Music Composition, Music Theory, Cognition, Music Theory, Music Composition: Ernest Bloch Lecture Series, Fall 2011

Fred Lerdahl, Bloch Lecture Series, Fall 2011

University of California at Berkeley, Morrison Hall, Select Fridays at 4:30-6PM

I From Composition to Theory (9/19)
II The Theory Illustrated: Tension and Expectation in a Schubert Song (9/30)
III On the Musical Capacity (10/14)
IV Cognitive Constraints and the Aesthetics of Disorder (10/28)
V From Theory to Composition (11/4)

Composer and music theorist Fred Lerdahl is Fritz Reiner Professor of Music at Columbia University. His music has received many awards and commissions and has been performed by major orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writings, which complement his work as a composer, model musical listening from the perspective of cognitive science. He has written two books, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (with linguist Ray Jackendoff) and Tonal Pitch Space.

Tickets not required. Concerts@berkeley.edu, 510-642-4864

Image credits: Copyright (c) Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology and Regents of the University of California 2011. All rights reserved.

Pan Cogito And His Latest Musical Conundrum

Choose from one of the following three two-semester Western music history survey courses required – or once required - of all undergraduate music majors at the University of California (Berkeley), Swarthmore, and Yale:

1. History of Musical Style: 400 to 1800 and 1800 to the present (1971-72)

2. Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Music History; and Topics in Music History 1760 to 1911 (Haydn and Mozart to Mahler and Verdi) (1972-73)

3. Music History 1600-1800; and Music History 1800-1960 (2011-12)

Don't the second and third options devalue Baroque, Medieval, Renaissance, and Contemporary Classical Western music?

Photo credit: (c) Copyright controlled.

BEYOND THE BEAR'S REACH: 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN FREE UNIVERSITY

90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN FREE UNIVERSITY (MUNICH, GERMANY):

The 90th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) will be celebrated. The program will be primarily in Ukrainian with some introductory remarks in English.

Introduction:
Bohdan Futey (UFU Professor)

Ukrainian & American National Anthems:
Solomia Maria Dutkevych

Greetings:
Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksandr Motsyk
Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Bohdana Urbanovych, Head of Branch of НТШ-А in Washington, DC

Speakers:
Yaroslava Melnyk, Professor - Lviv National University (UFU rector: 2012- ) - “90 years of UFU”
Leonid Rydnitskiy (UFU rector: 1998-2003) - “UFU in the Service of Ukrainian Science and the Nation”

Musical Presentation:
Solomia Maria Dutkevych - soprano & bandura

Closing:
Professor Albert Kipa, President - УВАН, (UFU rector: 2003-2007)

Exhibit - Selected UFU Publications

Reception

Saturday, October 1
2:00 pm
Embassy of Ukraine
3350 "M" Street, N.W.
Washington, DC
Free Admission

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Andrew Sorokowski at: amboritanus@hotmail.com

Works And Days And The Palestinian Spring

"Never cross the sweet-flowing water of ever-rolling rivers afoot until you have prayed, gazing into the soft flood, and washed your hands in the clear, lovely water. Whoever crosses a river with hands unwashed of wickedness, the gods are angry with him and bring trouble upon him afterwards."

Hesiod: Works And Days

Photo credit: (c) Associated Press 2011.

Cogito The Fearless

The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy
August 20, 2011 - December 31, 2011
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco - Legion of Honor

37 Mourners in 3D

*

Pictured:

Mourner with an uncovered head, holding a book with his right hand
Pleurant la tête découverte, tenant un livre de la main droite
Jean de La Huerta (Daroca, ? - ? After 1462) and Antoine Le Moiturier (Avignon, c. 1425 - Dijon, 1494)
Mourner No. 67
1443 - 45
Alabaster
16 5/16 x 8 11/16 x 4 3/4 inches
41.5 x 22 x 12 cm
(c) Cleveland Museum of Art 2011. Copyright controlled.

"Vissi d'Arte" In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction (And Sans The "Free Opera In The Ballpark" Fad)

[Click on image for enlargement.]

