A course in creative or imaginative composition. We
will investigate the expressive intentions and forms of a
variety of music through analysis and listening, but the
primary focus of the course will be composing music.
We want to learn from each other in exploring such
questions as how to develop a compositional idea,
how melodic and harmonic contrast and continuity can
be achieved, and how we might draw on our own
identities and experiences (e.g., of vernacular music, or
particular playing or singing traditions) in writing pieces
which could really be said to be personal. As we will be
composing for instrumentalists and singers (and
sometimes electronic media), the question of what is
idiomatic for e.g., a singer, a violinist, or a
percussionist, will also be of concern. Students'
compositions might be written for members of the
class, or for guest instrumentalists (i.e., faculty such as
the Ciompi Quartet). Most recently, students have
written music for brass quartet, flute and piano, chorus,
piano, and violin/clarinet duo.
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