It is possible for LS&A students to elect a concentration program in music, and this program is described in the LS&A Bulletin. In addition, music courses are frequently elected by LS&A students not concentrating in Music. Courses in Music History/Musicology, Composition, and Music Theory are elected for LS&A credit. Some of these courses can be used as part of the humanities requirement in a PATTERN I area distribution plan. LS&A students may elect music PERFORMANCE courses for degree credit, but this credit counts toward the maximum twelve non-LS&A credit hours that can be applied toward an A.B./B.S. degree or twenty non-LS&A credit hours that can be applied toward a B.G.S. degree.
305. Special Course. Non-music only. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Monuments of Choral Music. A study of oratorios
and masses in the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. Works
to be examined include Handel's "Messiah," Bach's Mass
in B Minor and "St. Matthew Passion," Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis," Brahms' "A German
Requiem," and Verdi's Requiem. Assignments will consist mainly
of listening to recordings of these works, with occasional readings
from materials on reserve. Prerequisites: at least a rudimentary
knowledge of music theory and history (MHM 341 or its equivalent).
Course requirements: midterm and final examinations, plus a term
paper. Cost:1 WL:1 (Munson)
Section 002 – The Roots of Rock and Roll. This course will trace the history of American popular music from the late nineteenth century through the early stages of rock and roll. Musical training is not required, although it may prove helpful. This course will provide students with some rudimentary skills for listening to, and discussing music. The class will use a lecture/discussion format, and extensive supplementary listening will be required. Students will be evaluated through a midterm, an exam, and a term paper. Cost:1 WL:4 (Sherwood)
306. Special Course. Non-music only. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – American Popular Music to 1955. From the rise
of minstrelsy to the golden age of Tin Pan Alley song, American
popular music before the rock era remains a vital and central
component of American culture. This class aims to develop a deeper
understanding of a wide-ranging repertory that remains familiar, from "Home Sweet Home" to "Over the Rainbow"
and other songs by such composers as Stephen Foster, Henry Clay
Work, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. The primary focus will be on
songs, but popular instrumental music – including marches, ragtime, and jazz – will also be considered. While building a knowledge
of major composers, songs, and styles, the class will develop
answers to questions such as: How does this music engage with the events, issues, and values of the times in which it was written?
What kinds of stories does it tell about American culture? How
does performance style affect our perception of those "stories"?
Class meetings will combine lecture, discussion, listening, and informal group singing. Evaluation will be based on class participation, exams, and a final songwriting project. The ability to read music, although not required, will be an asset. Cost:1 WL:4 (Magee)
341. Introduction to the Art of Music. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (HU).
The course is designed for those who wish to sharpen their appreciation of music, whether they have any musical background or not. It begins with the fundamentals of melody, rhythm, harmony, and texture, then surveys the heritage of Western art music, from the Baroque era to the present. We examine representative examples of opera and concerto, symphony and song, solo and chamber music, jazz and rock; but the listening skills developed in class are meant to be applied to virtually any kind of music. Such skills involve understanding conventions of musical expression and form, so that students learn to listen with appropriate expectations. Students attend three lectures and one discussion section per week. Tapes of assigned works are available for private study. Grades are based upon three examinations, concert reports, and participation in discussion sections. This is the first course suggested for the LS&A concentration in music. (Whiting)
346. The History of Music. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (HU).
This course deals with European and American music, its performance and reception, from 1750 to the present. Although most pieces studied are from art traditions, samples from popular music and jazz are also included. Music is discussed as samples of compositional styles, but also as representatives of broader cultural and historical frameworks. Lectures are supplemented by recorded listening assignments (cassettes available at the language lab listening facilities) and readings from a textbook. Students should have some familiarity with rudiments of music. Grades will be determined by performance on exams. A short, extra-credit paper will be optional. Cost:2 WL:1 (AndrÈ)
347. Opera of the Past and Present. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (Excl).
This is a lecture survey dealing with selected operas from 1600 to the present. The case studies discussed will be representative of works frequently performed today. Normally we discuss several opera composers each week, students being asked to see videos of selected scenes, to hear audio cassettes, and to do selected readings from periodical literature. Readings and discussions will take varied approaches, considering operas as music compositions, as show pieces for voices, as samples of literature, and as cultural icons. Translations are provided for any works in foreign languages. Students will also be urged to attend an opera performance and to write a paper describing the experience as a personal experience reflecting social cultural, and aesthetic issues. Grades will be determined by two hour exams and a final exam. No musical background necessary. (D. Crawford)
406. Special Course. (2-4). (Excl). May be repeated
for credit.
