Languages for All
Short Courses
Help
Your basket
Your account
Music

100 Years of Russian Music: An Introduction

Course Times & Enrolment

This course is currently unavailable.

Course Summary

This course will examine Russian music written since 1917. We shall take as our starting point the revolutionary era of the early Twentieth Century, exploring the musical landscape of this politically turbulent time. Moving chronologically, the course will feature discussion of key composers and their work, including opera, ballet, choral, orchestral and other ensemble pieces. We shall also consider some composers born in Russia but who moved elsewhere. The composers’ names most frequently invoked include Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Shchedrin, Khachaturian and Myaskovsky, Schnittke and Sviridov.

Course Details

Teaching method(s)

Teaching will be lecture / seminar / discussion with rich musical illustrations.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have:

  • Familiarity with works by representative composers.

  • Familiarity with sources in folk and church music.

  • Sense of historical progress in Russian music.

  • Improved self confidence in discussing music.

Sources

Core Readings

  • Taruskin, R. (1997) Defining Russia Musically: historical and hermeneutical essays Princeton, NJ, Princeton Univ. Press

  • Von Gardner, Johann (1980-2000) Russian Church Singing two vols., Crestwood, NY, St Vladimir's Seminary

  • Swan, Alfred J. (1973) Russian music and its sources in chant and folk-song , London, Baker,

  • Emerson, Caryl (1999) The Life of Musorgsky, Cambridge

  • Warner, Elizabeth (1990) Russian traditional folk song, Hull, Hull Univ. Press

Class Handouts

Handouts will be provided.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.