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MUHL 331. Music History III. Fall 2009. Class no. 44025D. T Th, 10-11:20, LPD Auditorium
Instructor
Bryan R. Simms. Office: WPH 304; hours TTh 11:20-12 and by appointment. Office phone 740-3216. The best way to reach me is by email:
Teaching Assistant
Ian Pritchard (). Office: WPH 304, hours: TTh 11:20-12 and by appointment. Office phone 740-3211
Purpose of the class
This class is the last semester of a three-term history of Western music. Here we covermusic composed from the mid-19th century to the present. We will undertake a close study of major and representative works of music (classical and jazz) composed during this time and learn how music has expressed important characteristics of the modern imagination. We will analyze compositions to understand their formal principles, style, and content, and practice in formulating and writing about this repertory.
Web Site
The syllabus, most handouts, some reading assignments, and the supplementary scores and recordingsare posted on a web site at <.
Texts
Music in Western Civilization (Boston: Schirmer Cengage, 2006) You should have this book from MUHL 231 and 232. A copy is on reserve at the Music Library. Additional materials for this book are found at an online Resource Center. Login at with your email address and a password that will be given to each of you.
Anthology for Music in Western Civilization, volume II (ISBN 0-495-03000-7) or volume C (ISBN 0-495-00894-X). This anthology contains most of the musical scores that we will study. You should obtain a copy and bring it to every class.
Audio CDs for Music in Western Civilization, volume II (ISBN 0-495-09180-4), or volume C (ISBN 0-495-00634-3. These CDs contain recordings of most of the music that we will study. A copy is on reserve at the Music Library
Supplementary listening and reading. A few additional pieces that we will study are not in the Anthology or CDs. Scores and recordings for these are found on the web site. Print the scores and bring them to the classes when these pieces will be discussed.
Assigned listening and reading
Listening assignments are shown on the syllabus below. The assigned music must be listened to and studied repeatedly in advance of the class when it will be discussed. Listen to each piece until you know its main themes and general style. Be able to describe the form and main stylistic elements of each. The reading consists of chapters from Music in Western Civilization and additional essays written mainly by the composers whom we are studying. For each of these essays, know the main ideas and how these relate to music that we have studied.
Quizzes and exams.
A mid-term examination will take place on October 13 (10:00-11:20) and the final examination on December 10 (11:00-12:50). You must be present for the these exams. I cannot give you a makeup unless you have a note from a physician stating that you were unable to attend for reasons of illness.
There will also be three short quizzes (20 mins. each) at the beginning of class (unannounced in advance). These cannot be madeup. I will discard your lowest grade on the three quizzes, so one can be missed without grade penalty.
Term paper
Write a short paper (approximately seven to ten typed pages) on one of the three topics below. The paper is due on Nov. 24. I will accept late papers (with a grade penalty) until the final class on Dec. 5, but not after that time.
When researching and writing your paper, keep these guidelines in mind:
I am looking primarily for your ideas and conclusions about your topic, drawn from your own close study of primary documents (e.g., scores and recordings). I am not interested in reading a restatement of what others have written on your topic (also see below).
Correct form and style. Your paper must be typed, carefully proofread, and correct in grammar, spelling, and form. Use a dictionary and a good style manual (such as the MLA Handbook or Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers) for further information.
A study of writings by others is not a part of this assignment, but if you do use the ideas or language of some other author, you must document this borrowing by way of a footnote. Otherwise you are passing off someone else’s work as your own, which is simple cheating. Please talk to me if you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism or what its consequences are.
Choose one of these three topics:
1. The music from mm. 45-146 of Leonard Bernstein’s “Cool” from West Side Story is a fugue. Analyze and explain the main parts of this fugue by comparing it to a “classic” fugue—the C-minor fugue from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier I (music on the web site). First, read the short analytic description of the Bach fugue in The New Grove Dictionary (online), under the heading “A Classic Fugue Analysed” and use the ideas and terminology found there as the basis for your analysis.
2. Aaron Copland wrote that his Piano Variations was “one of the few pieces in which I did make use to some extent, but in my own way, of the method invented by Arnold Schoenberg that came to be known as ‘twelve tone’ and from which developed ‘serialism.’ The Variations incorporates a four-note motive on which the entire piece is based. Almost every note and chord in the piece relates back to these four notes” (Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis, Copland 1900 through 1942 [New York: St. Martins, 1984]: 182). Study this piece and explain what Copland may have meant by this statement. To what extent and in what ways is the work “12 tone” or “serialized”? How is it like Schoenberg’s 12-tone music (such as his Fourth String Quartet) and how not?
