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Music Courses

101. Introduction to Western Music. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical or visual arts. Background in music not required. A one-quarter course designed to enrich the listening experience of students, particularly with respect to the art music of the Western European and American concert tradition. Students are introduced to the basic elements of music and the ways that they are integrated to create masterworks in various styles. Particular emphasis is placed on musical form and on the potential for music to refer to and interact with aspects of the world outside. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

102. Introduction to World Music. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical or visual arts. Background in music not required. A selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goal is not only to expand our skills as listeners, but also to redefine what we consider music to be, in the process stimulating a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored. Staff. Autumn, Spring.

103. Introduction to Music: Materials and Design. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical or visual arts. Background in music not required. In this variant of the introductory course in music, students explore the language of music through coordinated listening, analysis, and exercises in composition. A study of a wide diversity of musical styles serves as an incentive for student compositions in those styles. Staff. Winter, Spring.

121-122. History of Music for Nonmajors. Either course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical or visual arts and may be taken individually. A two-quarter sequence in the history of Western music from its origins through the present, emphasizing the evolution of musical style. Music 121 covers music up to 1750, including the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods; Music 122 covers music from the classical era until the present. A. Robertson, Winter; L. Zbikowski, Spring.

141-142. Introduction to Music Theory for Nonmajors. These courses may not be used to satisfy the Common Core requirement in the musical or visual arts. This two-quarter sequence covers the basic elements of music theory, including music reading, intervals, chords, meter, and rhythm. The emphasis is on practical and analytical skills leading to simple melodic and contrapuntal composition, and a more profound appreciation of music. Staff. Autumn, Winter.

151-152-153. Harmony. PQ: Ability to read music. A three-quarter sequence in four-part harmonization of figured basses for students who have some background in music and are familiar with musical notation. Triads, seventh chords, and diatonic harmony are covered in the autumn quarter; sequences, chromatic harmony, and modulation are covered in the winter and spring quarters. E. Blackwood. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

161. Music, Liturgy, and Art in Sacred Spaces in the Middle Ages (=ArtH 181, GS Hum 232). PQ: Ability to read music not required. This class explores the dynamic relationship among music, liturgy, and art in the great churches of the Middle Ages. Among other topics, the course investigates how changes in style of cathedral building brought about modifications in musical style, how the liturgy takes on specific characteristics to mirror the physical details of these structures, and how all the arts act in concert to express the philosophies of theologians and other persons active in these churches. A. Robertson. Autumn.

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211. The Music of J. S. Bach. PQ: Any 100-level course, or the ability to read music. An investigation of Bach's compositional technique with regard to the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier, both series. A variety of fugues are played, discussed, and analyzed, from simple fugues with one subject to elaborate pieces that present subjects in augmentation, diminution, contrary motion, or stretto. The effect of different keys on the harmonic style is dealt with in detail. E. Blackwood. Autumn.

222. The Eighteenth-Century Symphony. PQ: Any 100-level course, or the ability to read music. In a period that witnessed the birth of some fifteen thousand symphonies, most of them written for the many small courts all over Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and many of them better than just competent, there were three giants who still stand out--Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The course aims to study their work in the general context of the developing classical forms, the Enlightenment, and the beginning of public concerts. Staff. Spring.

225. Music as Text. PQ: Any 100-level course. This course investigates music's textuality in song, opera, instrumental music, and oral traditions, and explores how ideas and ideologies are written into, and read out of, works of Western and world music. The following questions are among those explored: How does language about music relate to the language of music? Are words, which describe wordless music, mere supplements or an essential part of music itself? Is music, as text, part of a larger historical context, or is it autonomous? B. Hoeckner. Winter.

231/331. Jazz (=AfAfAm 202). PQ: Any 100-level course, or the ability to read music. This survey examines the history and development of jazz from its West African roots to the so-called free jazz of the 1960s and 1970s. Representative works in various styles are selected for intensive formal and stylistic analysis. Traditional forms and genres are traced from the New Orleans beginnings to their contemporary manifestations in the avant garde. The resources of the Chicago Jazz Archive in the Regenstein Library provide primary source materials. R. Wang. Winter.

