Aesthetics of Music and Spectacle

The course aims to provide students with a philosophical basis regarding the essential aspects of the aesthetics of music, performance, and spectacle. The course's goal will be to introduce the notion of «aesthetic category» applied to the history of music, and of performing and visual arts. From year to year, the main focus will be on the relationship between music and words in musical theatre or staging. Particular attention can be given to contemporary librettist or dramaturgical writing, especially in relation to myth. The relationship between musical, visual and performing arts will also be investigated with reference to theatre, musical theatre, or cinema.

At the end of the course, students will have acquired notions of philosophy of music and acting that will allow them to analyze complex concepts related to the world of spectacle in general. They will be able to investigate and evaluate a musical or performance work as a whole and in its various elements. Students will also have acquired a new perspective on the practical implications of the theoretical results obtained both concerning music and the relationship between words and music and the relationship between words and images.