Tonality changed in the early 20th century. It has been practiced in a variety of
idioms, from neoclassical tonalities, to modal jazz, from blues to theater songs.
Music 117 is introduction to 20th- and 21st-century music, with emphasis on
both analysis and model composition in a range of idioms. We will analyse music
by Debussy, Bartok, Copland, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Messiaen, not to
mention Adams, Britten, Berg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Webern and others. We
will explore the standard theoretical concepts relevant to modern music--
intervals, pitch-class sets, transposition and inversion relations, pitch symmetries
(including octatonic collections), centricity, twelve-tone operations, rhythmic and
textural innovations. Through model composition, we engage the full
spectrum of a modern musical vocabulary. Through written analyses, we will
learn how to parse musical structures with precision and clarity.
The weekly lab component of Music 117 allows students to develop aural
awareness by progressive exercises in ear training, sight-singing, rhythmic
and keyboard work, coordinated with the repertoire under study in class. |
