Studying at York
On Late Style - MUS00123I
- Department: Music
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
This project will explore the concept of ‘late style’ in music from Bach to Ligeti. We will consider features of the music itself; social and historical conceptions of old age and creativity; and intersections between music and other arts.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
The last works of well-known composers (and painters, and writers) often seem to acquire a semi-mythic status, an aura of some kind – the footfall of impending death or transfiguration. This status often says as much about the surrounding culture as it does about the music: for Beethoven’s contemporaries, his last works were tainted by the limitations imposed by his deafness, whilst for later thinkers such as Adorno they seemed to point to a creative mind that had somehow gone beyond its time and spoken a direct challenge into the modern era.
Unsurprisingly, then, it is very difficult to pin down ‘late style’ as a compositional category. Is it about a creative artist coming to terms with their own mortality, or attempting to transcend it? Is it about leaving a calm and measured musical ‘last will and testament’, or deliberately ‘raging against the dying of the light’? Is it meaningless to talk about the ‘late works’ of Mozart or Schubert, given that they died before even reaching their forties? We will use the concept of late style as a lens to explore connections between music, society, philosophy and other art forms, in repertoire stretching from Bach to Ligeti. The module will be taught through lectures, group discussions and student seminars, with an opportunity for students to produce creative responses to issues of lateness alongside their written work.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the taught part of the project you should:
- Understand key concepts and terminology surrounding issues of lateness in music and other arts;
- Demonstrate familiarity with the work of crucial thinkers in the field, such as Edward Said, Theodor Adorno and Linda and Michael Hutcheon, and the debates surrounding their writings;
- Be able to analyse musical responses to ‘late style’ in the last works of a chosen composer;
- Be able to reflect upon the intersections between music, society, and other art forms in the context of ideas of ‘lateness’;
- Have developed their presentation skills through seminars and discussion groups.
On completion of the module, in your independent work, you should demonstrate learning outcomes B1-B7, B9 & B10.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 | A |
| Essay/coursework | 100 | B |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Option 1: An essay of approximately 3000 words on a topic of the student's choice agreed in tutorial.
Option 2: A portfolio of creative work (composition, performance, analysis, or other devised materials as agreed with the module tutor), accompanied by a shorter essay (c. 1500-2000 words) that contextualises the creative work. The folio could explore aspects of the late style of a particular composer, for example, or overlaps between late style and other art forms, or indeed composed transformations of existing materials in a 'late' manner. The exact makeup of the folio and the weighting of various elements will be agreed with the module tutor in advance of submission.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 | A |
| Essay/coursework | 100 | B |
Module feedback
You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
Hutcheon, Linda and Michael. Four Last Songs: Aging and Creativity in Verdi, Strauss, Messiaen, and Britten. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.
Painter, Karen, and Thomas Crow, eds. Late Thoughts: Reflections on Artists and Composers at Work. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2006.
Said, Edward W. On Late Style: Music and Literature against the Grain. New York: Pantheon, 2006.
Smiles, Sam, and Gordon McMullan, eds. Late Style and Its Discontents: Essays in Art, Literature, and Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Straus, Joseph N. ‘Disability and ‘Late Style’ in Music’. The Journal of Musicology 25 no. 1 (2008): 3–45.
Additional texts on specific composers tbc.