HC 421H—Song and the Music of Poetry
Fall 2015—CRN: 16871
Dr. Stephen Rodgers
MW 2:00–3:20
Room 207 SOMD
Office: Collier 201
Telephone: 346-5589
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: Thursdays from 11–12:30
Course description. Scholars who have written about the relationship between words
and music have focused mainly on how music expresses the semantic content of words,
leaving aside crucial questions about how music relates to the sound of words. In this
class we will explore this understudied aspect of song, and ponder how composers
respond to the rhythms and phonemes of poetry when they set words to music. What
prompts composers to highlight or exaggerate the sonic elements of a poem? How does
the meaning of a poem relate to its materiality—its patterns of consonants and vowels,
its rhythm and meter, its intonational shape, its “music”? And how is the music of
poetry transformed when it comes into contact with the music of song? We will read
some of the most lucid work on the sound patterns of poetry and apply this work to the
analysis of texted music from the 20th and 21st centuries. The main goal of the course is
to offer a broadly interdisciplinary perspective on the diverse ways that these two sound
worlds (poetry and music) interact.
Required materials. All course materials will be handed out in class and/or posted on
the class website as the term progresses.
Class website. blogs.uoregon.edu/songandthemusicofpoetry.
Required work.
Graded assignments (6)
Pass/no-pass assignments (7)
Audio essays (2)
Final exam
40%
25%
20%
15%
Graded assignments. On most Mondays, you will turn in an assignment that involves
some amount of analysis (poetic, musical, or both). You will be expected to turn in a
written reflection on the assigned poems or musical pieces—at least two pages, typed
and double-spaced. Your written reflection may be somewhat informal, but it should be
written in continuous prose, not bullet points. These assignments will be graded
according to the accuracy and detail of your analysis and the depth and insight of your
written reflection.
Pass/no pass assignments. On most Wednesdays, you will turn in an assignment
that involves some amount of reading and a smaller amount of analysis (poetic, musical,
or both). You will be expected to turn in a shorter written reflection—at least one page,
typed and double-spaced, or handwritten. If your written reflection shows a deep
engagement with the material, you will receive a grade of 100. If your reflection is far too
short (a half page or less) or is obviously done hastily and without careful thought, it will
receive a grade of 0.
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Audio essays. Twice during the term (Monday of week 4 and Monday of week 8), you
will turn in a five-page, double-spaced analytical essay. Your essay should be
accompanied by an audio recording of you reading your essay. (The audio component
may also include readings of relevant poems or recordings of musical excerpts.)
Final exam. On Tuesday, December 8 (2:45pm) there will be a final exam. You will be
asked to write freely about a small number of poems, musical excerpts, or short passages
of prose. The main goal of this exam is for you to apply some of the concepts we have
learned over the term by attempting to make sense of a works that you have never seen
or heard before.
Late assignment policy. Assignments are due during the class period for which they
are assigned. Late assignments will not be accepted without a reasonable excuse (illness,
unavoidable travel, etc.).
I will use the following grading scale for all graded work in the course: A+ (99-100), A
(93-98), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (7072), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (59 and below).
Disability. If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing
accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with me soon. Please
request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities send a letter verifying your
disability.
Academic Dishonesty. All work submitted in this course must be your own and
produced exclusively for this course. For the consequences of academic dishonesty, refer
to the Schedule of Classes published quarterly. Violations will be taken seriously and are
noted on student disciplinary records.
Diversity. Maintaining a safe classroom environment where everyone feels
comfortable expressing their ideas, beliefs, and values will not only be my responsibility,
but the responsibility of each class member as well. Behavior that disregards or
diminishes another student will not be permitted for any reason. This means that no
racist, ableist, transphobic, xenophobic, chauvinistic or otherwise derogatory comments
will be allowed, but it also means that students must pay attention and listen
respectfully to each other’s comments.