"Last year, a record of more than 2.6 million "The Met: Live in HD" tickets were sold to opera lovers across the globe - including Russia, Israel, China, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, and Slovenia - effectively quadrupling the Met’s paying audience (approximately 800,000 people attend performances in the opera house in a Met season)."

*

"The Czech Republic has also a rich cultural heritage. Prague was a major European musical center in the 18th century, represented by classical composers such as Josef Myslivecek (1737-81), Jan Ladislav Dusek (1760-1812), friend of Mozart. 19th century Czech music was created by Bedrich Smetana, who, using folk sources and his own inspiration, almost single-handedly created a modern Czech musical style and Antonin Dvorak, whose work combined cosmopolitanism with nationalism, emerged as one of the most renowned composers of his day. Leos Janacek, whose creative period came after 1900, had a unique style based on the speech patterns of his native district of Moravia. Also in the romantic nationalist tradition were Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) and, somewhat later, Josef Suk and Vitezslav Novak (1870-1949).

During the 1920s and 1930s many Czech composers, notably the atonalist Alois Haba (1893-1973), were attracted to avant-garde music. A more conservative figure from this period was the French-influenced cosmopolitan Bohuslav Martinu."

Image and Text credit: (c) 2002 Kuska House and Galance Web Services. With thanks.

Problems In Contemporary Corporatist Civilization

[Click on images for enlargements.]

Onshore U.S. corporate liquidity has reached a record $13 trillion.

*

Image credits:

David Nash - Cube, Sphere, Pyramid: Mosaic Cuts, 2008 Redgum on artist's charred shelf

David Nash - Black Dome, 2009 Charcoal on paper in artist's charred ash frame

(c) David Nash 2011. Copyright controlled. All rights reserved. Via, respectively, the Haines Gallery, San Francisco, and the Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Microfoundations Of Classical Music: Just A Little On Analytically-Informed Performance Practice

"Some salient features of Murray Perahia’s finely nuanced recording (0:00–0:33) include a hesitation on the first bar line followed by a subito p, a crescendo and buildup of momentum beginning at the pickup to bar 3 and a diminuendo and relaxation of the tempo in bar 4 after the local climax on ew2 (Ex. 6). Taken together, these features suggest that bars 2–4 form a group with a clear beginning (marked by a hesitation), middle (marked by relative continuity) and end (marked by a ritard )" ...

Alan Dodson "Performance, Grouping and Schenkerian Alternative Readings in Some Passages from Beethoven’s ‘Lebewohl’ Sonata" Music Analysis Volume 27, Issue 1, pages 107–134, March 2008

Image credit: Piet Mondrian (c) paintings.name 2011.

*

Next free concert at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Harmonious Blacksmith

Kate Vetter Cain, soprano
Ole Hass, tenor

Italian arias and duets from Monteverdi to Haydn

Sunday September 25, 2011 6:30 PM FREE [First come, first seated]

Presented in honor of
Italian Master Drawings from the
Wolfgang Ratjen Collection: 1525 – 1835

This Isn't About Class Warfare ... This Is About Civilization

'Aesthetics' from Oxford University Press.

Image credit: Ash dome by David Nash, 1977. (c) David Nash. Copyright controlled. All rights reserved.

Beyond FACEBOOK: Pan Cogito Sizes Up The Library Of Congress Free Classical Music Line-up 2011-12 From Liszt To Bach And Beyond

