MUS31340 Music Theatre

Academic Year 2020/2021

This module will introduce students to the history and structure of music theatre with a special focus on opera, one of the most sophisticated and complex art forms of the last centuries. Participants will learn how music theatre "works"; how different voice registers are always typecast, how action and introspection regularly alternate, and how music, acting and staging work together (or sometimes don't) to create the grand operatic illusion. Opera is always a mirror of its time - its plots, its characters and of course the music reveal much about the respective time it was written in and the timelessness of love and power struggles. THe module will also engage with other types of music theatre, including musical and operetta, but also non-European ones such as Chinese opera.
The module is divided into separate components that focus on lectures (two hours per week) and discussion/group work (one hour per week). During the lecture component, one opera will be looked at each week. In the discussion component students will work in groups on the adaptation of a book or movie of their choice into a piece of music theatre, producing an outline of how the plot would work on stage, which voice registers would be allocated to the characters etc.
The class will attend the dress rehearsal of Puccini's "La bohème" produced by Irish National Opera in February, as well as interviewing its director and/or conductor.
The assessment strategy includes an end-of-trimester essay that is based on material discussed in the lecture component (2,500 words; 40% of the overall grade), a group presentation related to the adaptation component in weeks 10 & 11 (35% of the overall grade) and a review of a music theatre performance (1,000 words; 25%).

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

- Students will have acquired a general knowledge of the history of music theatre in Europe from its beginning around 1600 until today.
- Students will be able to distinguish different subgenres of opera (opera seria, opera buffa, music drama, grand opera etc.), as well as different types of music featuring in an opera (recitative, aria, melodrama etc.).
- Students will have an understanding of non-European types of music theatre
- Students will be able to analyse the interaction of music, staging and acting.
- Students will have acquired methodological tools to analyse different productions of the same piece as usually two different productions of each work are compared.
- Students will have realised how music theatre reflects the social and cultural conditions of its time.
- Students will get insights into the practical production of opera through our collaboration with Irish National Opera.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

36
Total

36
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
- lectures
- active / task-based learning
- group work
- critical writing
- reflective learning
- debates 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: Essay (1,500 words) on a particular piece of music theatre previously discussed in class. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

40
Group Project: Adaptation of a book or movie as an opera. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

35
Continuous Assessment: Review (1,000 words) of an operatic performance. Week 5 n/a Graded No

25

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Individually to students and groups, post-assessment.