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.