Introduction to Russian Classical Music

About this course:

This course presents an overview of Russian classical music, from its origins in the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Besides familiarizing North American audience with the shared Western European traditions and specificities of Russian musical culture, our exploration goes beyond the foundational conception of what Russian culture is through the study of classical music. We consider critical texts by Russian authors on topics of nationalism, politics of identity, and pedagogy and aesthetics to understand the cultural values and worldviews of Russians. More specifically, we look at the lives and works of Michail Glinka, Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky, Mily Balakirev, Aleksandr Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Sergey Taneyev, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Miaskovsky, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov, Igor Kefalidis, and others. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.