LISZT: Années de Pèlerinage [Years of Pilgrimage]: Deuxième Année and Troisième Année (complete)
LISZT: Liederabend
BARTÓK: Duos for two violins – excerpts from 44 Duos
BARTÓK: Rhapsody no. 1. for violin and piano
BARTÓK: Contrasts for clarinet, piano and violin
BARTÓK: Piano Quintet
DE FALLA: Popular Spanish Songs
TAKEMITSU: Distance de Fée
RAVEL: Tzigane and Alborada del gracioso, from Miroirs, op. 43
MAZUMDAR: Homage to Ravi Shankar
BARTÓK: Romanian Folk Dances
RAVEL: Kaddish, (arr. Hope)
MAZUMDAR: Homage to Yehudi Menuhin
LISZT: transcriptions of Angelus!, R.W. - Venezia for piano trio; and Am Grabe Richard Wagners for string quartet; and, for cello and piano, Unstern: sinister, disastro; Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth (Elegie); Nuages gris; Schaflos, Frage und Antwort; Wagner/Liszt, La lugubre gondola I and II; and O du, mein holder Abendstern.
SCHUBERT: Fantasy in F minor, op. 103, for piano, four hands
ARENSKY: Suite no. 1, op. 15
LISZT: Concerto pathétique
MILHAUD: Scaramouche
LISZT: Réminiscences de Don Juan - Fantaisie
MOZART: Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
MAHLER: Piano Quartet Movement in A minor
SAINT-SAËNS: Piano Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 41
LISZT: Romance oubliée
BRAHMS: Sonata for viola and piano in F minor, op. 120, no. 1
BACH: Cello Suite no. 1 in G Major, arr. for viola
BRAHMS: Sonata for viola and piano in E-flat Major, op. 120, no. 2
SCHULLER: String Quartet no. 4
BEETHOVEN: Sonata no. 7 for violin and piano in C minor, op. 30
SCHUBERT: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
KREISLER: violin and piano pieces
MELTZER: Kreisleriana (World Premiere - Library of Congress McKim Fund commission)
MELTZER: Brion (Washington Premiere)
KREISLER: String Quartet in A minor
DINA KOSTON: Distant Intervals; and A Short Tale
CHESTER BISCARDI: Resisting Stillness
FERRUCCIO BUSONI: Berceuse élégiaque
DAVID CLAMAN: Gone for Foreign
MARIO DAVIDOVSKY: Ladino Songs (World Premiere)
BRAHMS: Liebeslieder Waltzes for voices and piano, four hands, op. 52
DINA KOSTON: Messages (written for Leon Fleisher)
LIGETI: Aventures for 3 voices and 7 instruments
LIGETI: Nouvelles Aventures for 3 voices and 7 instruments
C.P.E. BACH: Fantasia in A Major, H. 278
C.P.E. BACH: Sonata in G minor, H. 47
HANDEL: Selected arias from operas and oratorios, arr. John Walsh
C.P.E. BACH: “Hamlet” Fantasia with voice
C.P.E BACH: Sonata in A Major, H. 186
HAYDN: Cantata Arianna a Naxos
GALEAZZI: “Ah, vita bella!”
CAZZATI: Ciaccona
KIRCHER: Tarantella napolitana; Tono hypodorico
TRADITIONAL PUGLIESE: “Pizzicarella mia”; “La Carpinese”
SALVATORE (20th century): “Lamento dei Mendicanti” Improvisations,
Bergamasca and Canario
VITALE: Tarantella a Maria di Nardò; Moresca
KAPSBERGER: L’Arpeggiata
SPARAGNA: “Sogna fiore mio”
KIRCHER: Tarantella Italiana
DE MURCIA: Fandango
GALEAZZI: “Voglio una casa” Improvisation; Jacaras
FALCONIERO: La Suave Melodia
TRADITIONAL PUGLIESE: “Lo povero 'Ntonnuccio”
KIRCHER: Antidotum Tarantulae
ARRIAGA: Quartet no. 3
BEETHOVEN: Quartet in F Major, op. 18, no. 1
DOHNÁNYI: Quartet no. 3 in A minor, op. 33
SUK: Meditation, for quartet
JANÁCEK: Selections from In the Mists, for solo piano
JANÁCEK: String Quartet no. 1 (“Kreutzer Sonata”)
DVORÁK: Piano Quintet in A minor, op. 81
CAGE: Two4 (McKim Fund commission)
BERG: String Quartet, op. 3
BARTÓK: Quartet no. 4 in C Major
ADÈS: Four Quarters
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge, op. 133
SCHUBERT: Quartet no. 7 in D Major, D.94
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, op. 131
SMETANA: String Quartet in E minor (“From my Life”)
J.S. BACH: Concerto in A minor for flute, violin and harpsichord, BWV 1044
J.S. BACH: from A Musical Offering, BWV 1079, 3-part ricercare for solo harpsichord; canons; and 6-part ricercare
J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
DALL’ABACO: Concerto op. 5 no. 3 in E minor
VIVALDI: Concerto for cello, strings and basso continuo in D minor, no. 23, RV 407
BACH: Suite for orchestra in C Major, BWV 1066
BACH: Concerto for oboe d'amore, strings and basso continuo, BWV 1055
(reconstruction after the harpsichord concerto, BWV 1055)
SAMMARTINI: Sinfonie in A Major
BACH: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in G Major, BWV 1049
BACH Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 / Suite no. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 / Suite no. 5 in C minor, BW 1011
BACH Suite no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 / Suite no. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 / Suite no. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012

