Music 396: Special Studies in Music History

Mozart, Opera, & Amadeus

Syllabus 2002

Elmhurst College

Dr. Mark Harbold

Final Exam Study Guide
Course Goals	Materials You Will Need	Course Activities & Requirements	Projects
Course Schedule	Course Policies	Important URLs	How to Find Me

Course Goals

To discover the unique features of research into the Classical era
To immerse yourself in the ethos, culture, and music of the Classical era

To encounter important Classical composers, compositions, patrons, and musical institutions
To develop greater understanding of Classical styles: their history, their development, and relationships between them

To “make” history by assembling and interpreting historical artifacts
To delve deeply into the life and music of a seminal figure in music history—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Materials You Will Need

Required textbook—

Philip G. Downs. Classical Music: The Era of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven . W.W. Norton, 1992.
Daniel Heartz. Mozart’s Operas. Edited, with contributing essays, by Thomas Baumann. University of California Press, 1990.

Optional materials—

Shaffer, Peter, and Milos Forman. Amadeus (the movie). (DVD or VHS) Saul Zaentz Company, 1984; Warner Brothers Home Video, 1997.
Shaffer, Peter. Amadeus (the play). Signet, 1981.

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Course Activities & Requirements

Research—assigned readings, analytical listening, library work, and other varied forms of research
Lecture/Demonstrations—by instructor and students (see Projects below)
Projects—the primary medium for encountering and “making” history, these projects ask you to develop expertise on a particular city, opera, libretto, composer, writer, theater, singer, and/or other historical figure.
Final Exam—a cumulative exam that includes a critique of Amadeus based on your research, your projects, and our classroom sessions.

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Grades

Your final grade will be based on the following—

Projects	4 @ 20%	=	80%
Final Exam	1 @ 20%	=	20%

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About Assignments and Testing

Projects—Four projects in which you assemble and evaluate historical artifacts most relevant to your project topics. You will select your topics from a list provided by the instructor. In Project One you will choose a city. Possible topics for Projects Two and Three may include particular operas, librettos, composers, writers, theaters, and/or singers. In Project Four you will choose one of the characters from the movie Amadeus.

For Projects One through Three you will give seminar-style presentations in front of the class. In addition, you will turn in a bibliography, a one-page outline of your presentation, and any handouts or PowerPoint presentations you use. Your presentations must be about 10 minutes long (longer if you use listening examples, but 15 minutes maximum).

For Project Four you must turn in a bibliography, but there will be no in-class presentation. Instead, you will be graded on your participation in class and Blackboard discussions of Amadeus during the last two weeks of class.

A note on seminar-style presentations: A seminar is a course in which students share responsibility with the instructor for lecture preparation and presentation. A seminar-style presentation is simply an in-class talk given by you on a particular topic. To prepare for these presentations, you do the same research as for a scholarly paper, but since the finished “product” is a class presentation rather than a paper, you will choose and organize your information in a way that makes sense for a face-to-face presentation. For each seminar-style presentation you must create handouts (or a PowerPoint presentation) that help your audience follow the presentation. Handouts (or PowerPoint presentations) will provide analytical notes and notated musical examples where appropriate.

The due date for Project One is September 10. Due dates for Projects Two and Three will be determined once you choose your topics. Project Four is due on November 21. Click here for further information on these Projects.

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Final Exam—The Final Exam is a final summary (in essay format) of the work you did in this course. It will include short answer questions on important Mozart operas we have studied, but the main portion of the exam will take the form of a critique (NOT a review) of the movie Amadeus in which you will draw on what you’ve learned throughout the course in your research, your projects, and our classroom sessions. I am most interested in the ways your research on Projects One through Four (especially Project Four) influences your critique of Amadeus. Since each of you will research different project topics, your written critiques should look very different from each other.

