CLASSICAL MUSIC IN AN AGE OF
POP
Eastman, Spring 2008
Greg Sandow
home phone: 212 974-6914
cell: 917 797-4265
website
(soon to be updated)
blog on the
future of classical music
in-progress
online book on the future of classical music
Course outline:
The crisis in
classical music: How bad is it? Will
the audience disappear? Will classical music institutions go out of business?
Should we change the way we present classical music, and even the way we play
it?
Classical
music history; Was classical music
always as formal as it is now? (Hint: the answer is no.)
How can we
fix the crisis? Can we bring
classical music to a new audience? We’ll try to develop some ideas.
Assignments (full details on a separate handout):
You’ll have reading and listening assignments related
to the topics we discuss. You’ll also have one informal short paper to write, a
presentation to make in class, and a take-home final exam. But this is a course
in questions, not answers, so the most important part of our work will be the discussions
we have in class.
How you’re graded:
Again, the most
important part of this course is class discussion, in which all of us
(including me) can work out our thoughts on the issues we’ll confront. So a
large part of your grade will be based on class participation, though the
papers and exam also count. Because class discussion is so important — and
because we meet only seven times! — there’s no point taking this course if you
can’t come to every class. If for some special reason you have to miss a class,
you must let me know in advance, and
make some arrangement to do extra work. If you miss classes without speaking to
me, you’ll lower your grade, and you might lose credit for the course.