Course Schedule

NOTE: Readings, Listenings, and Assignments should be completed by the date under which they are listed.

This class is divided into two large segments: the first, from the beginning of the semester up through the first week of March, will introduce you to the technical language with which music is described. The second, from the second week of March to the end of the semester, will apply that knowledge toward a historical survey of Western Art Music, and explore the connections between music and society at large.

In addition to the larger projects, there are two main types of smaller assignments you will need to complete on a regular basis: 1) Quizzes and 2) Discussion Forum posts. Although you will have approximately one of these per week, their scheduling can sometimes be irregular, due both to the structure of the course and the exigencies of the academic calendar. This is especially true during the first segment of the course, on the musical elements. (For example, the second week of March, there are two quizzes and no Forum post.) The due dates for each assignment are individually listed on the schedule below as well as on Blackboard.

For a three-credit class, you should plan on spending an average of 9–10 hours per week on class material, including the two-and-a-half hours spent in live class with me. Outside of these live meetings, you should budget about 1 hour a week for reading, 1 for doing the quizzes and discussion fora, and probably 3 for listening (There will be about an hour of music assigned each week. Try to listen to all of it, actively and attentively, at least three times). The remaining time should be spent working on the long-term projects for the class. These projects will turn out much better if you do a little bit of work each week than if you rush them at the last minute.

Tuesday, 1 February: Introduction. What is Music? How can we study it?

  • Suggested Reading:
    • Christopher Small, Musicking, “Prelude

 

SEGMENT 1: ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

Thursday, 3 February: Elements of Music I: Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo

  • QUIZ 1 (on the Syllabus and Course Schedule) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, p. 5
    • Catherine Schmidt-Jones, “Rhythm,” Sections 1.1–1.9 of
  • Listening:
    • Listening Exercises 1 and 2 from Listen (links on Blackboard)
  • Guidelines for Listening Guide Project (due 8 March) will be distributed

Tuesday, 8 February: NO CLASS MEETING. CUNY follows a Friday Schedule

Thursday, 10 February: Workshop: How to do Things with Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo

  • Forum Post 1 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 February
  • No New Reading: Review from Tuesday, 3 February
  • Listening:
    • Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 5, first movement (Symphony)
    • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, third movement (Serenade)
    • Anonymous, In paradisum (Antiphon)
    • Holst, The Planets, “Mars” (Suite)
    • Grieg, “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (Suite)

Tuesday, 15 February: Elements of Music II: Pitch, Dynamics, and Timbre

  • QUIZ 2 (on Elements I) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, 3–14
    • Kerman and Tomlinson, Listen, 10–22
  • Listening:
    • Listening Exercises 3 and 4 from Kerman and Tomlinson

Thursday, 17 February: Workshop: How to do Things with Pitch, Dynamics, and Timbre

  • Forum Post 2 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 16 February
  • No New Reading: Review from Tuesday
  • Listening:
    • Maurice Ravel, Bolero (Tone Poem)
    • Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony no. 5, first movement (Symphony)
    • Richard Wagner, Prelude to Das Rheingold (Opera)
    • Gustav Holst, The Planets, “Neptune” (Suite)
    • Frederic Chopin, Prelude in C minor, Op. 28, no. 20 (Miniature)

Tuesday, 22 February: Elements of Music III: Melody, Harmony, and Text Setting

  • QUIZ 3 (on Elements II) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Mark Evan Bonds, Listen to This, 2–5, 7–8, 13–15
    • Alan Clark, Understanding Music, 14–19
  • Listening:
    • Anonymous, The Star-Spangled Banner (Anthem), as performed by Marvin Gaye
    • Guillaume DuFay, “Ave Maris Stella” (Hymn)
    • Arnold Schoenberg, Kleine Klavierstuck 3 (Miniature)
    • Examples in Understanding Music

Thursday, 24 February: Workshop: How to Do Things with Melody, Harmony, and Text

  • Forum Post 3 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 23 February
  • No New Reading: Review from Tuesday
  • Listening:
    • Franz Schubert, Quartettsatz (String Quartet)
    • Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata No. 21 (Piano Sonata)
    • Stephen Foster, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” (Parlor Song)
    • Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 8, first movement (Symphony)
    • Giovanni Pergolesi, Stabat Mater, “Fac ut ardeat,” (Hymn)

Tuesday, 1 March: Elements of Music IV: Texture, Form, Style, and Genre

  • QUIZ 4 (on Elements III) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Mark Evan Bonds, Listen to This, 8–9, 16–17
    • Alan Clark, Understanding Music, 23–33
  • Listening:
    • Review, The Star-Spangled Banner, as performed by Marvin Gaye
    • Examples in Understanding Music

Thursday, 3 March: Workshop: How to Do Things with Texture, Form, Style, and Genre

