Nineteenth-Century Pianism: History, Works, & Performance Practices

This seminar narrows the divide between performance and musicology. With nineteenth-century pianism as an extended case study, this course will explore representative and less common composers, works, and performers. Subtopics will include historical performance practices, notation, critical editions, period pianos, hermeneutics, recording analysis, and the cultural politics of performing and listening. Students will hone writing, research, and performance skills through a variety of assignments, seminar discussions, and in-class exercises, culminating with a lecture-recital. Possible field trips will include Stanford's Archive of Recorded Sound and selected live performances. Prerequisites: Intermediate to advanced performance ability; intermediate or higher music theory.