Module Catalogue 2025/26

MUS3051 : The Total Work of Art: Richard Wagner, The Musical Stage and their continuing Agency across The Arts.

MUS3051 : The Total Work of Art: Richard Wagner, The Musical Stage and their continuing Agency across The Arts.

  • Offered for Year: 2025/26
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Eric Doughney
  • Lecturer: Dr Bennett Hogg
  • Owning School: Arts & Cultures
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 2 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System
Pre-requisite

Modules you must have done previously to study this module

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co-Requisite

Modules you need to take at the same time

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module aims to introduce students to the Music Dramas and operas of Richard Wagner, their aesthetic and musical legacies (up to the present day) and their perpetual relevance within the fields of Music, Fine Art, Literature, Media).The module will cover a range of approaches to this topic, including (but not limited to):
The philosophical background to Wagner’s musical ideas
The historical and political contexts
The 'Total Work of Art' in Fine Art, Literature, Media (including film).
Strategies for understanding the musical materials (analytical approaches)
Approaching Wagner’s musical works as a historiographical problem

Outline Of Syllabus

The syllabus will cover Wagner’s musical output and his impact on subsequent musical thinking, especially in Europe up to the present day. Themes covered may include:
- Wagner and antisemitism
- Wagner and imperialism
- Stage/production/design theory
- Agency within the fields of Fine Art, Literature, Media.
- Wagner and the Nazis
- Wagnerism and anti-Wagnerism
- The Ring Cycle and its legacy
- Opera and Music dramas: two distinct genres?

Learning Outcomes

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Familiarity with Wagner’s oeuvre
Familiarity with the musical legacy of Wagner’s oeuvre
A working knowledge of late tonal and chromatic harmony
Familiarity with the historical and cultural contexts for these musical works
A working familiarity with some of the philosophical ideas played out in Wagner’s works

Intended Skill Outcomes

Analytical approaches to opera, especially narrative analysis
Intensification of analytical skills already learned in other modules

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Structured Guided LearningLecture materials92:0018:00Each lecture will last 2 hours
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching121:0012:00PiP seminars (Number of seminar groups dependent upon size of cohort); essay prep drop-in sessions
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study1170:00170:00N/A
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures deliver core materials and seminars allow students to explore musical (and other) materials in more detail and in a more “hands on” manner.

Reading Lists

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay2A1003,400 words
Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Description Semester When Set Comment
Portfolio2M1,500 Essay proposal/annotated Bibliography: opportunity for students to start developing their final research essay (essay)
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assignment will involve exploring one aspect of Wagner/Wagnerism in depth. Students will develop their research essay in two stages. The first, formative, will be based on the core topics covered in the module, and will build up iteratively during the first eight weeks of teaching supported by formative activities which will include group discussions. The second stage of the summative assignment will be a development of the first stage towards the final summative submission.

Timetable

Past Exam Papers

General Notes

N/A

Welcome to Newcastle University Module Catalogue

This is where you will be able to find all key information about modules on your programme of study. It will help you make an informed decision on the options available to you within your programme.

You may have some queries about the modules available to you. Your school office will be able to signpost you to someone who will support you with any queries.

Disclaimer

The information contained within the Module Catalogue relates to the 2025 academic year.

In accordance with University Terms and Conditions, the University makes all reasonable efforts to deliver the modules as described.

Modules may be amended on an annual basis to take account of changing staff expertise, developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, staffing changes, and student feedback. Module information for the 2026/27 entry will be published here in early-April 2026. Queries about information in the Module Catalogue should in the first instance be addressed to your School Office.