Section 001 – Caribbean Music and the Feminist Novel. (3 credits).
This course proposes the reading of feminist literature as anthropology
in order to glean from it an informed backdrop to the musical
landscape that distinguishes each culture. As a seminar, discussions
will be led by members of the class. Novels by Paula Marshall, Rosario Ferre, Audre Lorde, Michelle Cliff, Jamaica Kincaid, and Simone Schwartz-Barth will be part of the readings. Musical types
will be introduced in class and offered on listening tapes. Evaluations
will be based upon class participation and a research paper. (McDaniel)
407. Special Course. (2-3). (Excl). May be repeated
for credit.
Section 001 – Eroticism in Music and Theater 1550-1750. (3 credits).
Music's potential eroticism has long been recognized. In the late
Renaissance, composers set amorous and erotic texts as madrigals
and solo songs designed to "move the affects of the listener."
Erotically charged moments abound in 17th-century musical theatre
and musical scenes of spoken plays. This course investigates eroticism
in vocal, theatrical, and dance music of the late Renaissance
and baroque eras, including madrigals, solo songs, music from
court spectacles, and opera (Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea
and Handel's Semele, for example). We will study the erotic intention
and achievement of figures such as Barbara Strozzi, a prolific
female composer connected to the Venetian academies, and the eroticism
of the first New World opera (Lima, 1701). Throughout the term
we will seek to understand music's interaction with literature
and visual art, and the definition of eroticism in the historical
cultures under study. Readings will be taken from plays and libretti, primary and secondary sources about eroticism, art, music, literature, theater, history, and culture. This course will function as a
large seminar or as a lecture course with a heavy discussion component.
Cost:1 WL:1,4 (Stein)
408. Special Course. (2-3). (Excl). May be repeated
for credit.
Section 001 – The Music of Beethoven. (3 credits). The course
surveys Beethoven's music in the appropriate stylistic, biographical, historical, and cultural contexts. Emphasis will fall on the analysis
and interpretation of finished works (rather than sketch studies
and "compositional genesis"). Weekly reading assignments
will supplement the lectures and introduce students to the breadth
of approaches taken in current Beethoven scholarship. While designed
primarily for undergraduate and graduate students in music, non-music
concentrators who can follow scores and are acquainted with the
rudiments of music theory will also be welcome. Grades will be
based on in-class participation, two analytical essays (10-12
pages), and two examinations (midterm and final). (Whiting)
413. History of Opera. (3). (HU).
This course is an historical survey of opera (as music, as theater, and as cultural expression) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While some of the lectures and listening assignments will be organized around excerpts, others will be designed to focus on whole operas, their musical dramaturgy, and their impact and reception in performance. The assignments in this course will be primarily listening assignments, to be supplemented by score study, readings from the course pack or materials on reserve. Grades will be evaluated through written assignments. Open to upper-level LS&A students and to graduate students in the performing arts and humanities fields, and to all students in the School of Music. Cost:2 WL:1 (AndrÈ)
423. Music of the Twentieth Century. MHM 240 or the equivalent. (3). (Excl).
This course will trace the American popular music industry through the twentieth century. The main focus of the class will be on rock music from its earliest stages to the present. However, other popular musics will be studied including: ragtime, Tin Pan Alley/Broadway songs, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, country and western, funk, disco, rap, ska and world music. The class will use a lecture/discussion format, and extensive supplementary listening will be required. Students will be evaluated through a midterm, an exam, and a term paper. Cost:1 WL:4 (Sherwood)
437/Phil. 437. Philosophy of Music. An introductory course in philosophy; or previous course work in music; or permission of the instructor. (3). (Excl).
See Philosophy 437. (Walton)
458. Music and Culture. (3). (HU).
Section 001 – Music and Ritual. This is a lecture course designed
to stimulate students to explore music as a marker of structure, as an enhancer of affect, and as a catalyst for trance states.
