ARTS-2500 History of Western Music. Spring 2010

Monday and Thursday 2:00 to 3:50 pm

Classroom:  West Hall 321

www.arts.rpi.edu/century/mh10/mh10.htm

Learning Management System location (for homework and assignments:  rpilms.rpi.edu

Prof. Michael Century 

century@rpi.edu

276-2302 West Hall 115

1. Course Description and Objectives

Everyone listens to music, and increasingly we live much of our lives immersed in it.  Paradoxically, for a time when access to music is higher than ever before, basic music knowledge is lower than earlier times when music was treated as a core subject in education.  This course reduces the near infinite scope of todayÕs musical universe to a single, very long, continuous historical tradition –the Western tradition of classical music, though we will take many opportunities to consider music from other cultures as well. The emphasis is on active focused listening, a practice and form of study which combines perceptual sensitivity with musical knowledge to add new dimensions to the way we can experience the power of music.  Music is also a social force, but its relationship with society is complex.  While detailed treatment of music and society is beyond the scope of this course, we will nonetheless keep a constant awareness that music is always embedded in a social fabric.  As we move through the grand narrative of Western classical music, we will be conscious of parallels and similarities with some non-Western musics.

 

Each student will:

á          Acquire an understanding of the stylistic features of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth-Century Western Art Music.

á          Gain knowledge of the musical corpus of a representative sample of composers.

á          Learn terminology associated with the Western Art music tradition.

á          Identify a representative sample of music listening examples from required listening.

á          Learn to place music of different times in the wider context of society, politics, economy.

á          Experience music performances in their intended setting, live and in-person, and express analytic and personal impressions of the performances in writing.

á           

2. Outline of Course Content

Unit 1:  Listening Fundamentals

4 Class Periods.               

Unit 2: Early European Music through Baroque – to 1750

5 Class Periods.  

Unit 3: Classical and Romantic 1750-1890

7.5 Class Periods

Unit 4:  Modern – 1890 to Present

7.5  Class Periods

 

3. Instructional Methods and Study Requirements

Lectures will be combined with abundant use of sound examples.  Live demonstration at the piano will supplement the CD Recordings that come with the textbook.  The stress during lectures will be to make sure the student is hearing and understanding the material, and therefore attendance in lectures will be essential to achieving a successful grade. Students will need to work at a steady pace by reading the assigned texts and listening to the associated music examples using the Òlistening guidesÓ provided in the text.

Students will be examined in two mid-term in-class quizzes and one in-class final quiz.  These exams will mainly be testing for listening competency, not Òregurgitating factsÓ.

 

4. Assignments and Determination of Final Grade

In addition to the three quizzes mentioned, you are required to attend at least three live musical performances, i.e. concerts, recitals, during the semester and write 500-750 word reports on each. You will receive a list of concerts that are offered for free on-campus, and also of concerts off-campus which RPI students can get free tickets to attend.  Within reasonable limits, IÕll approve attending other performances you propose to cover, but let me know about them in advance.  No lates will be accepted, so plan ahead. These reports must demonstrate that you have learned the basic concepts and vocabulary taught in class, and have applied them to the particular works given in the concerts.  Make sure to discuss the performing forces (instruments, voices) and to discuss such things as tempo, rhythm, form, melodic or harmonic material, and the general effect of each piece.  DonÕt worry if some of these terms sound foreign to you now – weÕll be learning them in class. 

 

45%       Concert Reports

45%       Three quizzes

10%       Participation (includes attendance at lectures)

5. Required Texts, CDÕs and Online Listening Resources

Listen by Joseph Kerman and Gary Tomlinson. New York, Sony Music Special Products : Bedford/St. Martin's.

The audio CD set corresponding to the content of Listen will be crucial for your out-of-class listening practice.  Obtaining this collection is strongly recommended.

If you donÕt wish to purchase the CD-set, an alternative is to do your listening using a copy of the set that will be put on course reserve in the Folsom Library.

 

Online.  The Naxos classical music server is huge and contains many of the pieces on the assigned list.  It is accessed from the RensSearch Library portal, library.rpi.edu, at the link ÒFilm/Music/ImagesÓ.     You can also access Naxos from the library catalog and just search for piece by name or composer, then connect directly to Naxos from the catalog entry. A second online source is the Database of Recorded American music (DRAM, in the syllabus), which is the only source available for some 20th century recordings.

                 

Another strongly recommended resource is GroveÕs Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online – available from RenSearch using the campus network. Instructions on use of all the online resources will be given in class.