251. Theory and Analysis I. PQ: Music 153 or equivalent. This course continues the investigation of harmony and voice-leading begun in Music 153 and extends it to standard chromatic harmonies (including augmented-sixth chords and the Neapolitan), exploring these topics through model composition and analysis. The course also covers the analysis of standard tonal forms, including sonata form. Staff. Autumn.

252. Theory and Analysis II. PQ: Music 251 or equivalent. This course ventures further into extended chromatic techniques, preparatory to the analysis of music of the late nineteenth century, and continues the development of analytical skills for the study of tonal forms. The course also offers an introduction to post-tonal theory and analysis. L. Zbikowski. Winter.

253. Theory and Analysis III. PQ: Music 252 or equivalent. This course focuses on the theory and analysis of rhythm and meter, in both Western and non-Western repertoires. Further work in the theory and analysis of pitch-structure in twentieth-century music is also offered. Staff. Spring.

261. Introduction to Composition. PQ: Music 142 or 153 or equivalent. Some of the essential elements of music, such as melody, rhythm, harmony, and form, are explored through composition in various styles. A series of closely structured exercises leads the way to integration of the various elements into larger formal designs. The use of pitched, nonpitched, tonal, and nontonal materials is encouraged. J. Eaton. Winter.

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262. Advanced Composition. PQ: Music 261 or equivalent. This course is a continuation of the study of composition undertaken in Music 261. J. Eaton. Spring.

263-264/363-364. Introduction to Computer Music. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course provides students with instruction in the concepts and methods of digital sound synthesis using the technique of frequency modulation. The course presents the theory of FM synthesis, introduces the discipline of psychoacoustics as it applies to the perception of electronically generated sounds, and provides an opportunity to exploit the hardware and software of the Computer Music Studio for creative musical work. H. Sandroff. Autumn, Winter.

265/365. Instrumentation and Orchestration. PQ: Open to nonconcentrators with consent of instructor. The objectives of this course are twofold: (1) to acquaint students with the instruments used in the standard symphony orchestra--their capabilities, limitations, and characteristic uses; and (2) to pinpoint, through analysis of a wide variety of excerpts from orchestral literature, specific solutions to problems of balance and voicing. Through selected projects in orchestration, students begin to acquire the tools needed to score for various instrumental combinations. College students may continue on to the second quarter of this course (Music 366) with consent of the instructor. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

268/368. Studies in Computer Music. PQ: Music 264 or consent of instructor. This course, for students who have experience with the equipment of the Computer Music Studio, consists of advanced work in creative composition at those facilities. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

271-272-273. Topics in the History of Western Music. PQ: Music 142 or 153; open to nonconcentrators with consent of instructor. A three-quarter investigation into Western art music, with primary emphasis on the vocal and instrumental repertories of Western Europe and the United States. Music 271 begins with the earliest notated music and considers monophonic liturgical chant and the development of sacred and secular vocal polyphony through the sixteenth century. Music 272 addresses topics in music from 1600 to 1800, including early opera, music developed for the Protestant church, the emergence of instrumental genres, the coalescing of the tonal language, and the Viennese classicism of Haydn and Mozart. Music 273 treats music since 1800. Topics include the music of Beethoven and his influence on later composers; the rise of public concerts, of German opera, of programmatic instrumental music, and of nationalist trends; the confrontation with modernism; and the impact of technology on the expansion of musical boundaries. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

281. Orchestral Conducting. PQ: Consent of instructor. This yearlong course deals with the art, the craft, and the practice of orchestral conducting. The students acquire practical conducting experience through classroom work and through a variety of outside rehearsals and performances. A large assortment of practical and theoretical readings supplement the podium work and several analytical papers are assigned. Credit is granted only in the spring quarter, after successful completion of the year's work. B. Schubert. Spring.

285. Musicianship Skills. PQ: Music 153; open only to music concentrators. This is a yearlong course in ear training, keyboard progressions, realization of figured basses at the keyboard, and reading of chamber and orchestral scores. Classes consist of one hour-long dictation lab and one half-hour-long keyboard lab per week. Credit is granted in the spring quarter only, after successful completion of the year's work. G. Marsh. Spring.

299. Undergraduate Tutorials in Music. PQ: Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Specialized reading in the history or theory of music or advanced work in composition. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

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