Unit information: Heirs and Rebels? Vaughan Williams and Holst in 2013/14

Unit name	Heirs and Rebels? Vaughan Williams and Holst
Unit code	MUSI29008
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Heldt
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Close colleagues and friends (albeit not always uncritical of each other), sharing interests in folksong, early music, the development of musical life in Britain, mysticism (albeit of rather different kinds) and socialism, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst were at the centre of crucial developments in British art music just after 1900 - Vaughan Williams increasingly close to the institutional centre of that musical life, Holst in a more marginal position as a music teacher and adult educator. But the musical consequences they drew from seemingly similar perspectives show both obvious parallels and drastic differences (which puzzled the two themselves). In comparing both their careers and their music across different genres and decades, we can trace key ideological battle lines of the 'English Musical Renaissance' (and listen to and analyse and think about a lot of wonderful music).

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this unit will enable students to do the following:

1. position the careers and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst in the context of the compositional, institutional, social and ideological
2. position the careers and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst in the context of the compositional, institutional, social and ideological history of art music in Britain in the first half of the 20th century;
3. learn, through the case studies of Vaughan Williams and Holst, about crucial developments of art-music history in Britain during that time;
4. sharpen their analytical awareness by comparative analyses of the music of the two composers.

Teaching Information

Weekly 2 hour seminars for the whole cohort (levels I/5 & H/6).

Assessment Information

All the assessment is summative.

• 1x2,500-word essay (50%);
• 1x 2-hour exam (50%).

Both the essay and the exam will demonstrate learning outcomes (1) and (2), with the essay in particular providing an opportunity for the students to demonstrate learning outcomes (3) and (4).

Reading and References

1. Byron Adams & Robin Wells (eds.): Vaughan Williams Essays. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003.
2. Alain Frogley (ed.): Vaughan Williams Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
3. Imogen Holst: ‘The Music of Gustav Holst’ and ‘Holst’s Music Reconsidered’. Oxford 31986.