MUS2055 : Translation for Singing
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Larry Zazzo
- Lecturer: Dr Damien Hall, Dr Valerie Pellatt
- 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 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
This module aims to bring students of music and modern languages together, to give both sets of students a solid grounding in a specific type of translation. For students of modern languages, this should be of use in their development as translators. For students of singing and musical composition, this should be of use in their development as performing singers and composers of vocal music. For students of both music and modern languages, this module should contribute to a heightened awareness of how speech rhythms, linguistic construction, and 'literal' meanings of texts intersect, reinforce, or conflict with the demands of an accompanying musical 'text'. It will also develop skills in collaborative creative practice, engaging diverse skill sets to create group translations.
Outline Of Syllabus
- Key issues in translation for musical and dramatic performance
- Workshops on translation of sung texts in various languages.
- The languages focussed on will depend on the staff available in any given year, but will typically include a maximum of three from the following: French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish and German.
- The sung texts will be from various genres, typically including opera; musical theatre; art, pop and folk song; and choral music.
A typical syllabus might be as follows:
Week 1 Translation Theory for Performance
Week 2 Lecture on translation of sung music in language 1
Week 3 Workshop on translation of sung music in language 1
Week 4 Lecture on translation of sung music in language 2
Week 5 Workshop on translation of sung music in language 2
Week 6 Lecture on translation of sung music in language 3
Week 7 Workshop on translation of sung music in language 3
Week 8 Guest Lecture/ Student collaborative translation workshop, working towards assessment
Week 9 Student collaborative translation workshop, working towards assessment
Week 10 Student collaborative translation workshop, working towards assessment
Week 11 Student presentations of submission-ready portfolios
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 4 | 2:00 | 8:00 | Introduction to translation techniques and vocal music translation in various languages (PIP) |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 34:00 | 34:00 | Preparation of self-reflective written work |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 100:00 | 100:00 | Theoretical/practical research & readings engaging with challenges of translating texts |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 4 | 4:00 | 16:00 | Staff supervised/ student led group translation meetings leading to assessed submission (PIP) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Seminar - Student presentations of workshop outcomes and peer feedback (PIP) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | Collaborative workshops on translation based on lectures (PIP) |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 33:00 | 33:00 | Preparation for small-group work |
| Total | 200:00 |
Jointly Taught With
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| MUS8016 | Translation for Singing |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
This course is a combination of 1) lectures, and staff-led workshops to introduce students to translation of song in various languages with short group exercises, student presentations and discussions of these exercises, and 2) staff-supervised collaborative work in groups with the aim of producing an assessed English translation of a foreign-language vocal work.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 1 | A | 20 | Group portfolio. Size will depend on genre of music and language chosen. A group mark will be given |
| Reflective log | 1 | A | 80 | Individual written submission, reflecting on group translation process and final product (3000 words) |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Students on this module will work in groups. The groups will be assembled by the teaching staff. Each group will contain at least one Music Student and at least one Modern Languages student. In practice groups are expected to contain more than one of each type of student. Groups will also be arranged so that each group contains students studying as many different languages as possible, so as to discourage a predominance of a single language expertise in any one group.
The portfolios of singing translation will be done in common by each group, so that each group hands in one portfolio. The aim here is to reflect the collaborative nature of musical productions, and of translation in particular. Students will choose from a ‘menu’ of proposed selections of music, per language and per musical genre. For each language offered, portfolios will consist of:
- a certain number of pop songs or
- a certain number of minutes of choral music or
- a certain number of minutes of opera or
- a certain number of minutes of musical theatre.
The reflective commentary will be done by students individually, making observations and conclusions about the group’s work over the semester, and also their own contribution to it. As this accounts for most of the weight of assessment for the module, students who contribute more than others will not be penalised for the nature of the group they are in. Students’ own marks will also be able to be influenced by the amount of relevant theoretical material they include in their commentary.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- MUS2055's Timetable