Concerts from the Library of Congress

Image: Wassily Kandinsky

Persons Under The Poverty Threshold In The Nation's Capital - 19.9%; In Texas - 18.4%; In California - 16.3 % - (46.2 Million Total In Poverty In US)

Repost To Bigotry: Turning Back Ignorance At The Gates Of Minsk

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Hello again Pan Cogito,

With the anniversary of 9/11, I was hoping that you could help once more by reminding the readers of Renaissance Research about our short 2 minute video of peace and the pledge of tolerance on our site:

http://myfellowamerican.us

America was built on the principles of equality and basic human rights for all. Recent mosque protests and congressional hearings on American Muslims are all unfortunate examples of a rising tide of fear that lead to intolerance and inequality. This climate of suspicion towards our fellow Americans compromises the great values that our country was founded upon.

It would be great if you could once more post or tweet about this video. The site also has many other cool features including the ability to share your own stories and you can even take the "My Fellow American" pledge. I am here if you have any questions. Thank you so much.

Elizabeth

*

Kitabs are the books written in Belarusian language using Arabic script. They were written mostly in the 16th century C.E. by the Tatars that lived in Belarus.

Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir

Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin

Photo credit: Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‬: Татарскія могілкі ў Міры. Tatar cemetery in Mir, Belarus, October 2010. (c) Alexander Czajczyc 2010. Via Wikipedia. With thanks.

Mir, Belarus, Future European Union, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Musical Pictures At An Exhibition (Pan Cogito Examines The Free Concerts From The Library Of Congress Programming From The Past 2010-11 Season)

