The course is not limited to a specific repertoire, style or historical period. Rather, music will be drawn from a wide and varied range of music across historical periods, geographical regions and music styles. Topics will include the relationship between words and music from several angles: musical compositions in which words are set to music (opera, requiem, music theater, musical and so on); musical compositions in which a text is absent yet implied (program music, narrative music); and texts employed to analyze, explain and interpret music (music scholarship, contemporary compositions).