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The touching story of the "inventor of music" who reclaims his beloved Eurydice from death, then loses her again, has inspired poets and musicians for centuries. During this course we will scan history for outcroppings of this myth, reading literary texts from the ancient world, including Virgil and Ovid, as well as the modern poetry of Rilke and Ashbery, and delving into more than 30 operas and musical works devoted to this subject. We will pay particular attention to Claudio Monteverdi's opera, ORFEO; Igor Stravinsky's ballet, ORPHEUS; and Philip Glass's chamber opera, ORPHEE, which uses as its text the actual screenplay of a Jean Cocteau film. In addition to occasional quizzes and a paper, the class will also compose a short theater work with music based on some aspect of this classical Greek myth.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA MUSC Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-30-2006
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459