ALBINONI: Sinfonia à 5 in C Major, op. 2, no. 2
MUFFAT: Sonata no. 2 in G minor, from Armonico Tributo
BACH: Violin Concerto in G minor, BWV1056r
VIVALDI: Trio Sonata in D minor, op. 1, no. 12 (“La Follia”)
ALBICASTRO: Concerto à 4, op. 7, no. 2
ALBINONI: Sonatao à 5 in B-flat Major, op. 2, no. 5
MOZART: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
RAVEL: String Quartet in F Major
BARTÓK: String Quartet no. 5
VIVALDI: Trio Sonata in D minor, op. 1, no. 12 ("Follia")
VIVALDI: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 208 ("Il Grosso Mogul")
MONTEVERDI: “Lamento d'Arianna”
DOWLAND:"Come again, sweet love doth now invite"
"Weep you no more, sad fountains"
"If my complaints could passions move"
Lachrimae Pavan (lute solo)
"In darkness let me dwell"
VIVALDI: Flute Concerto in C minor, RV 401
HANDEL: Cantata: "O nume eterni", HWV 145, ("La Lucrezia")
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 18, no. 6
(“La Malinconia”)
JANÁČEK: String Quartet no. 1 (“Kreutzer Sonata”)
DVOŘÁK: String Quartet in G Major, op. 106
FÖRSTER: Laudate Dominum
BUXTEHUDE: Jubilate Domino, BuxWV 64;
BACH: Sonata in G Major for viola da gamba, BWV 1027
TUNDER: Salve mi Jesu
BACH: Wie starb die Heldin so vergnügt, BWV 198
BACH: Italian Concerto, BWV 971
MEDER: Ach Herr, strafe mich nicht
PROKOFIEV: Sonata for cello and piano in C Major, op. 119
MENDELSSOHN: Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major, op. 58
RACHMANINOV: Sonata for cello and piano in G minor, op. 19
HAYDN: String Quartet in A Major, op. 20, no. 6
KORNGOLD: String Quartet no. 3 in D Major, op. 34
WEBERN: String Quartet, op. 28
SCHUMANN: String Quartet no. 2 in F Major, op. 41, no. 2
PIOTR SZEWCZYK: The Rebel
DVOŘÁK: String Quintet in G Major, op. 77
DAN VISCONTI: Black Bend
MOZART: Divertimento in F Major, K. 138
PIAZZOLLA: Two Tangos
Selections from the Radiohead Remixed Project
MAHLER: Songs
BARBER: Songs
R. STRAUSS: Sextet from the opera Capriccio, op. 85
SCHOENBERG: Verklärte Nacht, op. 4
BRAHMS: Sextet no. 2 in G Major, op. 36
AUERBACH: String Quartet no. 1 (Washington premiere)
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in B-flat Major, D112
MEIJERING: “Mein junges Leben hat (k)ein End” (after Sweelinck)
(U.S. premiere)
TCHAIKOVSKY: String Quartet no. 2 in F Major, op. 22
GLASS: String Quartet no. 2 (“Company”)
PUCCINI: Crisantemi
MILHAUD: String Quartet no. 9, op. 140
FRANCK: Piano Quintet in F minor
SAINTE-COLOMBE: Prelude, Chaconne in D minor
(from the Panmure Manuscript)
MARAIS: Musette, La Georgienne dite La Maupertuy*, Plainte, La Guitarre
(Pièces de Viole, Bk III/*IV)
MARAIS: Le Tombeau de Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (Pièces de Viol, Bk II)
SAINTE-COLOMBE: Prélude, Chansonette, Chaconne in C Major (from the Panmure Manuscript)
MOZART: Trio in E-flat Major, K. 498 ("Kegelstatt")
BRUCH: from Eight Pieces, op. 8
SHENG: Three Fantasies for Violin and Piano (McKim commission)
BRAHMS: Clarinet Trio in A minor, op. 114
ADAMS: Road Movies for violin and piano (McKim commission)
BURHANS: In a Distant Place
ANDRIESSEN: Workers' Union
BRAXTON: selections from Central Market and new compositions
HARBISON: Fantasy Duo for violin and piano (McKim commission)
SCHUBERT: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965
MALLONÉE: Shadow Rings (Washington premiere)
MESSIAEN: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
HANDEL: Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435
FROBERGER: Lamento sopra la dolorosa . . .Ferdinando IV
BACH: French Suite no. 5 in G Major, BWV 816
COUPERIN: Passacaille
RAMEAU: Musette en rondeau
SCARLATTI: 3 Sonatas in D Major, K. 490- 492
MOZART: Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Winds, K. 452
POULENC: Sonata for Flute and Piano (Coolidge commission)
BRIDGE: Divertimenti for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (Coolidge commission)
BEETHOVEN: Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Winds, op. 16
CRUMB: Selections from American Songbooks for voice, amplified piano, and percussion
TAN DUN: Elegy: Snow in June for cello and percussion
JANÁČEK: Sonata for violin and piano
BIBER: Passacaglia
BRUCE: Passacaglia (World premiere)
CURRIER: Xenakis Remix (Libary of Congress McKim co-commission)
DVOŘÁK: Four Romantic Pieces
YANOV-YANOVSKY: Passacaglia (World premiere)
BOLCOM: New York Lights
PIAZZOLLA: The Grand Tango
WHO KNOWS (Music and Lyrics: Harold Rome, I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE)
SOME PEOPLE (Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim, GYPSY)
NON, JE NE REGRETTE RIEN (Charles Dumont/Michel Vaucaire)
MON MANEGE A MOI (Norbert Glanzberg/J. Constantin)
HYMNE A L’AMOUR (Marguerite Monnot/Edith Piaf)
L’ACCORDÉONISTE (Musique et Paroles: Michel Emer)
MON DIEU (Charles Dumont/Michel Vaucaire)
WHAT WAS A WOMAN TO DO (David Yazbek, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS)
CAN THAT BOY FOXTROTT (Stephen Sondheim, FOLLIES)
SO WHAT (John Kander/Fred Ebb, CABARET)
LOVE AND LOVE ALONE (John Kander/Fred Ebb, THE VISIT)
AS WE STUMBLE ALONG (Lisa Lambert/Greg Morrison, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE)
I GOT LOST IN HIS ARMS (Irving Berlin, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN)
NOT WHILE I’M AROUND (Stephen Sondheim, SWEENEY TODD)
COULD I LEAVE YOU (Stephen Sondheim, FOLLIES)
WE’LL MEET AGAIN (Michael Ogborn, CAFÉ PUTTANESCA)
AS IF WE NEVER SAID GOOD-BYE (Andrew Lloyd Webber/ Don Black & Christopher Hampton, SUNSET BOULEVARD)
WITH ONE LOOK (Andrew Lloyd Webber/ Don Black & Christopher Hampton, SUNSET BOULEVARD)
CHAIKOVSKY: Piano Trio in A minor, op. 50
TANAYEV: Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 20
MAZZOLI: Still Life with Avalanche
HUREL: à mesure
HARTKE: NETSUKE (2010) – Six Miniatures for Violin and Piano (World premiere – McKim commission)
GLASS: Music in Similar Motion
ADÈS: Catch for clarinet, piano, violin & cello, op. 4
HARTKE: Meanwhile

