The Ring Cycle: A Guided Tour of Das Rheingold, Die Walkürie, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. This class offers students the opportunity to become acquainted with one of the greatest artistic achievements in Western music, Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner. Learn the characters and plots of each drama. Identify leitmotivs and study their symbolism, combinations, and transformations. Listen to and watch portions of the works in class. View iconography (photos and sketches) from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Analyze select passages. Homework assignments will consist of readings from the four libretti and articles from the scholarly literature, especially Robert Donington’s Wagner’s Ring and its Symbols. Students will submit a draft paper of moderate length that will be edited and resubmitted as a final project. This course fulfills the requirement for Graduate Seminar for MM students