3. Compare two settings of Richard Dehmel’s poem “Die stille Stadt” (The Quiet City)--one by Alma Mahler (score in the Anthology p. 1386, recording in the CD package), the other by Jean Sibelius (ca. 1906, score and recording on web site). Tell how both composers attempt to capture the ideas and tone of the poem in their music, compare the two pieces, and compare both to works by other composers whom we have studied and general trends in music during the first decade of the 20th century.
Extra credit
Two short extra credit assignments will be distributed later in the semester. These are entirely optional and intended to give you, if you wish, a chance to improve your grade.
Grading
In general, I consider a grade of 90-100% to be an A; 80-89% a B, 70-79% a C, and so forth. The course grade will be computed as follows:
mid-term exam and final exam (25% each)
2 quizzes (15% total)
term paper (25%)
class attendance and cooperation (10%)
(the extra credit assignments can add to your grade)
Other Requirements
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. A letter must be delivered to me early in the semester. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The phone number of DSP is (213) 740-0776.
COURSE OUTLINE
Aug 25. Music of the 19th century to the present
Reading: review Music in Western Civilization Chs. 52-55
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Part I: The Late Romantic Period, to 1918
Aug 27. Italian Opera of the Romantic Period
Listening and study:
Gioachino Rossini, Barber of Seville (1816), Act 1, no. 1
Giuseppe Verdi, Otello (1887), Act 3, scene 4
Pietro Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana, duet “No, no, Turiddu, rimani” (score at the MWC Resource Center, recording on course web site)
Giacomo Puccini, Madama Butterfly (1905), Act 1, aria “Dovunque al mondo”
Reading:
Music in Western Civilization, Chs. 56, 62
An Eyewitness Reports on the Premiere of Verdi’s Otello(1887) (MWC Resource Center)
The Original Staging of Otello(ca. 1887) (MWC Resource Center)
Sep 3. The Romantic-Classical School: Traditionalism in the later 19th century
Listening and study:
Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 3, mvt. 1
Brahms, “Feldeinsamkeit”
Brahms, Horn Trio, op. 40, mvt. 1 (score at the MWC Resource Center, recording on course web site)
Edward Elgar, Enigma Variations: theme and Variation 9 (“Nimrod”)
Reading: MWC Chs. 58, 61
Eduard Hanslick on Musical Beauty (1854, revised 1885) (MWC Resource Center)
Sep 10. Music of the Future: Progressivism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Listening and study:
Franz Liszt, Les Préludes(score at the MWC Resource Center, recording on course web site)
Gustav Mahler, songs “Um Mitternacht” 1905
Mahler, Symphony No. 5, mvt. 4 (Adagietto)
Anton Bruckner, Christus factus est
Richard Strauss, Salome (1905), concluding scene
Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot lunaire (1912), no. 8 (“Nacht--Passacaglia”)
Reading:
MWC Chs. 57, 60, 64, 66
Wagner Describes Liszt’s Symphonic Poems (1857) (MWC Resource Center)
Schoenberg on Atonal Harmony (1911) (MWC Resource Center)
Richard Strauss on Musical Partisanship and Progress (1907) (MWC Resource Center)
Sep 24. Russian Music of the late romantic period
Listening and study:
Modest Mussorgsky, Sunless (18): “Within Four Walls”
Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker (18): Act 1, scene 8
Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring (1913): Procession-The Sage-Dance of the Earth
Alexander Scriabin, Piano Prelude Op. 74 no. 5 (1914)
Reading:
MWC Chs. 59, 65
Igor Stravinsky, “What I Wanted to Express in the Rite of Spring”1913 (course web site)
Sep 29. French Music of the Late Romantic Period
Listening and study:
Claude Debussy, “En sourdine” from Fetes galantes I
———, “Nuages” from Three Nocturnes for Orchestra
———, “Reflets dans l’eau” from Images I (1905)
Gabriel Fauré, “Dans la foret de septembre” (1901)
Erik Satie, Sarabande no. 2 for piano
Maurice Ravel, Tombeau de Couperin (1917): Rigaudon
Reading:
MWC Chs. 63, 67
Debussy’s Conversation with M. Croche (1901) (MWC Resource Center)
Ravel, “Contemporary Music” (1928) (course web site)
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Part II: Music Between the World Wars 1918–1945
Oct. 6. Early Jazz: Ragtime and Blues