  • Forum Post 4 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 March
  • No New Reading: Review from Tuesday
  • Listening:
    • Josquin des Prez, Missa Pange Lingua, “Kyrie” (Mass)
    • Hildegard von Bingen, “Columba aspexit” (Sequence)
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in B minor, (Miniature)
    • Joseph Haydn, Symphony no. 104, Third Movement (Symphony)
    • Franz Schubert, “Das Wandern.” (Song or Lied)

Tuesday, 8 March: Introduction to Music History

  • QUIZ 5 (on Elements IV) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Phil Ford, “How to Read Academic Writing.”
    • Richard Taruskin, The Oxford History of Western Music, Volume 1, Introduction
    • Recommended: Carl Dahlhaus, “The Significance of Art: Historical or Aesthetic?”
  • No New Listening

SEGMENT 2: SOCIO-HISTORICAL SURVEY

Thursday, 10 March: Medieval Music

  • LISTENING GUIDE PROJECT DUE BY END OF DAY
  • QUIZ 6 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before the start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, 17–19
  • Listening:
    • Anonymous, In paradisum, (Antiphon)
    • Hildegard von Bingen, Columba aspexit (Sequence)
    • Bernart de Vertadorn, La dousa votz (Troubadour Song)
    • Pérotin, Alleluia, diffusa est gratia (Organum)
  • Guidelines for Final Playlist Project will be distributed

Tuesday, 15 March: Music and Technology 1: Notation and Printing

  • Forum Post 5 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 14 March
  • Reading:
    • Stayer, Hope R. “From Neumes to Notes: The Evolution of Music Notation”
  • Listening:
    • Anonymous, Sumer is icumen in (Round)
    • Guillaume de Machaut, Dame de que toute ma joie vient (Chanson)
    • Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Ostinato vo seguire (Frottola)

Thursday, 17 March: Renaissance Music

  • QUIZ 7 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before the start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, 20–22, 81–82 (Josquin)
  • Listening:
    • DuFay, Ave Maris Stella (Hymn)
    • Josquin des Prez, Missa Pange Lingua, Kyrie (Mass)
    • Josquin des Prez, Mille regrets (Chanson)
    • Jacques Arcadelt, Il bianco e dolce cigno (Madrigal)
    • Thomas Weelkes, As Vesta Was (Madrigal)

Tuesday, 22 March: Music and Religion

  • Forum Post 6 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 21 March
  • FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE by end of day
  • Reading:
    • Excerpts from Source Reading in Music History on music and Christianity
  • Listening:
    • Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli, Gloria (Mass)
    • Ambrose, “Veni Redemptor Gentium” (Hymn)
    • Martin Luther, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (Chorale)
    • Giovanni Gabrieli, In ecclesiis (Motet)
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (Cantata)
    • Optional: Martin Luther, Ein feste Burg (Chorale)

Thursday, 24 March: Baroque Music

  • QUIZ 8 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before the start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, 23–25, 66–67 (Bach), 78 (Handel), 95 (Vivaldi)
  • Listening:
    • Claudio Monteverdi, selections from The Coronation of Poppea (Opera)
    • Antonio Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in G major (Violin Concerto)
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude and Fugue in G minor (Miniature)
    • George Frideric Handel, selections from Messiah (Oratorio)

Tuesday, 29 March: Music and Emotion: The Lament

  • Forum Post 7 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 28 March
  • Reading:
    • Alex Ross, “Chacona, Lamento, Walking Blues” (Blackboard)
  • Listening:
    • Barbara Strozzi, Lagrime Mie (Cantata)
    • Purcell, selections from Dido and Aeneas (Opera)
    • Arcangelo Corelli, Ciaconna (Violin Sonata)
    • Optional: Johann Sebastian Bach, Chaconne in D minor (Suite)

Thursday, 31 March: Classical Music 1

  • QUIZ 9 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, pp. 26–28, 79–80 (Haydn), 83–84 (Mozart)
  • Listening:
    • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, selections from Don Giovanni (Opera)
    • Joseph Haydn, Symphony no. 94 (Symphony), all four movements

Tuesday, 5 April: Music and History

  • Forum Post 8 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 4 April
  • Reading:
    • James Webster, Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony and the Idea of Classical Style, pp. 341–357.
    • Marcos Balter, “His Name is Joseph Boulogne, not ‘Black Mozart.’”
    • Optional: Alex Ross, “Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music.”
  • Listening:
    • Joseph Boulogne, Violin Concerto in G major, first movement (Violin Concerto)
    • Joseph Haydn, String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5 (“The Lark”), first movement (String Quartet)

Thursday, 7 April: Classical Music 2

  • QUIZ 10 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before the start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, pp. 69–70 (Beethoven), review pp. 26–28.
  • Listening:
    • Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 (Symphony), all four movements
    • Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109, first movement (Piano Sonata)

Tuesday, 12 April: Why Beethoven?

