Shakespeare Synecdoche

Abstract

One of the key challenges facing the study of music at the tertiary level is the question of how the central discipline may be effectively integrated with learning in adjacent disciplines. The problem is particularly marked in the case of institutions that follow the ‘conservatorium’ approach, where the emphasis on the student’s technical performance skills is so high that virtually all cross-disciplinary priorities are regarded as secondary, if not altogether irrelevant (Hannan, 2001). Singing students in particular will be faced with the need to develop a cross-disciplinary consciousness of literature, since the majority of singing material they will encounter will be adapted from a range of literary sources. In order to demonstrate their fluency in a performance work, a singing student should be required to convey an advanced understanding of the lyric text, as well as demonstrate proficiency in the purely musical demands of the work. If this aspect of the student’s development is to be properly supported, it is imperative that an understanding of literature be engendered to a high level.