Independent Study on Liturgical Music
Aesthetics
Fall Semester, 2006
3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
Fr. Jan Michael Joncas
Proposed Course
Outline:
T 12 Sep: Introduction and Overview
Homework: Identify 5 central questions for research in
liturgical music aesthetics
T 26 Sep: Exploring Aesthetics
Required Reading:
“Aesthetics”,
“Music, aesthetics of” in
the on-line Routledge Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
Recommended Reading:
- Kivy, Peter ed. The Blackwell
Guide to Aesthetics 2004
- Arthur Danto, The Abuse of Beauty:
Aesthetics and the Concept of Art. 2003
- Korsmeyer, Carolyn ed. Aesthetics:
The Big Questions 1998
- Goldblatt, David and Brown, Lee ed. Aesthetics:
A Reader in the Philosophy of the Arts 1997
- Bender, John and Blocker, Gene Contemporary
Philosophy of Art: Readings in Analytic Aesthetics 1993
- Władysław Tatarkiewicz, History
of Aesthetics, 3 vols. (1–2, 1970; 3, 1974), The Hague, Mouton.
- _____. A History of Six Ideas: an Essay in
Aesthetics, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1980.
- Eduard Hanslick, The Beautiful in Music, trans. Gustav
Cohen, New
York:
Liberal Arts Press, 1957.
T 10 Oct: Exploring Liturgy
Required Reading:
- Metzger,
Marcel. History of the liturgy:
the major stages. Collegeville,
MN: Liturgical Press, 1997.
- Mitchell,
Nathan. Liturgy and the Social
Sciences. Collegeville,
MN: Liturgical Press, 1999.
- “Definition
of Liturgy” in Vagaggini, Cipriano. Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy. Collegeville,
MN: Liturgical Press, 1959 -.
Recommended Reading:
appropriate articles in:
- The
Study of Liturgy. Rev. ed. Ed. Cheslyn Jones et
al. London:
SPCK / New York, NY:
Oxford University
Press, 1992.
- The
New Westminster
Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship.
Ed. Paul Bradshaw. Louisville,
KY; London:
Westminster John Knox Press,
2002.
- The
New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship.
Ed. Peter Fink. Collegeville,
MN: Liturgical Press, 1990.
T 24 Oct: Exploring Music
Required Reading:
“Music”,
“Philosophy
of Music” in on-line New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Recommended Reading:
Liturgy and Music: Lifetime Learning.
T 7 Nov: Exploring Liturgical Music
Required Reading: Joncas,
Jan M. From Sacred Song to
Ritual Music: Twentieth-Century Understandings of Roman Catholic Worship Music. Collegeville,
MN: Liturgical Press, 1997.
Recommended Reading:
Liturgy and Music: Lifetime Learning.
T 21 Nov: Exploring Liturgical Aesthetics
Required Reading:
John Witvliet’s Survey of Liturgical Aesthetics in
Liturgy Journal (Notre Dame)
Recommended Reading:
Saliers, Don. Worship Come to Its Senses
Lathrop, Gordon.
T 5 Dec: Exploring Liturgical Music Aesthetics
Required Reading: Joncas,
Jan M. “Core Questions in
Liturgical Music Aesthetics” Pastoral Music
N.B. Final Paper due at class time.
Learning Assessment:
1) For
each session, the student will prepare a written summary of the required
reading(s), indicating a) the central assertions of the text; b) how the
central assertions of the text relate to other course reading and discussion;
c) what questions for further research the student has.
2) A
final paper (8-10 pages, double-spaced, using a font no smaller than 12 pt,
employing standard American academic English vocabulary, spelling, grammar and
syntax) offering an aesthetic assessment of a single piece of liturgical music,
explicitly informed by the explorations engaged in throughout the semester. The paper should be submitted in electronic
format as a .doc file and sent to jmjoncas@stthomas.edu.
The paper is due at class time on 5
December 2006.