  • Forum Post 9 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 11 April
  • Reading:
    • Nicholas Cook, Music: A Very Short Introduction, chs. 1–2
    • Optional: Leonard Bernstein, “Why Beethoven?”
  • Listening:
    • Beethoven, Symphony no. 9, fourth movement (Symphony)
    • Brahms, Symphony no. 1, fourth movement (Symphony)
    • Anthem of the European Union (Anthem)
    • Recommended: Prudential Insurance Ad, 1992 (https://youtu.be/pcFN8Kksfgw?t=93)

Thursday, 14 April: Romantic Music 1

  • MIDTERM CHECKPOINT OF FINAL PROJECT DUE by end of day
  • QUIZ 11 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, 29–32, 72–73 (Chopin), 88–89 (Schubert), 89–91 (C. Schumann), 93–94 (Verdi)
  • Listening:
    • Franz Schubert, “Erlkönig” (Lied)
    • Clara Schumann, “Der Mond kommst still gegangen” (Lied)
    • Niccolò Paganini, Caprice no. 24 (Miniature)
    • Frederic Chopin, Nocturne in F-sharp Major (Miniature)
    • Richard Wagner, selections from Die Walküre (Opera)
    • Giuseppe Verdi, selections from Rigoletto (Opera)

SPRING BREAK: 15–22 APRIL

Tuesday, 26 April: Music and Nation

  • Forum Post 10 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 25 April
  • Reading:
    • Nielsen, Kristina and Jessie Vallejo, “Music and Nationalism” in World Music Textbook
  • Listening:
    • Modest Mussorgsky, orch. Ravel, selections from Pictures at an Exhibition (Suite)
    • Antonín Dvořák, selections from Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World” (Symphony)

Thursday, 28 April: Modernist Music

  • QUIZ 12 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Textbook, pp. 33–38, 87–88 (Schoenberg), 91–92 (R. Seeger), 93–94 (Stravinsky)
    • Optional: Milton Babbitt, “Who Cares if You Listen?”
  • Listening:
    • Claude Debussy, Clouds (Miniature)
    • Igor Stravinsky, “Adoration of the Earth,” from The Rite of Spring (Ballet)
    • Arnold Schoenberg, selections from Pierrot Lunaire (Song Cycle)
    • William Grant Still, Afro-American Symphony, first movement (Symphony)
    • Ruth Crawford Seeger, Prelude for Piano 6 (Miniature)

Tuesday, 3 May: Peer Review Workshop for Final Project

  • No Quiz Discussion Forum This Week
  • PEER REVIEW WORKSHEET due before start of class
  • RESPONSE TO PEER REVIEW due by the end of the day

Thursday, 5 May: Postmodernist Music

  • QUIZ 13 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading: Textbook, 71–72 (Cage), 86–87 (Reich), review 33–38
  • Listening:
    • John Cage, 4’33’’
    • Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians
    • Caroline Shaw, Partita for 8 Voices
    • John Adams, selections from Doctor Atomic (Opera)

Tuesday, 10 May: Music and Technology 2: Sound Recording

  • Forum Post 11 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 9 May
  • Reading:
    • Alex Ross, “Infernal Machines: How Recordings Changed Music”
    • Textbook, 94 (Varèse)
  • Listening:
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, Adagio from Violin Sonata no. 1 in G minor, played by:
      • Joseph Joachim
      • Hilary Hahn
    • Edgard Varèse, Poème Eléctronique
    • Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gesang der Jünglinge
    • Original Dixieland Jass Band, “Livery Stable Blues”

Thursday, 12 May: Classical-Pop Crossover

  • QUIZ 14 (on the reading and listening for today) must be completed before start of class
  • Reading:
    • Alex Ross, “Listen to This: Crossing the Border from Classical to Pop”
  • Listening:
    • Walter Murphy, “A Fifth of Beethoven.”
    • Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, “Pictures at an Exhibition”
    • The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, “La vie en rose”’
      • Edith Piaf, “La vie en rose”
    • Rob Paravonian, “Pachelbel Rant”
    • Jethro Tull, “Boureé”
    • A Boogie wit da Hoodie, “Drowning”

Tuesday, 17 May (LAST DAY OF CLASS): Music and Film

  • Forum Post 12 must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 16 May
  • Reading:
    • Cornelius and Natvig, Music: A Social Experience, Chapter 12: “Film Music”
  • Listening:
    • John Williams, Chase Scene from T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
    • Gottfried Huppetz, Title Sequence from Metropolis
    • Bernard Herrmann, Title Sequence from The Day the Earth Stood Still
    • Masaru Sato, Fire Festival Scene from The Hidden Fortress

Thursday, 19 May: FINAL PROJECTS DUE by 11:59 p.m.

 

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