Why take this course?

As we are now more than a decade into the 21st Century, what of the Victorian era still holds such a strong fascination?  Is it the social demands?  The clothes?  The facial hair?  Well, for me, the period holds a much more potent lure:  the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan (surprise, surprise, surprise, I know).  However, with this focus on my musical endeavors, and with my Fulbright prospects looming brighter and brighter, this course is very important to me.

While I certainly am working my way into the realm of "knowledgeable" when it comes to the shows themselves, I find myself sadly lacking in the finer details of the era surrounding those shows.  I am hoping that with this class, I will be able to further my understanding about the culture and lifestyle into which these shows were born, and which in turn informed the very conception of the shows themselves.  It will be particularly pertinent information if I am granted the Fulbright, as part of my work will be identifying what elements of the shows must be maintained in order to maintain the integrity of the original production.  By furthering my understanding of the culture, I will be more capable of identifying what things must be maintained, and what are elements specific to the Victorian culture that can be adapted to bring a 21st century perspective into the show, thus making it more likely to be successful with a modern audience.  These concepts will help me to produce production guides that will hopefully encourage university music departments to produce the shows more frequently, particularly those lesser-known works that seem to be deemed unapproachable by American universities.

With these goals, I am eager to explore this era in the small-seminar format.  It will allow me to benefit from the insight of a diverse group of people.  The combined effect of the discussions we will have should open my eyes to a fuller view of this time period than I could hope to gain in my own exploration of the materials we will cover this semester.  If 'American Opera since 1950' was any indication, this will be one of the most useful and important courses in my graduate studies.