MUS1916

The great philosopher of life, Friedrich Nietzsche, rightly claims that without music, life would be a mistake. This does not mean that life is automatically perfect with music. This seminar deals with exactly this problem: What is music doing to us? Why do we listen to it? And how? What is its meaning in our lives, why does it matter, which realities does it touch, and how can it be communicated? In what way is it distributed between intellect and emotions? And why do we go to concerts, since electronic media and the internet provide such easy access? The answers will be approached via intensive listening to all kinds of music from different cultures and epochs, as well as through critical, very open discussions with the students. The instructor is highly sensitive to non-authoritarian music cultures, so he may provide a thoroughly dynamic and flexible access to music.

This seminar is taught by Professor Guerino Mazzola. Professor Mazzola qualified as a professor in mathematics (1980) and in computational science (2003) at the University of Zurich. He was a visiting professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris in 2005. Since 2007, he has been a professor at the School of Music, University of Minnesota. He developed a Mathematical Music Theory and software presto and Rubato. Since 2007, he has been the president of the Society for Mathematics and Computation in Music. He has published 30 books and 145 papers, 27 jazz CDs, and a classical sonata.

001475

Technology and Society

Periodic Fall & Spring