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COURSE SCHEDULE

Aug 27 The World of the Classical Era Read Downs—Ch 1, p 3-16; Ch 6, p 111-21; Ch 18, p 335-43	Aug 29 Classical Style Read Downs—Ch 3, p 32-38, 58-60; Ch 4, p 73-82; Ch 6, p 117-18; Ch 8, p 129 (131-45), 147-52; Ch 9, p 154-77; Ch 20, p 353-78; Ch 21, p 379-93
Sept 3 Mozart’s Life Library Orientation Read Downs—Ch 2, p 17-31; Ch 7, p 126-28; Ch 14, p 261-66, 269-73; Ch 16, p 295-96, 299-305; Ch 19, p 348-52; Ch 25, p 479-82, 487-99	Sept 5 Overview of Mozart’s Music Read Downs—Ch 14, p 266-69; Ch 15, p 274-86, 293-94; Ch 16, p 297-300; Ch 17, p 307-23, 329-32; Ch 26, p 500-28, 546-50
Sept 10 City by City Read Downs—Ch 5, p 96-108; Ch 7, p 122-26; Ch 8, p 154-67; Ch 14, p 262-66, 269-73; Ch 16, p 300-05; Ch 19, p 344-48; Ch 25, p 487-99 Project One Due	Sept 12 City by City Read Downs—Ch 5, p 96-108; Ch 7, p 122-26; Ch 8, p 154-67; Ch 14, p 262-66, 269-73; Ch 16, p 300-05; Ch 19, p 344-48; Ch 25, p 487-99
Sept 17 Opera seria Influences & Mitridate Read Downs—Ch 5, p 83-94; Ch 10, p 178-80, 184-93; Ch 15, p 286-93; Ch 22, p 394-98, 403-07	Sept 19 Opera seria *Idomeneo* Read Downs—Ch 16, p 305-06; Ch 26, p 528-29 Read Heartz—Ch 2, p 15-35
Sept 24 Opera seria *Idomeneo* Read Heartz—Ch 1, p 1-13; Ch 3, p 37-63	Sept 26 Opera seria *La clemenza di Tito* Read Downs—Ch 26, p 544-46 Read Heartz—Ch 17, p 299-317
Oct 1 Opera seria *La clemenza di Tito* Read Heartz—Ch 18, p 319-41	Oct 3 Opera buffa Influences Pergolesi & La serva padrona (Chad) Galuppi & Il mondo alla roversa Read Downs—Ch 5, 94-95; Ch 10, p 180-84, 193-96; Ch 15, p 286-93; Ch 17, p 323-25; Ch 22, p 398-403, 407-15
Oct 8 Opera buffa Piccinni & La buona figliola (Bennie) *La finta giardiniera* Read Downs—Ch 16, p 299; Ch 17, p 323-24	Oct 10 Opera buffa Lorenzo da Ponte (Peter) Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (Patrice) *Le nozze di Figaro* Read Downs—Ch 26, 0p 528-35 Read Heartz—Ch 6, p 107-21; Ch 7, p 123-31
Oct 15 Opera buffa Nancy Storace (Leslie) *Le nozze di Figaro* Read Heartz—Ch 8, p 133-55	Oct 17 Opera buffa Carlo Goldoni (Cory) *Il Don Giovanni* Read Downs—Ch 26, p 535-41 Read Heartz—Ch 9, p 157-77; Ch 11, p 195-205
Oct 22 Opera buffa Prague National Theater (Neil) *Il Don Giovanni* Read Heartz—Ch 10, p 179-93; Ch 12, p 207-15	Oct 24 Opera buffa Adriana Ferrarese del Bene (Erin) *Così fan tutte* Read Downs—Ch 26, p 539-42 Read Heartz—Ch 13, p 217-227
Oct 29 Opera buffa Cimarosa & Il matrimonio segreto (Bennie) *Così fan tutte* Read Heartz—Ch 14, p 229-53	Oct 31 Singspiel Influences John Gay & The Beggar’s Opera (Cory) Rousseau & Le devin du village (Patrice) Read Downs—Ch 5, p 102-04; Ch 10, p 193-96; Ch 22, p 416-20
Nov 5 Singspiel Aloysia Lange (Leslie) *Bastien und Bastienne* Read Downs—Ch 15, p 290; Ch 17, p 324-25	Nov 7 Singspiel Mozart’s Zaïde (Peter) *Die Entführung aus dem Serail* Read Downs—Ch 25, p 483-85; Ch 26, p 528-30
Nov 12 Singspiel The Burgtheater (Erin) *Die Entführung aus dem Serail* Read Heartz—Ch 4, p 65-88	Nov 14 Singspiel *The Philosopher’s Stone* (Chad) *Die Zauberflöte* Read Downs—Ch 26, p 542-45 Read Heartz—Ch 15, p 255-75
Nov 19 Singspiel Theater auf der Wieden (Neil) *Die Zauberflöte* Read Heartz—Ch 16, p 277-97	Nov 21 Amadeus Project Four Due
Nov 26 Amadeus	Nov 28 Thanksgiving
Dec 3 Amadeus	Dec 5 Amadeus
Dec 11? Final Exam

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Course Policies

Class Participation

Attendance and participation are important. Under normal circumstances, tell me ahead of time if you must miss class. In emergencies, present a note from your doctor, the college health service, or the Dean when you return. You can be absent or late up to two times each without penalty; further lateness or absences will count against your final grade.

Academic Dishonesty

This course follows guidelines published in the E-Book. If you submit someone else’s work, words, or ideas as if they were your own, that is plagiarism, and it may result in a “zero” for the assignment, an “F” for the course, or referral to the Dean of Students. Click here to read the E-Book’s Code of Academic Integrity.

Elmhurst College Disabilities Policy

Elmhurst College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this course, please contact the Director of Advising at 103 Goebel Hall (617-3450).

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Important URLs

Library Special Studies in Music History: Mozart Web Page

EC Web-based Email

Music Department Web Page

Mark Harbold’s Web Page

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How to Find Me

If you need assistance of any kind in this course, please contact me. You can see me during office hours or make an appointment.

Office	Irion 113
Office Hours	MW 1:30-2:30 TTh 2:30-3:30
Email	markh@elmhurst.edu
Phone	630.617.3521
Fax	630.617.3738

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Page created 07/29/02 by Mark Harbold—last updated 12/04/02.