Creative Conversations between Music and the Visual Arts

Department - LART
Offered - Fall, Spring
Course number - LAHS-P341

In this course, students will explore and expand their understanding of musical composition, improvisation, andperformance by responding musically to works of painting, photography, sculpture, and hybrid works of art atthe Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Thoroughly interdisciplinary in approach, this course is conducted as a series of guided conversations centered on existing works of visual art the MFA, in conjunction with in-class discussions of relevant examples drawn from the history of music. These conversations will form a springboard for student musical explorations, to be conducted in a workshop setting in class, and based on works of art at the MFA. Over the course of the semester, each student will have the opportunity to workshop two pieces, based on specifically chosen works from the MFA's collections. Specific composers and artists to be discussed and studied include Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Modest Mussorgsky, Guillaume Dufay, Arnold Schoenberg, John Cage, van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, and others.

Credits: 3
Course Chair: Darla Hanley
Prerequisites: LENG-111
Required of: None
Electable by: All