Musical Dramaturgy
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course develops students' aptitude to understand and interpret different kinds of music in different music genres and media contexts (theatre music, opera, cinema, etc.). It also aims to encourage them to develop what we could call a "dramaturgical listening" or, to say it in other words, a "dramaturgical awareness" of how music can contribute to define characters, generate action, establish atmosphere (etc.) in a broad range of dramatic genres and media.
The main learning scope of the course of musical dramaturgy/dramaturgy of sound is to enable students to relate their musical ear with the listening to music in an intermedial environment.
The main learning scope of the course of musical dramaturgy/dramaturgy of sound is to enable students to relate their musical ear with the listening to music in an intermedial environment.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the dramatic functions of music in theatre, opera, cinema, etc., with reference to the monographic subject explored each new academic year.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Title:
Dramaturgies of Musical Quotation in Cinema, Theatre, and Opera
The course aims to apply a dramaturgical approach to the phenomenon of musical quotation across three media domains: cinema, spoken theatre, and opera. Three case studies will be discussed for each medium. The five readings listed below should be considered preparatory for all three sections of the course and must be studied by attending students as early as possible. All students are required to join the Teams group that will be created specifically for the course, in order to share written materials and other resources.
Dramaturgies of Musical Quotation in Cinema, Theatre, and Opera
The course aims to apply a dramaturgical approach to the phenomenon of musical quotation across three media domains: cinema, spoken theatre, and opera. Three case studies will be discussed for each medium. The five readings listed below should be considered preparatory for all three sections of the course and must be studied by attending students as early as possible. All students are required to join the Teams group that will be created specifically for the course, in order to share written materials and other resources.
Prerequisites for admission
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the course, students need a basic knowledge of the music, opera, theatre, and cinema history. So, it is advisable that students choose Musical Dramaturgy after having attended two or three of the afore mentioned courses.
Teaching methods
The course is based on class lectures which are integrated by bibliographic and multimedia teaching materials uploaded to the Teams platform. The classes will alternate theoretical and historical overviewes with analysis and collective discussions of the treated case studies.
Teaching Resources
General Reference Texts:
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Borrowing", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Intertextuality", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Quotation", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- Edoardo Sanguineti, "Per una teoria della citazione", in Cultura e realtà, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2010, pp. 335-347.
- Michele Girardi, "L'angelo della musica. Rossini, Mozart e l'intertestualità", in Cara Scientia Mia, Musica. Studi per Maria Caraci Vela, Pisa, ETS, 2018, pp. 421-445.
Module 1 (Cinema)
The three films that will be examined are: La dolce vita by Federico Fellini (1960), Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick (1974), and Moulin Rouge! by Baz Luhrmann (2001). In addition to watching and listening to the films in detail, students are required to study the following three essays:
- Emilio Sala, "Palimpsest, Mediation, Déjà entendu-Effect. The Musical Dramaturgy of Federico Fellini and Nino Rota's La dolce vita," in Music, Authorship, Narration, and Art Cinema in Europe 1940s to 1980s, ed. Michael Baumgartner and Ewelina Boczkowska, New York: Routledge, 2023, pp. 51-86.
- Dominic Lash, "Distance Listening: Musical Anachronism in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon," in Cinergie - Il Cinema e le Altre Arti, no. 12, 2017, pp. 83-93.
- Hannah Rachel Clewes, The Presentation of Culture and Identity in the Contemporary Film Musical Soundtrack: An Exploration of Moulin Rouge! and Burlesque (Master's thesis, University of Huddersfield, UK), available online.
Module 2 (Theatre)
The three theatrical productions that will be examined are: The Tempest by Shakespeare, staged by Giorgio Strehler (1978); Tragedia Endogonidia, a dramatic cycle by the Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio theatre company (2002-2004); and Aeschylus's Oresteia, in the staging by the Anagoor company (2018). In addition to the video recordings of the three theatrical productions, which should be watched and listened to in detail, students must study the following texts:
- Emilio Sala, "Between Mediatization and Live Performance: The Music for Giorgio Strehler's The Tempest (1978)," in Musical Listening in the Age of Technological Reproduction, ed. Gianmario Borio, Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, pp. 133-149.
- Maria Cristina Reggio, "Hypothesis of a Tragic Listening: Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio's Tragedia Endogonidia," in Drammaturgie sonore. Teatri del secondo Novecento, ed. Valentina Valentini, Rome: Bulzoni, 2012, pp. 315-340.
- Romeo Castellucci & Emilio Sala, Epifonie, conversation (2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heEZkqGFNV4&t=713s
- Bianca Maria Serfilippi, Sound Theatre: Music and Sound in Anagoor's Oresteia, BA thesis, University of Milan, 2024 (PDF available in the course's Teams group).
Module 3 (Opera)
The three operas that will be examined are: Mozart's Don Giovanni (1787), Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (1890), and Verdi's Falstaff (1893). In addition to watching and listening carefully to the video recordings of the operas, students are required to study the following essays:
- Nicholas J. Chong, "Music for the Last Supper: The Dramatic Significance of Mozart's Musical Quotations in the Tafelmusik of Don Giovanni," in Current Musicology, no. 92, 2011, pp. 7-52.
- Franco Pulcini, Try Karty, in the program booklet of The Queen of Spades, Teatro alla Scala (2021-2022 season), pp. 45-55 (PDF of the program will be made available via the course's Teams group).
