Charlemagne and the Standardization of Language and Music
Students explored the parallel roles of scribal and musical traditions in Charlemagne’s realm in establishing the standardization of language and music in the 8th and 9th centuries: just as certain grammatical patterns emerged, suppressing regional variation, so did Gregorian Chant and musical notation arise. Students examined the motivation, impact, and legacy of this standardization across music and language and its long-term impact.
Presentation Location: The site of Charlemagne’s coronation as emperor in 800 CE in St. Peter’s, Rome
The Role of the Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Shaping Language and Music.
Students examined the role played by the Protestant reformation in bringing enormous changes to the language of religious texts and the music used to accompany them, with the goal of making them accessible to the common people in their own vernacular languages. Students focused on Luther’s translation of liturgical texts and the music that was adopted or newly written to accompany them to learn about the Reformation. They then examined the efforts by the Catholic church to embellish the language, music, liturgical practices, art, and architecture in direct response to the austerity of the Protestants.
Presentation Location: Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) in Piazza Navona, Rome
The Idea of the Renaissance
Students studied how the rebirth of ideas associated with classical antiquity around 1400 affected art, literature, music, and language, emerging at different times from one discipline to the next. They examined in detail how the idea of the Renaissance was established in each discipline to achieve a richer understanding of the movement as it appeared and was defined and promoted across all of the arts.
Presentation Location: Piazza del Duomo, Florence
The Impact of the Florentine Academies on Music and Language
Students examined the discussions and work of the Accademia Fiorentina, founded in 1540, focusing on the establishment of contemporary Florentine usage as the basis for literary Italian. They also studied the work of a related group of musicians, poets, and intellectuals in the Florentine Camerata who looked to the model of Greek music for its role in the delivery of text in ancient Greek tragedy. This led ultimately to the foundation of the new Baroque style of music that emerged around 1600. Students examined the purpose, goals, and achievements of these academies to understand their impact on language, music, and the arts in a broader context.
Presentation Location: Garden of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence
Music and Language in the Time of Shakespeare
Students explored Shakespeare’s heavy reliance on Latin as a resource and the general celebration of Italian culture in his plays as part of a larger tendency that also saw the Italian madrigal adopted in England to become a standard form that would play a role in changing the sound of English music. In addition to examining key texts by Shakespeare, students studied the text and music of madrigals to reveal the impact of Italian culture in England across language, literature, and music.
Presentation Location: Under the Balcony at the Palazzo Capuleti, Verona