Department of Music Blog

132 Music Building, free

Naming Mount Messiaen: A Study in Ecomusicology

Although his subjects were often birds and heaven, Messiaen was also an artist of the mountains. He lived at the foot of the French Alps and drew inspiration from mountains for compositions such as Livre d’orgue, Couleurs de la cité céleste, Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, Livre du Saint-Sacrement, and perhaps his most beloved orchestral work, Des canyons aux étoiles . . . (1974). Des canyons depicts geological formations in Utah that have since been reproduced on the covers to Messiaen scores, CDs, and monographs. Cementing his orological image, however, is the mountain dedicated in his name. Mount Messiaen, near Parowan, Utah, was christened in 1978, and photographs of it have appeared in most general studies on the composer ever since. Although a short article on the mountain was written by Harriet Watts, it is largely misleading and incorrect. (more…)

Congratulations to Bell Yung, who has been invited, and agreed, to serve on the Board of Advisors for the Institute of Chinese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and attended a meeting at the Institute September 2-5, 2009.

William Pitt Union, Kurtzman Room

Beverley Diamond, Canada Research Chair in Music and Ethnomusicology
Mike Madison, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh
Damien Pwono, Executive Director of Global Initiative on Culture and Society, The Aspen Institute
Andrew Weintraub, Associate Professor of Music, University of Pittsburgh
Bell Yung, Professor of Music, University of Pittsburgh

Co-sponsored by Asian Studies Center and the Department of Music

132 Music Building, free

Pittsburgh Symphony Composer of the Year Richard Danielpour will speak about his recent works.

Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, free

Debashish Bhattacharya will give a lecture-demonstration on Indian slide guitar and tabla during the regularly scheduled world music class.

132 Music Building, free
Anne Rasmussen, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, William and Mary College

Assistant professor of music and Humanities Center Fellow Adriana Helbig will discuss  Cathedral of Learning 526, free

Dr. Joseph Lam, Chair of the Department of Musicology at the University of Michigan will discuss “Kunqu, the Classical Opera of Globalized China” as part of the Department of Music’s Lecture Series. The lecture takes place on Friday, September 18, at 4 p.m. in Room 132 Music Building and is free to the public. You can find more about Kunqu and Lam’s talk here.

The Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin runs September 26 through October 4, and what better way to prepare for the event than a talk on the opera by Pitt’s very own Russian music scholar? Assistant professor of musicology Anna Nisnevich will discuss “Listening to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’” at the Center for Russian and East European Studies on Thursday, September 10. The talk takes place from 12-1:30 p.m. in Posvar Hall 4130 and is free to the public. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear Dr. Nisnevich’s insights on Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece (and don’t forget that the October 2 performance of Eugene Onegin is Pitt Night at the Opera).

132 Music Building

Joseph Lam, Chair of the Department of Musicology, University of Michigan

Co-sponsored by Asian Studies Center and the Department of Music
For more information contact Dr. Katherine Carlitz, Asian Studies Center, kcarlitz@pitt.edu

Abstract

Kunqu, a 600 years-old genre of Chinese opera, faced threats of extinction more than once in its long history. It has, however, not only survived, but continued to grow. In fact, kunqu now appeals to an ever-expanding community of Chinese and non-Chinese audiences. What gives the genre such a vitality? What does its 21^st century and globalized practices signify? Kunqu, this presentation posits, is a valorized performance tradition of China, one that its audiences enjoy, and manipulate to negotiate diverse notions of Chinese identities and desires. In other words, kunqu makes not only artistic representations of China and Chinese people, but also provides expressive objects, sites, and processes for its diverse audiences to negotiate their Chinese agendas. Illustrative of such negotiations are arguments on the use of western harmonies and counterpoints in contemporary kunqu performances. If some audiences find the hybridized sounds expressions of Chinese modernity and globalization, other would lament the corruption, if not loss, of an “authentic” Chinese legacy/cultural capital. What the audiences argue obviously transcend issues of musical details; the debates are, needless to say, thinly masked negotiations of what China was, is, and should be. Music has become a focus in the debates, because music sonically renders kunqu distinctive to its Chinese and global audiences. To discuss the above thesis, this presentation will review the valorization and manipulation of kunqu as a classical opera in globalized China. Contrasting versions of representative kunqu arias will be analyzed to demonstrate musical differences and their negotiated meanings.