Listening and study:
Scott Joplin, Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
James P. Johnson, Carolina Shout (ca. 1920) (score on web site)
Zez Confrey, Kitten on the Keys (recording and score on web site)
William Bolcom, Graceful Ghost Rag (recording and score on web site)
Bessie Smith, Lost Your Head Blues (1926)
King Oliver, Dippermouth Blues
Louis Armstrong, West End Blues
Conlon Nancarrow, Study 3a for player piano (ca. 1940)
Reading:
MWC, Ch. 72
James Reese Europe Explains Jazz (1919) (MWC Resource Center)
Tom Davin, “Conversation with James P. Johnson” (1959) (course web site)
October 13. Mid-term examination
Oct 15. The International Neoclassical Style
Listening and study:
Stravinsky, Octet, mvt. 1
Darius Milhaud, Saudades do Brazil: “Botafogo”
Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7, mvt. 3
Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto no. 1, mvt. 1
Reading:
MWC Chs. 68, 74
Stravinsky, “Some Ideas About My Octuor” (1924) (course web site)
Ferruccio Busoni, “Young Classicism” (1920) (MWC Resource Center)
Andrei Zhdanov, “Soviet Literature” (1934) (MWC Resource Center)
Oct. 22. Twelve-Tone Methods
Listening and study:
Arnold Schoenberg, String Quartet No. 4, mvt. 1
Anton Webern, Symphony op. 21, mvt. 2
Reading:
MWC Ch. 69
Anton Webern, The Path to the New Music (eight lectures 1932-33) (course web site)
Oct 27. The Life and Music of Béla Bartók
Listening and study:
Bartók, “Fekete főd” from Eight Hungarian Folksongs (ca. 1907) 1:31
String Quartet no. 4, mvt. 5 (score and recording on web site) 5:34
Concerto for Orchestra (1943), mvt. 1 10:14
Reading:
MWC, Ch. 71
Béla Bartók, “The Relationship of Folk Song to the Music of Our Time” (1921) (MWC Resource Center)
———, “The Problem of the New Music “ (1920) (course web site)
Oct. 29. New Directions in Opera
Listening and study:
Alban Berg, Wozzeck (1922), Act 3, scene 2
Kurt Weill, The Threepenny Opera (1928): Overture and Ballade of Mack the Knife
Paul Hindemith, Mathis der Maler (1933): Scene 6, entrance 3
Reading:
MWC, Ch. 70, 73
Alban Berg Describes the Murder Scene from Wozzeck (1928) (MWC Resource Center)
Wilhelm Furtwängler, “The Hindemith Case” 1934 (course web site)
Nov 5Music in America: Self-reliance and Regionalism
Listening and study:
Charles Ives, songs “Feldeinsamkeit” (1898) and “Charlie Rutlage” (1920)
———, The Unanswered Question (1906)
Aaron Copland, Piano Variations (1930)
———, Appalachian Spring: variations on a Shaker hymn
Samuel Barber, Hermit Songs: “Sea-Snatch”
Reading:
MWC Ch. 75, 76
Charles Ives, Notes to 114 Songs (1922) (MWC Resource Center)
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Part III: Music from 1945 to the Present
Nov. 12. Tin Pan Alley, the Broadway Musical, and Jazz of the 1940s and 1950s
Listening and Study:
George Geshwin, “The Man I Love”
Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oklahoma!: “I Cain’t Say No!”
Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story: “Cool”
Duke Ellington, Take the A Train
Charlie Parker, Koko
Miles Davis, Boplicity
Reading:
MWC Chs. 77, 81
Nov. 19. Postwar Modernism: Music as Form, Process, and Chance
Listening and Study:
Pierre Boulez, Le marteau sans maître (195): “L’artisanat furieux”
Igor Stravinsky, Agon: Bransle double
John Cage, Music of Changes, part 1
Milton Babbitt, Composition for Piano No. 1
Steve Reich, Clapping Music
Reading:
MWC Ch. 79
Milton Babbitt, “Who Cares If You Listen ?” (1958) (course web site)
Steve Reich, “Music as a Gradual Process” (1968) (course web site)
Nov. 24. Music in the Aftermath of War: A Search for Meaning. Term paper is due!
Listening and Study:
Benjamin Britten, War Requiem: Agnus dei
Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Edgard Varèse, Poéme électronique 1957 (no score)
Luciano Berio, Circles: “stinging”
George Crumb, Ancient Voices of Children: “¿De dónde vienes?”
Reading:
MWC Chs. 78, 80, 82
Britten, “On Winning the First Aspen Award” (1964) (course web site)
Dec. 3. Returning to Known Values
Listening and Study:
György Ligeti, Hungarian Rock
Arvo Pärt, Berlin Mass: Credo
John Adams, Nixon in China: “News”
Reading:
George Rochberg, “Reflections on the Renewal of Music” (1972)(course web site)
John Harbison, “Uses of Popular Music” 1984 (course web site)
Tuesday December 10, 11:00-12:50. Final examination