Concerts from the Library of Congress

Image: Wassily Kandinsky

Imaging/Imagining New Worlds: Shakespeare vs. European Southern Observatory Anonymous Artist

Image credit: (c) European Southern Observatory via Washington Post.

Smiles Of A Rainy Early Autumn Morning While Awaiting The President's Evening Speech On American Civilization

History of Music

MUSI 020. Medieval and Renaissance Music
A survey of European art music from the late
Middle Ages to the 16th century. Relevant
extramusical contexts will be considered.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 021. Baroque and Classical Music
This course will survey European art music
from the 16th-century Italian madrigal to
Haydn’s Creation. Relevant extramusical
contexts will be considered.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 022. 19th-Century European Music
This survey considers European art music
against the background of 19th-century
Romanticism and nationalism. Composers to be
studied include Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin,
Berlioz, Robert and Clara Schumann, Wagner,
Verdi, Brahms, Dvorak, Musorgsky, and
Chaikovsky.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 023. 20th-Century Music
A study of the various stylistic directions in
music of the 20th century. Representative
works by composers from Debussy, Stravinsky,
and Schoenberg through Copland, Messiaen,
and postwar composers such as Boulez and
Crumb, to the younger generation will be
examined in detail.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 032. History of the String Quartet
A history of the string quartet from its origins to
its development into one of the most prestigious
genres of Western classical music. The course
will focus on the quartets of Haydn, Mozart,
and early Beethoven.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 037. Contemporary American Composers
A study of the works and thought of six
important American composers. The course will
stress intensive listening and will include
discussion meetings with each of the
composers.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 018. Conducting and Orchestration
This course approaches the understanding of
orchestral scores from a variety of perspectives.
We will study techniques of orchestration and
instrumentation, both in analysis of selected
works, and in practice, through written
exercises. The history and philosophy of
conducting will be examined, and we will work
to develop practical conducting technique.
Score reading, both at the piano and through
other methods, will be practiced throughout the
semester.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 004A. Opera
Combine great singing with the vivid colors of
an orchestra, with acting and theater, with
poetry, dance, painting, spectacle, magic, love,
death, history, mythology, and social
commentary, and you have opera: an art of
endless fascination. This course will survey the
history of opera (from Monteverdi through
Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi to Gershwin and
Stravinsky), with special emphasis on and study
of scenes from selected works.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 004B. The Symphony
This course will examine the history of the
symphony from its beginnings in music of the
late Baroque period to the end of the 20th
century. We will examine a number of
important symphonic works by such composers
as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms,
Chaikovsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, and
Gorecki in order to discuss issues of genre,
form, and performance forces in the context of
shifting historical and social trends.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 007B. Beethoven and the Romantic Spirit
An introduction to Beethoven’s compositions in
various genres. We will consider the artistic,
political, and social context in which he lived
and examine his legacy among composers later
in the 19th century (Berlioz, Chopin, the
Schumanns, Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler).

Not offered 2011–2012.


