LECTURES

Musicology Department Lecture Series

Fall 2008

Venus Amidst the Thorns: Zarzuela and the Erotic Politics of Monarchy

Musicology Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Louise K. Stein (Professor, Musicology)

Friday September 5, 5:00 p.m.
Burton Memorial Tower 506

The original meaning of zarzuela was lost amidst the flag waving attached to the genre in the nineteenth century. Invented in the seventeenth century by a libertine producer, the zarzuela was performed in intimate circumstances for the Spanish king at a pleasure palace in the wooded outskirts of Madrid. Baroque zarzuelas present classical deities, comedy, and a spicy serving of eroticism. This lecture will be illustrated with slides and musical examples.

From Contradanza to Son: New Perspectives on the Prehistory of Cuban Popular Music

Musicology Visiting Lecture by Dr. Peter Manuel (CUNY Graduate Center)

Friday September 26, 5:00 p.m.
Burton Memorial Tower 506

The contradanza, in its diverse forms, was the most popular creole dance in the Spanish Caribbean in the nineteenth century. Vernacular forms of Cuban contradanza exhibited many of the most characteristic features of the popular dance musics that would eventually be called "son" and, later, "salsa," calling for a reconsideration of conventional Cuban music history.

Ethnomusicologist Peter Manuel has published extensively on musics of India, Spain, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. His six books include Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae, the classic introduction to the field.

Cardinals and Courtesans: Secular Music in Rome around 1500

Musicology Visiting Lecture by Dr. William Prizer (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Friday October 10, 5:00 p.m
Burton Memorial Tower 506

Virtually nothing is known about secular music in Rome until the advent of music printing there in 1510. This paper reveals a flourishing musical life there, particularly among the cortigiane oneste, or cultured courtesans of the city who performed music as they entertained their clerical and lay clients.

William Prizer is Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of California. He is an expert on Italian music of the Renaissance and has published many studies of music at the court of Mantua, Florence, and Rome. He is a former fellow of Villa I Tatti, the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, and of the National Humanities Center.

Ethel V. Curry Distinguished Lecture in Musicology

In addition to lectures offered by visiting scholars, the Musicology Department boasts an endowed lecture series, created by H. Robert Reynolds in honor of his mother, Ethel V. Curry. The next Curry Lecture will be held during the Winter 2009 semester.

Past Lectures