LANDSCAPE MUSIC

Course Description

Throughout history, composers have taken inspiration from things seen, whether in nature, painting, sculpture, or everyday objects. In this seminar, students will explore ways of bringing LANDSCAPE into their own music, focusing on images and/or experiences related to Water, Wind, Earth, and Light, or more generally on the landscape that surrounds us. We will examine works that are written in response to the experience of landscape, including (whenever possible) the composers’ own commentary on the creation of them. The primary assignment for this class will be steady and disciplined work on the final project, an original composition for three to five players chosen from an ensemble to be determined collectively.

Optional Text

David Rothenberg and Marta Ulvaeus, eds., The Book of Music and Nature Wesleyan University Press