and engaged class participation. Outlines and drafts of two of the papers will be required. Students will receive detailed comments on each paper, allowing them to build upon those comments in subsequent writing assignments.
Attributes: MUS Music History: 1900-Present

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