- Linda and Michael Hutcheon, "Verdi's Last Laugh: Parody as Late Style in Falstaff," in University of Toronto Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 750-758.
Additional Readings for Non-Attending Students
In addition to the core syllabus, non-attending students are required to study the following supplementary texts:
- V. A. Howard, "On Musical Quotation," in The Monist, Vol. 58, Issue 2, 1974, pp. 307-318 (available through the UniMi online resources).
- Susan Bennett, Theory for Theatre Studies: Sound, London: Methuen Drama, 2019.
- Christine Lee Gengaro, Listening to Stanley Kubrick: The Music in His Films, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Borrowing", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Intertextuality", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- J. Peter Burkholder, "Quotation", ad vocem, Grove music online (available through the UniMi online resources).
- Edoardo Sanguineti, "Per una teoria della citazione", in Cultura e realtà, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2010, pp. 335-347.
- Michele Girardi, "L'angelo della musica. Rossini, Mozart e l'intertestualità", in Cara Scientia Mia, Musica. Studi per Maria Caraci Vela, Pisa, ETS, 2018, pp. 421-445.
Module 1 (Cinema)
The three films that will be examined are: La dolce vita by Federico Fellini (1960), Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick (1974), and Moulin Rouge! by Baz Luhrmann (2001). In addition to watching and listening to the films in detail, students are required to study the following three essays:
- Emilio Sala, "Palimpsest, Mediation, Déjà entendu-Effect. The Musical Dramaturgy of Federico Fellini and Nino Rota's La dolce vita," in Music, Authorship, Narration, and Art Cinema in Europe 1940s to 1980s, ed. Michael Baumgartner and Ewelina Boczkowska, New York: Routledge, 2023, pp. 51-86.
- Dominic Lash, "Distance Listening: Musical Anachronism in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon," in Cinergie - Il Cinema e le Altre Arti, no. 12, 2017, pp. 83-93.
- Hannah Rachel Clewes, The Presentation of Culture and Identity in the Contemporary Film Musical Soundtrack: An Exploration of Moulin Rouge! and Burlesque (Master's thesis, University of Huddersfield, UK), available online.
Module 2 (Theatre)
The three theatrical productions that will be examined are: The Tempest by Shakespeare, staged by Giorgio Strehler (1978); Tragedia Endogonidia, a dramatic cycle by the Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio theatre company (2002-2004); and Aeschylus's Oresteia, in the staging by the Anagoor company (2018). In addition to the video recordings of the three theatrical productions, which should be watched and listened to in detail, students must study the following texts:
- Emilio Sala, "Between Mediatization and Live Performance: The Music for Giorgio Strehler's The Tempest (1978)," in Musical Listening in the Age of Technological Reproduction, ed. Gianmario Borio, Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, pp. 133-149.
- Maria Cristina Reggio, "Hypothesis of a Tragic Listening: Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio's Tragedia Endogonidia," in Drammaturgie sonore. Teatri del secondo Novecento, ed. Valentina Valentini, Rome: Bulzoni, 2012, pp. 315-340.
- Romeo Castellucci & Emilio Sala, Epifonie, conversation (2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heEZkqGFNV4&t=713s
- Bianca Maria Serfilippi, Sound Theatre: Music and Sound in Anagoor's Oresteia, BA thesis, University of Milan, 2024 (PDF available in the course's Teams group).
Module 3 (Opera)
The three operas that will be examined are: Mozart's Don Giovanni (1787), Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (1890), and Verdi's Falstaff (1893). In addition to watching and listening carefully to the video recordings of the operas, students are required to study the following essays:
- Nicholas J. Chong, "Music for the Last Supper: The Dramatic Significance of Mozart's Musical Quotations in the Tafelmusik of Don Giovanni," in Current Musicology, no. 92, 2011, pp. 7-52.
- Franco Pulcini, Try Karty, in the program booklet of The Queen of Spades, Teatro alla Scala (2021-2022 season), pp. 45-55 (PDF of the program will be made available via the course's Teams group).
- Linda and Michael Hutcheon, "Verdi's Last Laugh: Parody as Late Style in Falstaff," in University of Toronto Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 750-758.
Additional Readings for Non-Attending Students
In addition to the core syllabus, non-attending students are required to study the following supplementary texts:
- V. A. Howard, "On Musical Quotation," in The Monist, Vol. 58, Issue 2, 1974, pp. 307-318 (available through the UniMi online resources).
- Susan Bennett, Theory for Theatre Studies: Sound, London: Methuen Drama, 2019.
- Christine Lee Gengaro, Listening to Stanley Kubrick: The Music in His Films, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.
Assessment methods and Criteria
For both attending and non-attending students, the assessment will consist of an oral exam covering the topics and themes explored during the course. The exam will be graded on a scale from 18 (the minimum passing grade) to 30.
The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:
1. Mastery of the concepts and terminology presented during the course.
2. Ability to engage with and analyze the audiovisual and bibliographic materials included in the syllabus.
3. Formal clarity and argumentative coherence in the presentation.
4. Ability to develop a personal interpretation.
The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:
1. Mastery of the concepts and terminology presented during the course.
2. Ability to engage with and analyze the audiovisual and bibliographic materials included in the syllabus.
3. Formal clarity and argumentative coherence in the presentation.
4. Ability to develop a personal interpretation.
Modules or teaching units
Unita' didattica A
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)