Course Details

How do we experience live music? What have writers, philosophers, and artists said about its power? This experiential learning course will introduce students to the Winter 2013 season at the Seattle Symphony. Students will complete readings and short writing assignments over the quarter, based on their attendance at a series of pre-selected concerts held at roughly two-week intervals throughout the quarter. We will also engage with musicians and other artistic staff at Benaroya Hall for their insights into programming, performance, and other topics.

The concerts and dates are as follows (and note that students will be required to attend at least five of the six scheduled concerts; the bonus concert can be used as a make-up if necessary). The cost will be $12 per concert and each student will be asked to sign up for the Symphony’s Campus Club on line. We will collect funds on the first day of class. NOTE that we are still in the process of making arrangements about ticket purchases; feel free to contact Claudia Jensen (cjensen@uw.edu) if you have questions or concerns about paying for the tickets.

The concerts are as follows:

1. Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 (Stravinskii, Suite from Pulcinella; Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No. 1; Mozart, Symphony No. 39)

2. Tuesday, Jan. 22 (a piano recital by Nobuyuki Tsujii featuring Debussy and Chopin, held in the recital hall upstairs at Benaroya; this concert is still somewhat uncertain due to the smaller venue)

3. Thursday, Jan. 31 (Messiaen, Turangalîla Symphony, with a pre-concert gamelan performance and a presentation during the concert to explain this work; it uses an early electronic instrument called an ondes Martinot)

4. Thursday, Feb. 14 (Fauré, Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 21; Ravel, Schéhérazade; Szymanowski, Symphony 4)

Bonus Concert! Friday, Feb. 15 (this is an intimate late-night concert featuring a couple of very recent works and also a performance of the Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire song cycle, for its 100th anniversary; the concert starts at 10 pm, in the lobby of the main hall, so it will be an up close and personal experience. We’ll discuss the specifics of this concert later.)

5. Thursday, Feb. 28 (early works by Mozart, including his Flute Concerto)

6. Thursday, March 14 (Elgar, Enigma Variations; Tippett, Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage; Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1)

There will be no final exam, although students will write a final short essay summarizing their experiences. All writing will be appropriate for the Honors portfolio.