CW Links

CW6.3 – Clara Schumann

Reich, Nancy, Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Cornell, NY: Cornell University Press, revised edition, 2001.

CW6.4 – New York Philharmonic: Project 19

CW6.6 – How Pop Music Broke the Gender Binary

CW6.8 – Aretha Franklin

Watch “Amazing Grace,” a 2018 documentary about the live recording of Franklin’s album, “Amazing Grace” in 1972. Clips are available on YouTube and various streaming services.

CW6.9 – Gamelan

Read the article by Desak Nyoman Suarti titled “ A Woman’s Gamelan” on the second page of this link. Suarti was one of the author’s interviewees during her research in Bali on women’s gamelan in the late 1990s.

Compare the changes that have taken place as documented in Sonja Lynn Downing’s book, Gamelan Girls: Gender, Childhood, and Politics in Balinese Music Ensembles, University of Illinois Press, 2019.

Compare performances of men’s, women’s and/or children’s gamelan performances on YouTube.

CW6.10 – Lucia di Lammermore

Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermore centers on two feuding families: the Ashtons and the Ravenswoods. Lucia Ashton, who is in love with her brother’s archenemy, is forced to marry a family ally. On her wedding night Lucia descends into madness, stabs her new husband, and sings one of operas most recognized mad scenes. Believing she has married her true love, Edgardo, she sings, the aria “The sweet sound (Il dolce suono) of his voice struck me! Ah, that voice has entered my heart! Edgardo! I surrender to you…”

Which performance do you think is most effective? Keep in mind the scenery, costumes, and staging, as well as the singing.

Notice that the subtitles are in different languages, depending on the target audience. The original is in Italian (“Il dolce suono”). The English translation is:

The sweet sound of his voice struck me!
Ah, that voice has entered my heart!
Edgardo! I surrender to you, oh my Edgardo!
I have escaped from your enemies.
A chill creeps into my breast!
Every fiber trembles!
My foot falters!
Sit down by the fountain with me a while!
Alas, the tremendous phantom arises and separates us!
Let us take refuge here, Edgardo, at the foot of the altar.
It is scattered with roses!

This is one of opera’s most iconic arias.

CW6.12 – Castrati

Watch this BBC Documentary on castrati: