Sparking this interdisciplinary exploration of medieval music performance in cross-cultural and trans-geographical perspectives is the growing interest in early music on the world stage, from strong initiatives in China to reclaim its past musical traditions, to "historically informed performance", to encounters between plainchant and different approaches to spirituality. Yet those musicians who would seek to "reconstruct" early music, be it Chinese or European, confront the same serious challenges: namely, how to cope as scholars and musicians with the lack of unambiguous guidance on performance-related issues from the available notated and other primary sources; how to think about the music itself: as notated and objectified compositions from the past or ephemeral and interactive performance in the present; and how they and others might conceive of early music in cultural, political, and even legal contexts, that is, in terms of musical and non-musical justifications and rights for its "reconstruction." What tools can modern scholars and performers forge to responsibly meet growing demands to reconstitute musics reflecting a people's intangible cultural heritage and serving their expressive needs? This graduate seminar will focus on these questions, drawing on an extraordinarily wide musical repertoire - from secular song to court and sacred ritual music (available in facsimile, digital reproduction, or modern edition) - and a wealth of (translated) primary and secondary literature. MUSICOL 631 and 649 constitute a joint seminar that will meet together for much of the term. Students will read and listen to the same assignments, and the instructors will offer both joint and individual presentations, lead seminar discussions together, and guide student research/performance projects. Students may elect either course number, although those who intend to focus on a European repertory later in the term (when seminar participants will be working independently on performance projects: are encouraged to enroll in 631; those who want to work on Chinese repertories, 649. Students wishing additional credit relating to the individual projects may also elect MUSICOL 581 Special Projects with either Prof. Lam or Prof. Borders for 1 or 2 additional credit hours.

Course Requirements:

In addition to regular reading and listening assignments, to be discussed during seminar meetings, and a written prospectus with annotated bibliography, participants should expect a significant musical performance component culminating in a lecture/recital-style presentation on a selected work/genre of historical music. Students will have individual meetings with instructors to develop their research/performance/presentation projects.