Music Major and Minor Courses

This course is Part II of the required Music History Survey for Music Majors and Minors. We will be seeking to use the skills acquired in Part I of the Survey into the investigation of Western music from the middle of the eighteenth-century through to the early 1960s. The course will develop students’ abilities to apply historical, critical, and political concepts to the specific analytic details of both musical scores and musical sound. And thus, on the pragmatic level, the course will aim to develop students? skills at reading musical scores analytically, listening to music within an historically informed framework, being able broadly to recognize the different stylistic periods, and (by means of the examinations) to develop a basic toolbox of important musical terms and to develop a memory and repertoire of different musics (through score identification). We will also continue developing the practice of reading scholarly texts, already begun in MUS 213, with the four substantial readings that have been assigned for the course of the semester. Whilst the reportorial focus of our investigations will be the works of the Western art music cannon, the larger (and more important) aims of the course will, nevertheless, be to understand that the conflicts, difficulties, and uncertainties that we face today as humans in an increasingly vexed global context are part of a long-term and ongoing debate about what the human is, what its rights should be, and how its creative, artistic and musical endeavors should relate to the social and political structures that come into being as a result. This ongoing discourse we can call, for want of a better term, modernity, and its roots lie, to a large degree, in the philosophical ideas and political and social practices that started to come into being at the point at which Part II of the survey begins: in other words, the beginning of the eighteenth century.

This course will explore the musical activities of women from Christian mysticism in the Middle Ages to women in popular music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In unraveling the historical complexities of women in music, we will take into account the cultural values and historical conditions that have surrounded women as composers, teachers, performers, listeners, and patrons. We will also consider how male composers have depicted womanhood in art and popular music. To contribute to our understanding, we will analyze specific musical works and performances and read scholarship in music criticism that addresses how music has shaped notions of womanhood. Our aim is to gain practical experience in interpreting how music has represented, reinforced, questioned, or challenged gender ideology within particular historical moments.

The Orpheus myth has held a certain fascination for thousands of year. In this course we will be seeking to investigate some of the reasons for why it has been so compelling. In part, this will lead us to a relatively conventional exploration, predominantly in the first half of the semester, of how different Western composers have taken up the Orpheus theme and molded it to the requirements of their particular historical contexts. In the second half of semester, however, we will branch out into how the myth has acted as an instigation for broader global issues, particularly concerning race, expression, and the legacies of colonialism. As a result, the course is as much about how questions that have arisen in relationship to music can spread out into other fields, as it is purely about Orpheus and music per se. This intention to broaden out is exemplified, particularly in the second part of semester by the fact that our investigations will become more unapologetically interdisciplinary.

This class seeks to think about the particular relevance of comedy for the representation and understanding of late modernity and modernism. Modernity will refer to those political, social, intellectual and economic forces that start developing during the course of the seventeenth century century-forces with which we are still, to a large degree, thoroughly engaged. Modernity is a kind of productive and destructive mayhem, and thus strongly similar to formal features of the comic: for comedy turns things upside down, critiques the world by revealing its fundamental ridiculous instability, unmasks the beautiful to show the ugly, undermines pomposity to expose its idiocy, and makes everything trip up on a metaphorical banana skin. Comedy is therefore particularly adept at representing the modern world. Modernism will be understood as the cultural movements and artistic forms and practices that start developing during the later second nineteenth century. Amongst others, we will engage with Satie, Puccini, Shostakovitch, Weill, Poulenc, Cage, Dizzie Gilespie, Nina Simone, and Bugs Bunny.]

Music 105 and 106 are a two-semester course introducing basic topics and skills associated with music theory, analysis, and tonal composition. Following an in-depth review of basic music materials–scales, intervals, and chords–we examine counterpoint, harmonic function, and phrase structure in Western classical music and modern popular music.

Music 211 and 212 are a year-long study of music theory and analysis in which students develop theoretical knowledge and analytical skills associated with form, rhythm, timbre, and technology in the context of four different musical genres.

In MUS 211, students typically study small and large formal structures of Western classical music and rock and pop from the 1960s to the present. Students gain experience with these genres, associated analytical techniques, and theoretical ideas through analysis, listening, and composition.

In Mus 212, students concentrate on rhythm, timbre, and technology in contemporary classical music and rap. Students gain experience with these genres, associated analytical techniques, and theoretical ideas through analysis, listening, and composition.

In this course, students will develop the art of composing and combining multiple melodies harmoniously. Skill in this art will be developed and reinforced primarily through cycles of composing, performing, and revising student compositions and secondarily through short textbook readings and composer-oriented analyses of model works (including J. S. Bach, Max Reger, and Agustín Barrios). Students can expect to compose instrumental pattern preludes, passacaglias, canons at various intervals, two-part inventions, fugues, and a Brazilian choro.

This course explores the relationship between music analysis and performance, and is designed to develop analytical, listening, writing, and interpretive skills. A student’s own repertoire will be a focus of the course.

The aim of this course is to learn about music produced by electronic means focusing on sound manipulation. We will cover the general principles of sound recording and sound editing. The analysis of relevant pieces of music will be at the service of guiding and understanding the production of short composition exercises.

This course will be providing the students with the tools and the knowledge to work with the resources readily available. Therefore, there will be flexibility regarding software and hardware requirements, prioritizing open software and materials granted by the school library and the music department.

Two-semester course for students interested in music produced by electronic means. Explores the history and practice of electronic music, synthesizer music, and computer music. Examines experimental, rock, and other popular forms. Students learn basic studio techniques, synthesis/sound manipulation techniques, and psychoacoustic principles. There may be a class fee assessed to your student account.

Writing and analysis under professional guidance in private consultations and class discussions. Students must present examples of their work and are accepted by permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit.

Unlock the doors to creativity and artistry. In this safe environment, students use sound work, body work, visualization practices, and other creative experimentation, students learn to break through inhibitions and fears, and develop a stronger sense of their personal artistic identity. Exercises strengthen self awareness, focus, and intention, helping students feel more at ease on and off the stage. This class is designed to support performance artists of all genres. Open to actors, dancers, public speakers, musicians, and others, by permission of the instructor.

Fundamental conducting and rehearsal techniques. Participation in performing ensembles expected.

Fundamental conducting and rehearsal techniques. Participation in performing ensembles expected.