Writing Lab. Academic Learning Services, 68 PLC, 346-3226)
Assistance by drop-in and by appointment, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday, 72 PLC
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Course schedule (subject to revision)
Week 1—Poetic Rhythm and Meter
Monday, September 28
Wednesday, September 30
Reading: Kennedy/Gioia, An Introduction to Poetry (“Rhythm”)
Analysis: drawn from Blake, “I Went to the Garden of Love”; Hardy, “During Wind and
Rain”; Jonson, “His Excuse for Loving”; Peele, “Betsabe’s Song”
P/NP assignment #1 due (reading response and commentary on selected
poems)
Week 2—Phonemes
Monday, October 5
Graded assignment #1 due (extended analysis of one or two poems,
focusing on rhythm and meter)
Wednesday, October 7
Reading: Kennedy/Gioia, An Introduction to Poetry (“Sound”); Pinsky, The Sounds of
Poetry (“Like and Unlike Sounds”)
Analysis: drawn from Campion, “Rose-cheeked Laura”; Shakespeare, “Full Fathom
Five”; Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”; cummings, “The Sky Was”; Hopkins, “Spring
and Fall”; Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death”; Housman, “Eight
O’Clock”
P/NP assignment #2 due (reading response and commentary on selected
poems)
Week 3—Poetic Sound and Meaning
Monday, October 12
Graded assignment #2 due (extended analysis of one or two poems,
focusing on phonemes)
Wednesday, October 14
Reading: Dworkin, “The Poetry of Sound”; Abrams, “The Fourth Dimension of a Poem”
Analysis: drawn from Tennyson, “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal”; Agee, “Sure on This
Shining Night”; Auden, “On This Island”; Ammons, “Mansion”; Whitman, “When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
P/NP assignment #3 due (reading response and commentary on selected
poems)
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Week 4—Musical Rhythm and Meter
Monday, October 19
Audio Essay #1 due (5-page essay on a single poem)
Wednesday, October 21
Reading: Krebs, “Fancy Footwork”; textbook chapter on rhythm and meter
Analysis: drawn from Stanford, The Blue Bird; Paulus, The Day is Done; Schneider,
Perfectly Still This Solstice Morning; Copland, “The Chariot” (from Twelve
Poems of Emily Dickinson); Adams, “Because I could not stop for Death” (from
Harmonium)
P/NP assignment #4 due (reading response and commentary on selected
poems)
Week 5—Musical Rhythm and Meter continued
Monday, October 26
Graded assignment #3 due (extended analysis of a single musical work)
Wednesday, October 28
NO CLASS—I’M OUT OF TOWN AT A CONFERENCE
Week 6—Musical Responses to Phonemes
Monday, November 2
Graded assignment #4 due (extended analysis of two different settings of
the same poem)
Wednesday, November 4
Reading: Rodgers, “The Fourth Dimension of a Song” and “Song and the Music of
Poetry” (selections)
Analysis: drawn from Lansky, Six Fantasies on a Poem by Thomas Campion; Read
Thomas, “Sky Candy Sprouting Violets” (from Two e.e. cummings Songs);
Britten, ‘The Little Old Table” (from Winter Words); Stravinsky, “Quietly Night”
(from The Rake’s Progress); Crumb, “The Night in Silence” (from Apparition);
Berio, “Stinging” (from Circles); Adams, “Negative Love” (from Harmonium)
P/NP assignment #5 due (reading response and commentary on selected
musical excerpts)
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Week 7—Putting it All Together: Interacting Sound Worlds
Monday, November 9
Graded assignment #5 due (extended analysis of a single musical work)
Wednesday, November 11
SKYPE SESSION WITH ELISSA GURALNICK
Reading: Guralnick, “Sound and Song in Poetry”; revisiting Abrams
Analysis: Britten and Rorem settings of “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal”; Britten and
Bolcom settings of “God’s Grandeur”
P/NP assignment #6 due (response and commentary on selected musical
excerpts)
Week 8—Special Case Studies, Experimentation and Innovation
Monday, November 16
Audio Essay #2 due (5-page essay on a single musical work)
Wednesday, November 18
Reading: TBA
Analysis: drawn from Jacob TV, “The Garden of Love”; Zaimont, “The Garden of Love”;
Babbitt, Philomel; Feldman, The O’Hara Songs; Pinsky, jazz improvisation on
“His Excuse for Loving”
P/NP assignment #7 due (commentary on selected musical excerpts)
Week 9—Special Case Studies continued
Monday, November 23
Graded assignment #6 due (extended analysis of a selected musical work)
Wednesday, November 25
NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Week 10—TBD
Monday, November 30
Wednesday, December 2
Final Exam: Tuesday, December 8, 2:45pm
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