Learning objectives
At the end of the course students will have THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING of the essential historical lines of 20th-century music. They will then be able to identify the most appropriate texts to deepen the specific research fields of their study paths with JUDGMENT AUTONOMY. They will have acquired the necessary KNOWLEDGE TO APPLY to critical listening of music as an artistic expression and form of knowledge and expression of thought. Without requiring analytical and technical skills in music, however, it is necessary to acquire sufficient COMMUNICATION SKILLS to describe the experience of listening to music with correct terminology. Students will also acquire the LEARNING SKILLS needed to understand piece of music in order to identify their particular traits and traditions.
Prerequisites
No prerequisite beyond normal literary and historical formation guaranteed by upper secondary school. In particular, no previous music training is required.
Course unit content
Musical sound in the twentieth century. The music of the last century has radically modified the concept of musical sound, and also forced the language to reassess the distinctions between 'sound' and 'noise'. The course studies this transformation and the idea of sound as an artistic material. It focuses on electronic sound and manipulation / transformation of sound in electroacoustic laboratories and recording studios. Thus, through the examination of the historical path, he identifies aspects shared by different genres and musical styles, between academic music and popular music, artistic research and sound design.
Full programme
1. Paolo Russo, In ascolto. Mappe sonore per la storia della musica, Lucca, LIM, 2022, capitoli 1, 9, 15, 20-24
2. “Enciclopedia della musica”, I: “Il Novecento”, a cura di J-J. Nattiez, Torino, Einaudi, 2001, le voci: Marc Battier, “Laboratori”, pp. 406-419, Franco Fabbri, “La canzone”, pp. 551-568, Luca Marconi, “Muzak, “Jingle”, videoclips”, pp. 675-700
3. Virgilio Bernardoni, Paolo Fabbri, “Musica e società”, III: “Dal 1830 al 2000”, Lucca, LIM, 2016, capitoli: Nicola Bizzaro, “Nuove musiche”, pp. 414-447, Ida De Benedictis, “Le nuove frontiere del suono”, pp. 500-525, Franco Fabbri, “La popular music”, 615-638
4. Agostino Di Scipio, Da un'esperienza in ascolto di phonè e logos: Testo, suono e struttura in Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) di Berio, “Il Saggiatore musicale”, 2000, VII/2, 2000, pp. 325-359
5. Franco Fabbri, Don’t Bore us – Get to the Chorus: serve la “noia” alle canzoni?, in Musical Signification, between Rhetoric and Pragmatics. Proceedings of the 5th international Congress on Musical Signification, a cura di Gino Stefani, Eero Tarasti, Luca Marconi, Bologna, CLUEB, 1998, pp. 103-113
6. Serge Lacasse, Messa in scena vocale e funzione narrativa in “Front Row” di Alanis Morissette, in Analisi della popular music, a cura di Roberto d’Agostini e Luca Marconi, «Rivista di analisi e teoria musicale» 2002/2, pp. 154-179
7. Lelio Camilleri, Suono e immagini: l’audiovisione e Intreccio sonoro e intreccio audiovisivo in Id, Il peso del suono. Forme d'uso del sonoro ai fini comunicativi, Milano, Apogeo, 2005, rispettivamente alle pp. 71-101 e 141-177.
8. Francesco Gazzara, I processi creativi della musica nel messaggio pubblicitario radiotelevisivo, “Nuova rivista musicale italiana”, a. 29 (1995), n. 2, pp. 273-286
9. Francesco D'Amato, Uno “sguardo” all’audio branding in Italia, in “Comunicazionepuntodoc”, XVI, 2017, pp. 321-332 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322888083_Uno_sguardo_all%27audio_branding_in_Italia_Processi_di_istituzionalizzazione_e_difficolta_di_legittimazione)
10. Angelo Maria Farro, La musica scomposta, in Musica elettronica e sound design. Atti della giornata di studi, Avellino, 20 giugno 2015, a cura di Alba Francesca Battista e Antonio Caroccia, Avellino, Conservatorio Cimarosa, 2016, pp. 19-26 (https://issuu.com/conservatoriodomenicocimarosa/docs/definitivo)
11. The student has to choose one these books:
- Andrea Del Castello, Il videoclip: musicologia e dintorni dai Pink Floyd a Youtube, 45-80
or
- Jean-Rémy Julien, Musica e pubblicità. Dai gridi medioevali ai jingle radiotelevisivi, Milano, Ricordi, 2003, Settimo percorso: Studio semiologico, pp. 278-369
or
- Jacopo Tomatis, Storia culturale della canzone italiana, Milano, Il saggiatore, 2019, pp. 329-390; 427-451
or
- Michel Chion, L’audiovisione. Suono e immagine nel cinema. Torino, Lindau, 2001
- Listening of at least 15 musical works of nineteenth century chose between those discussed during the lessons or in the bibliography and different in genre, and musical traditions
- a short relations (3 pages maximum) about the workshops.
The not attendant students will listen 30 musical works discussed in the bibliography and, morover the bibliography for attendant sutdents, will study also
Michel Chion, L’audiovisione. Suono e immagine nel cinema. Torino, Lindau, 2001
Da “Enciclopedia della musica” I: “Il Novecento”, cit.: Marc Battier, “La scienza e la tecnologia come fonti d’inspirazione”, pp. 360-79
Alessandro Arbo, “Breve storia del rumore, da Rousseau a Grisey”, in «Musicalia», I, 2004, pp. 29-51
(http://www.libraweb.net/articoli.php?chiave=200405201&rivista=52)
Instead of Workshops, they will study also:
- the handouts of ing. Campanini that you can find in Elly platform and
- William Moyland, L’arte della registrazione Comprendere e creare la qualità sonora, Milano, Hoepli, 2002: “Ascolto e valutazione del suono da parte dei professionisti dell’audio”, pp. 77-89; “Estetica e registrazione”, pp. 221-233; “Elaborazioni artistiche finali e panoramica sulle sequenze della produzione musicale”, pp. 273-286.
Bibliography
The bibligraphy is too complex to be contained in this box. It is shown below, under the heading "extended program".
Teaching methods
During the lessons, mainly frontal moments will alternate with interactive moments with the students about video or audio examples proposed: ample space will in fact be dedicated to the direct experience of listening, from which the teacher will take the lead for analysis, comments and insights. During the lessons, the terminology necessary for a summary analytical description of the listening experiences will be proposed and illustrated. Useful materials for attending the course will be deposited on the ELLY platform.
Three workshops of 12 hours each are scheduled, dedicated respectively about recording music, psychoacoustics, and the use of music in advertising.
Assessment methods and criteria
The test will consist of an oral interview at the end of the course according to the official calendar appointed by the Department. The interview will concern on the bibliography indicated after the first lessons, and at least fifteen Nineteenth Century music pieces chosen by the student among these discussed in the lessons or in the bibliography. The interview will verify the understanding of the texts listed in bibliography; it will also verify the student's ability to navigate in the musical structures of the works chosen: the students will therefore have to listen to them more than once while studying the critical texts. Failure to know the works is a cause of insufficiency.
The ability to elaborate further knowledge and to ask the teacher relevant questions will result in excellence.The lack of knowledge of the 15 musical works and the lack of an understanding of the minimum content of the course are cause for failure of the verification. The ability to express oneself adequately, to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as the ability to make independent judgments will be evaluated on a scale of thirty degrees.
The ability to develop further knowledge and to ask the teacher pertinent questions, even during the test, will result excellence. Likewise, the ability of integrated readings and cross-connections between the texts listed in the bibliography will cause excellent results.
