Music in Outer Space
MUSC 248
Spring 2023
| Section:
01
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Very few people have traveled out of the Earth's atmosphere, but many composers have voyaged extensively in the conceptual realms of outer space. Throughout human history, musicians have been inspired by the "harmony of the spheres," knowledge of the universe, celestial bodies, and planetary motion. From Pythagorus, Boethius, Philippe de Vitry, John Dunstaple, Johannes Kepler, Gustav Holst, Györgi Ligeti, John Cage, Judith Weir, Alvin Lucier, Brian Eno, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sun Ra, and Jeff Mills to the 1977 Voyager Golden Record, Hawkwind, David Bowie, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, John Williams, Kraftwerk, and the Beastie Boys, we explore the importance of constellations to musical creativity, and the ways in which cosmic sounds have influenced artists. The course will approach the topic through various interpretative lenses. Readings are drawn from a wide range of sources--theoretical, scientific, poetic, and experiential. Discussion topics will include theories relating to the music of the spheres, the study of geometry and proportion, astro-acoustics, sonification, the use of metaphor (in naming the planets in our solar system, lunar and solar imagery), and the influence of imagined and documented sounds of space on composers past and present. Students will each construct their own soundscape of space in the near future. Musicians, astronomers, theorists, and composers: All are welcome. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (MUSC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
TBA
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Examinations and Assignments:
ASSESSMENT: Students will be graded on a range of activities, as well as class discussion.
Grade breakdown:
Reading summaries (uploaded to Moodle) 15%
2 synthesis papers of 1000 words 20%
Sound image of the cosmos project 20%
final presentation 10%
Proposal and bibliography 5%
Final research paper (4000 words) 30% |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Course Objectives:
- To gain familiarity with the diversity of music inspired by outer space
- To understand some of the reasons that composers turned to cosmology
- To explore the collaborations/overlaps of musicians and astronomers
- To consider celestial motion as a form of design, or a mode of rationalizing
- To develop musicological ways of analyzing phenomena
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| Instructor(s): Alden,Jane Times: .M.W... 10:50AM-12:10PM; Location: MST301; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 6 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: 2 | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 3 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 1 |
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