510758 - MUSIC AND MEDIA STUDIES

courses

ID:

510758

Duration (hours):

36

CFU:

SSD:

MUSICOLOGIA E STORIA DELLA MUSICA

Located in:

CREMONA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (02/03/2026 - 12/06/2026)

Course Objectives

The course provides a theoretical and methodological framework related to the different modes of interaction between music and media in the 20th and 21st centuries. At the end of the course the student will be able to deal with the study and analysis of the sound component of the main contemporary media, identifying the elements of continuity and discontinuity in historical perspective.

Course Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of music history and the basic elements of audiovisual language; basic language skills useful for understanding complex texts.

Teaching Methods

Lectures accompanied by multimedia materials analysis and seminar activities.

Assessment Methods

The exam consists of a written paper (to be agreed with the teacher) and on a subsequent oral part in which the knowledge of the assigned bibliography and the ability to discuss the case studies addressed during the course will be checked. The following elements will be involved in determining the final grade: mastery of the subject matter, ability to apply the knowledge acquired, and accuracy of terminology.

Texts

The following texts are recommended for initial guidance: - Arved Ashby, Absolute Music, Mechanical Reproduction, University of California Press, Berkeley-Los Angeles-London 2010. - Philip Auslander, Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture, Routledge, London 2008. - Gianmario Borio, Giovanni Giuriati, Alessandro Cecchi, Marco Lutzu (a cura di), Investigating Musical Performance: Theoretical Models and Intersections, Routledge, London-New York 2020. - Garreth P. Broesche, Glenn Gould, Spliced: Investigating the Filmmaking Analogy, «Music Theory Online», XXII, 4, dicembre 2016. - Antonio Cascelli, Christopher Morris (a cura di), Re-envisaging Music: Listening in the Visual Age, «Chigiana. Journal of Musicological Studies», LI, 2021. - Alessandro Cecchi (a cura di), La musica fra testo, performance e media forme e concetti dell'esperienza musicale, Neoclassica, Roma 2019. - Carmelo Di Gennaro, Glenn Gould. L’immaginazione al pianoforte, LIM, Lucca 1999. - Michela Garda, Eleonora Rocconi (a cura di), Registrare la performance: Testi, modelli, simulacri tra memoria e immaginazione, Pavia University Press, Pavia 2016. - Ben Winters, Music, Performance, and the Realities of Film: Shared Concert Experiences in Screen Fiction, Routledge, London–New York 2014. The final bibliography to be prepared for the oral exam will be provided during class.

The course offers a reflection on the various forms of interaction between music and media that have transformed the modes and contexts of listening in the contemporary landscape. Focusing on key historical and theoretical issues, the first part of the lectures aims to provide analytical tools for the study of the sonic component of both old and new media. The second part of the course will have a monographic character and will be devoted to the processes of mediatization of musical performance. Through the analysis of exemplary case studies, we will examine the transformations of performative languages and formats, practices of recording and transmission, the forms of thematization of performance in audiovisual production (both fiction and non-fiction), as well as the role of technologies and media in redefining the live experience. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between aesthetic dimensions, reproduction devices, and strategies of performance representation, in a constant balance between theoretical research and the observation of creative practices.

Course Language

Italian

More information

Due to the nature of the course, class attendance is highly recommended. Non-attending students must contact the teacher to define the program. For all students, teaching will be in presence (except in cases of major force). However, according to the resolution of the academic governing bodies, inclusive teaching methods will be implemented upon request for some categories of students during the course: online reception, materials on the kiro platform and any seminars. However, it is essential that interested students report their situation in time to be able to benefit from it.