 

You will be assigned to read one chapter from an online book:

Daniel Levitin:  This is your brain on music [electronic resource] : the science of a human obsession Levitin, Daniel J. New York, N.Y. : Dutton, c2006.  Web Resource(Troy)   Ebrary – this is the link: http://site.ebrary.com.libproxy.rpi.edu/lib/rpi/Doc?id=10130584

 

An excellent website offers you the opportunity to practice listening fundamentals: http://www.teoria.com/exercises/index.htm

6. Academic Dishonesty Policy

Relationships between and students and professors, as well as those between students and their classmates, are built on trust.  Acts that violate this trust, such as cheating or plagiarism, will result in a failing grade for this course.  The Rensselaer Handbook defines various degrees of academic dishonesty, plus the responses available to address it.  Students should familiarize themselves with this portion of the handbook.


 

Schedule

K&T

assignments

1

Mon 1-25

Listening fundamentals:  Music, Sound and Time.

 

 

2

Thu 1-28

Listening fundamentals: Rhythm and Pitch

1, 2

 

3

Mon 2-1

Listening Fundamentals:

Structures of music. Texture. Tonality

3

 

4

Thu 2-4

Listening Fundamentals: Form and Style

4

Levitin 1 page response paper

5

Mon 2-8

Early Music – Middle Ages

5

 

6

Thu 2-11

Early Music:  Renaissance, Early Baroque

6,7

 

7

Thu 2-18

Baroque Music

8

 

8

Mon 2-22

J.S. Bach

9, 10

1st concert report

9

Thu 2-25

Exam

 

Exam

10

Mon 3-1

The Enlightenment

11

 

11

Thu 3-4

The Classical Style: Symphony

12

 

12

Mon 3-15

Classical style: String quartet and opera

13

 

13

Thu 3-18

Beethoven

14

 

14

Mon 3-22

Late Beethoven

 

 

15

Thu 3-25

Romanticism, early romantic composers

15,16

 

16

Mon 3-29

Romantic Opera, Wagner and Verdi

17

 

17

Thu 4-1

Late Romantics

18

2nd concert report

18

Mon 4-5

Exam

 

Exam

19

Thu 4-8

Modernism in arts and society 1890-1920

19

 

20

Mon 4-12

Early Modernist composers

20

 

21

Thu 4-15

Alternatives to Modernism

21

 

22

Mon 4-19

High Modernism: Electronic music

22

 

23

Thu 4-22

John Cage and his influence

 

 

24

Mon 4-26

Post modernism and music today

23

 

25

Thu 4-29

Post modernism and music today

 

 

26

Mon 5-3

Jazz

23

 

27

Thu 5-6

Review of whole course

 

3rd concert report

28

Mon 5-10

Final exam

 

Exam

                 

Concert listings

 

Here are sixteen classical music concerts in the area which you can write about for your concert reports.  I will not accept reports on other concerts except by special permission.

 

1.  On campus

Feb 10, 7:30                    Michael Century Solo Concert, Chapel and Cultural Center (Free admission)

Feb 16, 8 pm                Neil Rolnick, with Ethel String Quartet – EMPAC

March 5, 8 pm                ÒSolosÓ at EMPAC Concert Hall

March 20, 8 pm             Frederic Rzewski, EMPAC

March 27 8 pm                 Music of Helmut Lachenman – EMPAC

 

2.  Off campus with free tickets from Student Union.  Note the date of the concert is given first, then for really special events, the date that free tickets are available from the Union.

 

Jan 31, 4 pm. (tickets Jan 13) Ariel String Quartet, at Emma Willard School

Feb 11, 8 pm. (tickets Feb 3) Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Troy Savings Bank

Feb 26, 8 pm. (tickets Feb 17) Albany Symphony Orchestra, Troy Savings Bank

March 13, 7:30 pm. (tickets March 3) Sharon Isbin and Mark OÕConnor, The Egg (Albany)

March 19, 8:00 pm. (tickets March 3) Cypress String Quartet, Emma Willard School

March 26, 8:00 pm. (tickets March 17) Albany Symphony Orchestra, Troy Savings Bank

April 10, 8:00 pm. (tickets March 31) Itzhak Perlman, Proctors Theater (Schenectady)

April 11, 7:30 pm. (tickets March 31) Turtle Island String Quartet, The Egg (Albany)

April 16 4:00 pm. (tickets April 7) Music of the Spheres, Emma Willard School

April 23, 7:30 pm. (tickets April 14) Albany Symphony Orchestra, Palace Theater (Albany)

April 30, 8:00 pm. (tickets April 21) Leila Josefowicz, Troy Savings Bank