MUSI 028. Sound, Sinners, and Saints in Medieval England

What did Medieval England sound like? What meanings did individuals attribute to sounds, heard and imagined? This course examines the production and perception of sound and music in England from c. 1000 - c. 1500, considering their relationship to each other, and their roles as vehicles for the transcultural exchange that contributed to formations of English national identity. Using the lenses of sound studies and musicology, this course considers how sound and music could be tools of war and conquest in early English imperialism, as well as the impacts of sound and music on English civic and religious life. In this vein topics include, but are not limited to, sound and criminality, executions, the regulation of sound and music, English sanctity, kingship and queenship, the Crusades, vernacular song and dance, musical innovation, and technologies of music recording. We will treat music on the same level as other kinds of sounds, including those represented in visual sources and those made by inanimate objects (e.g.bells) and animals.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Eligible for MDST.
Catalog chapter: Music and Dance: Music
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/music

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