HIS 239 - Tyrants and Tunesmiths: Opera, Politics, and Society in Modern Europe

4 credits (Fall or Spring)

This course examines the complex relationship between operatic production and political power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in several national contexts including France, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union. We consider specific interactions among composers, politicians, and institutions and seek to understand how such engagements shaped both the works themselves and the political and social realities around them in the processes of inception, performance, and reception.

Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in English, French, or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Maynard