Honors Seminars

MUSI 100. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form
Exploration of a number of advanced concepts
in music theory including: the study and
analytical application of post-tonal theory
(including set theory and neo-Riemannian
theory), the structure of the diatonic system,
applications of theoretical models to rhythm
and meter, and geometric models of musical
progression.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 101. J.S. Bach
Study of Bach’s compositions in various
genres, examining music both as a reflection of
and formative contribution to cultural history.
A reading knowledge of German is required.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 102. Color and Spirit: Music of
Debussy, Stravinsky, and Messiaen
A study of 20th-century music focusing on the
great renewal of musical expressions, diverging
from the Austro-German classic-Romantic
tradition, found in the works of these three very
individual composers, as well as the
connections among them, and the resonance of
their music in the work of their contemporaries
and successors.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 103. Mahler and Britten
This course is an intensive study of the music of
two seminal 20th-century composers. We will
consider song cycles by both composers and
their connections to larger genres: Mahler’s
symphonies and Britten’s operatic works as
well as the War Requiem.

Not offered 2011–2012.

MUSI 104. Chopin
This course will provide an in-depth historical
study of Chopin’s music. We will examine the
full generic range of Chopin’s compositions,
taking into account the various socio-cultural,
biographical and historical-political issues that
have attached to specific genres. Throughout
the semester we will also consider such broader
questions as: why did Chopin restrict himself
almost entirely to piano composition? How
might we locate Chopin’s work within the
romanticism? What does Chopin’s music mean
to us today?

Not offered 2011–2012.

Pan Cogito, Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been A Music Major?

"Students are limited in the
number of majors and/or minors they may earn.
If they have only one major, they may have as
many as two minors. Students who choose an
honors major plus honors minor may have an
additional course minor outside the Honors
Program. If students have two majors, they may
not have a minor, except in one circumstance:
A student who elects honors, designating an
honors major and minor, may have a second
major outside of honors if that second major
includes the same subject as the honors minor.
The completion of two majors must be
approved by both departments. Triple majoring
is not allowed."

A Brief Look Back At Pre - 9/11 Federal Reserve Board Openness -- If Not Transparency

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Fifteen years ago I had the opportunity to sit around this august table (the third chair in on the left) and have my voice heard -- during an evening lecture-discussion on Polish Constructivist Art of the Between War Period [1923-1936] -- on loan to the Federal Reserve Board from the Lódz Art Museum (Muzeum Sztuki w Lódzi) Lódz, Poland, Present Day European Union.

Photo credit: (c) Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP. Copyright controlled.

Pop Quiz: Classical Music And Classical Music Memorial Works Of The Past

Which orchestra and which conductor(s) gave the West Coast orchestral premieres of Ives's Fourth Symphony, Terry Riley's In C, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen, and music by Henry Brant and Witold Lutosławski … and commissioned Darius Milhaud to compose The Murder of a Great Chief of State?

Credit: (c) Copyright controlled.

Grímsstadir á Fjöllum On My Mind

"A Chinese tycoon plans to buy a vast tract of Icelandic land for a $100m tourism project which critics fear could give Beijing a strategic foothold in the North Atlantic.

Huang Nubo, a real estate investor and former Chinese government official, has struck a provisional deal to acquire 300 square kilometres of wilderness in north-east Iceland where he plans to build an eco-tourism resort and golf course. Opponents have questioned why such a large amount of land – equal to about 0.3 per cent of Iceland’s total area – is needed to build a hotel. ...

People familiar with the deal said that Mr Huang had agreed to pay almost IKr1bn ($8.8m) for the land" ...

Andrew Ward and Leslie Hook "Chinese tycoon seeks to buy tract of Iceland" Financial Times August 29, 2011

Transiting To A New Bio-Civilizational Paradigm

For the first time since February 1945, the U.S. government this morning reported a net job change of zero for the previous month.

Faith And Science Update (The Sacred, Moral, And Scientific)

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Nataliya and I plan to be there when President Obama addresses the National Cathedral's "Call to Compassion" 10th Anniversary Commemoration of the events of 9/11. Plans now call for a national telecast (details to follow).

Photo credit: (c) Washington National Cathedral 2011. Copyright controlled.

Happy Autumn To My European Readers -- And Peace On Earth

North Anna Nuclear Power Station, Central Virginia, United States

Photo credit: (c) Copyright controlled.