Musical Semiology
Code: 100667 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500240 Musicology | OT | 3 | 1 |
| 2500240 Musicology | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Santos Martinez Trabal
- Email:
- santos.martinez@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
The subjects "Llenguatge musical I", "Llenguatge musical II" and "Anàlisi musical" must have been previously studied.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Since the 1960s to the present, there are several practices and knowledge that are identified under the terms semiology or semiotics of music. Despite the absence of a unified theoretical framework, what is shared is the fact of putting in the first place concepts like sign or meaning and the reflection on musical meaning, always from an interdisciplinary perspective.
The subject presents the main currents of musical semiology, relating them to the different sign theories that are taken as a starting point, proposing guidelines and strategies for the practice of musical analysis.
Competences
- Musicology
- Critically analyse musical works from any of the points of view of the discipline of musicology.
- Relate concepts and information from different humanistic, scientific and social disciplines, especially the interactions which are established between music and philosophy, history, art, literature and anthropology.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Learning Outcomes
- "Correctly apply the concept of the musical ""gesture""."
- Apply the conceptualisation of philosophy, history, literature and anthropology to musical research.
- Correctly apply the analytical method of tripartition.
- Correctly apply the concept of the process of communication and signification.
- Correctly relate procedures of semiology with theories of musical rhetoric.
- Define the concept of narratology in music and its different modes of application to music.
- Define the foundations of semiotic analysis using the models of Peirce and Greimas.
- Discern and apply theories of inferencegeneration in its application to musical language.
- Draw hermaneutic conclusions from the analysis of scores, applying different analytical methods.
- Identify the social pracitces of music and its interpretation from a semiological standpoint.
- Integrate knowledge acquired in the production of clear and concise appropriate to the academic and specialist communication.
- Make correct application of the methodology of semiotic analysis to interrelate music with other artistic languages (painting, sculpture and others).
- Make correct use of the concept of the musical symbol and sign.
- Produce correct, precise and clear argumental and terminological writing of knowledge acquired, both in the area of musical specialisation and dissemination.
- Solving problems autonomously.
- Summarising acquired knowledge about the origin and transformations experienced in its several fields of study.
- Understand the propedeutic use of musical analysis, especially in its semiological appraoch.
- Use analytical methodology setting out from the establishment of the musical topos.
- Use the appropriate terminology in the construction of an academic text.
Content
1. Historical introduction to the theory of signs.
2. The origins of musical semiology.
3. Main trends of musical semiotics.
4. Music and narrative.
5. Intertextuality.
Methodology
Theoretical classes will be combined with several practical activities that can be individual or collective.
Various musical works will be analyzed in class and text comments related to the contents of the subject will be carried out.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Masterclass | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 12, 1, 4, 3, 17, 14, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 19, 10, 11, 18, 5, 15, 16 |
| Tutorials | 7 | 0.28 | 14, 19, 11, 15, 16 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Seminars for debate on readings | 13 | 0.52 | 2, 12, 1, 4, 3, 17, 14, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 19, 10, 11, 18, 5, 15, 16 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Carrying out work | 40 | 1.6 | 2, 4, 17, 14, 9, 13, 19, 10, 11, 15, 16 |
| Search for information | 15 | 0.6 | 14, 11, 15, 16 |
| Study and reading articles | 39 | 1.56 | 2, 1, 3, 17, 14, 7, 8, 9, 13, 19, 11, 18, 15, 16 |
Assessment
There will be two written tests, one in half and the other at the end of the semester, the result of each of which will represent 30% of the overall score.
A compulsory group work will be carried out on a topic that will have to be agreed with the teacher. The work note will represent 40% of the overall score.
To pass the course, it will be necessary to approve the work and each of the two written tests with a minimum grade of 5.
The qualifications of the written tests and of the work will be published in the Virtual Campus. At the time the results are published, the revision dates will also be published.
To qualify for the recovery test will be necessary to have passed the mandatory work, and have passed one of the two written tests with a minimum grade of 5. It will not be recoverable that test has not been done within the deadline.
It will not be possible to opt for the consideration "not evaluable" from the moment in which the student is submitted to one of the written tests or deliver the mandatory work.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group task | 40% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 4, 17, 14, 13, 19, 10, 11, 15, 16 |
| Written test 1 | 30 % | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 12, 1, 4, 3, 17, 14, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 19, 10, 11, 18, 5, 15, 16 |
| Written test 2 | 30 % | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 12, 1, 4, 3, 17, 14, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 19, 10, 11, 18, 5, 15, 16 |
Bibliography
Agawu, K. (2012). La música como discurso: Aventuras semióticas en la música romántica. Buenos Aires: Eterna Cadencia Editora.
Almén, B. (2008). A Theory of Musical Narrative. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Altman, R. (2008). A Theory of Narrative. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bal, M. (2019). Teoría de la narrativa. Madrid: Cátedra.
Barthes, R. (1999). Mitologías. México, D.F.: Siglo XXI.
Barthes, R., et al. (1972). La Semiología. Buenos Aires: Tiempo Contemporáneo.
Barthes, R., et al. (2016). Análisis estructural del relato. México, D.F.: Coyoacán.
Cook, N. (1998). Analysing Musical Multimedia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cook, N. (2001). Theorizing Musical Meaning. Music Theory Spectrum, 23, No. 2, 170–195.
Eco, U. (1977). Tratado de semiótica general. Barcelona: Lumen.
Eco, U. (1992). Obra abierta. Barcelona: Planeta.
Eco, U. (2012). El superhombre de masas. Barcelona: Random House Mondadori.
Eco, U. (2013). Apocalípticos e integrados. Barcelona: Fábula
Foucault, M. (2015). El orden del discurso. Barcelona: Tusquets.
Greimas, A. J., & Courtès, J. (1982). Semiótica. Diccionario razonado de la teoría del lenguaje. Madrid: Gredos.
Grimalt, J. (2014). Música i sentits. Introducció a la significació musical. Barcelona: Dux.
Grupo de Entrevernes (1982). Análisis semiótico de los textos. Introducción – Teoría – Práctica. Madrid: Ediciones Cristiandad.
Hatten, R. S. (2004). Interpreting Musical Gestures, Topics and Tropes. Indiana University Press.
López Cano, R. (2012). Música i retórica en el barroco. Barcelona: Amalgama.
Martinez, J. L. (2001). Semiótica de la música: una teoría basada en Peirce. Signa. Revista de la Asociación Española de Semiótica 10.
Nattiez, J. J (1990). Music and Discourse. Toward a Semiology of Music. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Neumeyer, D. (2015). Meaning and Interpretation of Music in Cinema. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Peirce, C. S. (2007). La lógica considerada como semiótica. El índice del pensamiento peirceano. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.
Propp, V. (2014). Morfología del cuento. Madrid: Akal.
Saussure, F. de. (1991). Curso de lingüística general. Madrid: Akal.
Sebeok, T. (1996). Signos: Una introducción a la semiótica. Barcelona: Paidós.
Stam, R. (2001). Teorías del cine. Una introducción. Barcelona: Paidós.
Tagg, P. (2013). Music's Meanings. New York: The Mass Media Music Scholars' Press.
Tarasti, E. (1994). A Theory of Musical Semiotics. Indiana University Press.
Software
It is not planned to use any specific software for teaching.