Unit information: The Romantic Imagination in 2023/24

Unit name	The Romantic Imagination
Unit code	MUSI20121
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Arkle
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

What function does the imagination play in our appreciation of music? This research seminar will consider the claims of the early romantics for music as a ‘pure’ art form, to be listened to with reverence, in relation to the tenacious hold of narrative, and the explosion in visual technologies that both mediated musical perception and permeated the language used to discuss its effects. Through a series of case studies we will explore music’s ability to evoke different voices, to negotiate between real and imaginary worlds, to move back and forwards through time and to engage our imaginations. And we will consider the critical strategies of historical commentators and modern scholars as well as our own responses. The main aims will be to understand ways in which music works in relation to other arts; and the meanings that emerge from the gap between music and its ‘texts’. Classes will include discussion, debates and listening/viewing.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. recognise the various forms, contexts and functions of music in relation to other arts during the romantic era
2. understand and comment on the works selected for the unit
3. provide a good overview of the strategies of nineteenth-century commentators writing about music’s effects
4. present good knowledge of the scholarly literature and methodologies around music’s effect
5. contextualise nineteenth-century writings about music
6. construct coherent arguments in written form appropriate to level I
7. present information and coherent critique in verbal form appropriate to level I

How you will learn

Weekly two-hour lecture-seminar

How you will be assessed

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)

• Essay, 2,500 words (60%). [ILO 1 - 6]

• Video presentation, 10 minutes (40%). [ILO 1, 3, 4, 5, 7]

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MUSI20121).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.