HV_739 Introduction to Musical Semiotics

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Lubomír Spurný, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Lubomír Spurný, Ph.D.
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Ing. Alena Albíniová
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
Předpokládané znalosti hudební teorie a estetiky
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The lecture introduces the students to the history and terminology of the Czech and world musical semiology. With its help, it’s possible to interpret the syntax of music and the process of structuring a musical work; semiology thus becomes part of music theory. Semiology (at least as a music-oriented pragmatic system) can be an inspiration to music sociology, historiography, ethnomusicology. Musical semiology is one of the methods that have determined the character of Czechoslovak musicology.
Learning outcomes
After completing the subject, the student will better understand the structural terminology. He will be better oriented in semiology and musical theoretical and aesthetic texts of the 1st half of the 20th century.
Syllabus
  • Semiotics and linguistics
  • structuralism
  • historical roots of Czech musical semiotics (Otakar Zich, Jan Mukařovský, Jaroslav Volek, Jaroslav Jiránek, Jiří Fukač, Ivan Poledňák, Vladimír Karbusický)
  • meaning and language of music
  • theory of intonation (Boris Asafiev)
  • semantic musical analysis
  • presentation - representation
Literature
    recommended literature
  • MUKAŘOVSKÝ, Jan. Studie I, II. 2000. info
  • COOK, Nicholas. A guide to musical analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 376 stran. ISBN 9780198165088. 1994. info
  • TARASTI, Eero. A theory of musical semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. xvi, 328 s. ISBN 0-253-35649-0. 1994. info
  • FUKAČ, Jiří. Základy hudební sémiotiky. Vyd. 1. V Brně: Masarykova univerzita. 233 s. ISBN 8021003731. 1992. info
  • FUKAČ, Jiří. Pojmosloví hudební komunikace [The conceptual system of musical communication]. 3. (v České republice 1.). Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta. 114 pp. ISBN 80-210-0245. 1991. info
  • FUKAČ, Jiří. Mýtus a skutečnost hudby. Traktát o dobrodružstvích a oklikách poznání [Myth and Reality of Music. A Treatise of the Adventures and Circuitous Routes of Cognition]. 1st ed. Praha: Panton. 262 pp. ISBN 80-7039-011-5. 1989. info
  • KARBUSICKÝ, Vladimír. Grundriss der musikalischen Semantik. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ix, 316 s. ISBN 3-534-01785-4. 1986. info
  • ZICH, Otakar. Estetické vnímání hudby ; Estetika hudby. Edited by Miloš Jůzl. 1. vyd. Praha: Supraphon. 451 s. 1981. URL info
    not specified
  • A sounding of signs : modalities and moments in music, culture, and philosophy : essays in honor of Eero Tarasti on his 60th anniversary. Edited by Robert S. Hatten. Imatra: International Semiotics Institute. 395 s. ISBN 9789525431230. 2008. info
  • GREIMAS, Algirdas Julien, Jurij Michajlovič LOTMAN, Julia KRISTEVA, Thomas A. SEBEOK, Jacques FONTANILLE and Eero TARASTI. Significant moments in the history of semiotics in Finland and elsewhere : Greimas, Lotman, Kristeva, Sebeok, Fontanille, Tarasti. [Finsko]: E. Tarasti. 1 DVD-vide. 2007. info
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
oral examination, tests
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every week.

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