- History of Russian Music

Catalog description

This course surveys 1000 years of Russian music, beginning with the conversion of Rus to Christianity in 988 and ending with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1988. Topics to be studied include: Znamenny chant; music in the era of Ivan the Terrible; Europeanization in the 18th century under Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth, and Catherine the Great; Italian-trained composers, e.g., Bortnyansky; the Russian Folk Song; music for the Divine Liturgy and the All-Night Vigil; Romances and Songs of the Golden and Silver Ages; Russian Opera and Ballet; Tchaikovsky and the symphony; tone poems; concertos for piano and violin; music in the Soviet era. There will be opportunities to hear and perform Russian music on and off campus during the semester. Performance is encouraged but not mandatory. Resources will be made available to students on Blackboard and in the Lewis University Library, which has a fine collection of materials on Russian music This course satisfies the General Education requirement for Fine Arts.