A few rituals will be studied in depth, including the Sufi Qawwali
ritual from Pakistan and the Barong/Rangda ritual from Bali, Indonesia.
Lectures will intersperse theory with focus on particular rituals.
No musical background is required, but the ability to hear musical
patterns is essential. Students will be asked to write several
short papers and a final paper. Readings from a course pack and listening tapes will be included in the assignments. Cost:1 WL:4
(Becker)
464/CAAS 464. Music of the Caribbean. (3). (HU).
This course introduces the Caribbean as an area comprising many distinct cultures. Not only is each island unique culturally, but each contains within its borders a heterogeneous composition of peoples with evolving styles. Trinidad will be used as the model society for study because of its musical influence upon the entire Caribbean, the extraordinary array of musical practices, and its multi-ethnic makeup. The major body of the course will proceed by areas zoned musically for our purposes, and by musical type. That is, islands with historical French colonial contact will be handled together and distinct musical types of various countries will be studied by genre. We will search for the social, legislative, and economic factors that operate in favor of musical appropriation and against the continuity of individual traditional styles. Students are encouraged, in their written projects, to explore issues involving musical ideation, discovery, and decision-making in a select Caribbean area. Cost:2 WL:1 (McDaniel)
477. Medieval Music. (3). (Excl).
To what extent was music involved in the construction of gender in the Middle Ages? What role did it play in defining one's place in human and cosmic hierarchies? Following a lecture-based survey of the early development of Western music, the second half of this course will examine these questions through analyses of music, rituals, and texts (in translation) and by examining the development of the text/music relationship over the period 800-1450. Course work will involve listening and reading assignments, including musical scores, music theoretical literature, and medieval cultural studies. Grading will be based on performance on a listening quiz, a midterm essay exam, an oral presentation, and a term paper. Because this course is primarily designed for undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Music, the ability to read musical notation will be assumed. (Borders)
478. Renaissance Music. (3). (Excl).
This is a lecture survey of music history from about 1400 to about 1600. Assignments consist of readings (mostly periodical literature) and listening assignments. Discussions will focus on changing compositions devices and also on cultural contexts for music performance. Grades will be determined by two hour exams and a final. Some musical background is required. Cost:1 WL:4 (D. Crawford)
238. Introduction to Musical Analysis. Theory 137. (3). (HU).
The course is a continuation of MT 137 and thus assumes a basic understanding of scales, chords, and tonal harmony. In MT 238 an emphasis is placed on elements of chromaticism, larger forms and 20th-century techniques. Laboratory sessions supplement lectures and provide opportunities for discussion and practical application of musical materials. One term-long analysis project and weekly homework assignments. (Lewis)
405. Special Courses. Theory 240. (1-3). (Excl).
Section 001 – "Difficult" Music. (3 credits). Permission
of instructor is required. Music of all genres and cultures
contain works that demand a greater than usual effort on the part
of participants, be they their creators or receivers. The course
will examine what constitutes "difficulty" in different
kinds of music, and explore some of the reasons people variously
enjoy and condemn it. Students will be invited to bring examples
from their own favorite repertoires; I will contribute works by
Milton Babbitt, Morton Feldman, and Elliot Carter. (Mead)
406. Special Courses. Theory 240. (1-3). (Excl).
Section 001 – The Analysis of Text-Music Relations. (2 credits).
15-20 diverse tonal vocal works from the song, operatic, vocal-symphonic
and choral repertoires will be the subject of this seminar. The
aims of the course are to enable students to think creatively
in terms of the analysis of the poetic text, to assess the practicality
of working with translations, to learn how to discover the musical
characteristics, patterns, and structures that embody the ideas
of the poetic text, and to develop expressive approaches to the
performance of these relationships. Some examples of popular music
will join the 17th-19th centuries' canon, and there will be an
emphasis on Schubert, 1997 being the 200th anniversary of his
birth. Prerequisites: MT 240, 250. (Everett)
201. Microcomputers and Music. Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
Students receive basic instruction in the use of microcomputers, synthesizers, and computer music software for composition and recording. Requires the ability to read music and some musical keyboard proficiency. (Bloom, Polot)
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