Composers: Anonymous, History's Most Prolific Composer

Catalog description

This course will center on the biography, works, and cultural context of a specific composer or group of composers. As well as introducing students to the musical works of the composer(s), the course will examine issues such as reception history, the canon, mechanisms of cult formation, authorship and attribution, identity, historical and social contexts, and nationalism and patriotism. Fulfills Arts and Letters Requirement. This course traces the “anonymous,” the first and most prolific composer in Western Europe, through multiple centuries, exploring what it means for music to be created by a shadowy figure of anonymity and the implications for research, analysis, and listening. The course is intended for non-majors, but music majors are welcome.