| Unit name | Monastic Cultures |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI39010 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Hornby |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will provide an overview of the contribution of archaeology and music to the cultures of western monasticism, focussing on the Middle Ages. On the archaeological side, it will focus particularly on the survey and excavation of sites, buildings and landscapes, and their associated material culture, On the musical side, the characteristics of liturgy and liturgical books will form a background to discussion of the musical language used for chant, and the genres within which it is organised. The two disciplines will come together in understanding spaces, as not just empty places but also as soundscapes within these complex institutions. The module will be organised through the archaeological and musical characteristics associated with the desert fathers, the Benedictines, the new orders of Augustinians, Cistercians and Carthusians, and the mendicant orders of Dominicans and Franciscans. Female cloistered piety will also form a part of our investigations.
By the end of the module, students are expected to (1) have an integrated understanding of the ways in which archaeological and musical evidence interact in our understanding of medieval monastic cultures (2) good knowledge of the historical, political, economic and social contexts in which the monastic buildings and artefacts (including musical ones) came into being (3) write critically and perceptively about the archaeology and/or music of medieval monasticism, using appropriate language and terminology
And additionally (specific to Levels H and M) to: (4) engage with, and perhaps critique, the theoretical constructs that underpin different scholarly interpretations of music and/or archaeology of this period (5) display to a high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control
6 x 2-hour lecture-discussion sessions; 2 x 1-hour lecture-discussion sessions; 4 x 1-hour seminars. These will comprise paired presentations prepared by BA students and single (assessed) presentations prepared by MA students, plus follow-up discussion and feedback. Each session will be chaired and led by one of Emma Hornby, Mark Horton, or a postgraduate teaching assistant, with each teacher spending at least one session with each group. Max seminar size 15 1 x 2-hour tutorial for the MA in Music and MA in Medieval Studies students; 1 Fieldtrip (full day, to key examples of monastic sites near to Bristol).
Level H: 1) Essay (general topic). 3000 words (50%) 2) Essay (specific topic, relating to a particular site, church, manuscript, musical genre, artefact, or group of artefacts) 3000 words (50%).
The first essay will demonstrate a more limited knowledge of (1) and (2), as well as (5). The second essay will use (3) to demonstrate (1), (2), (4) and (5).
Stalley, Roger, 1999. Early Medieval Architecture. OUP Blair J. 2005 The Church in Anglo Saxon Society. Sarah Foot 2006 Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England 600 - 900 David Hiley, Gregorian chant (Cambridge, 2009) John Harper, The Forms and Orders of the Western Liturgy (Oxford, 1991) David Hiley, Western Plainchant: A handbook (Oxford, 1991)
