Classical Music

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Unit I The Colonial Tradition Unit II Finding an American Voice

September October November December

Papers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Compositions Midterm, Final

 

Wednesday, September 6

Discussion topics: course requirements, paper assignment, symposium brainstorming

Reading: none

Listening: none

Tasks: pre-test, directions to SEB Computer Lab

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Paper One

(2 [and only two] intelligent pages)

Option A: Discuss a particular piece of classical music that holds a special position in your life or at least did at one time. In addition to the sound and lyrics (if applicable) and any background knowledge that informs your listening, examine why this piece became important to you.

Option B: Free form--discuss your own experience with classical music. You might wish to focus on your life as a performer or composer or listener, etc. Be creative, but consider taking some line of narrative. You could write a scene from a play, a poem, a piece of music…

This paper may be more personal than scholarly. You can take any approach to the paper that you want. Because freedom is sometimes more frightening than an itemized task, however, I like to provide a list of questions to get you thinking: What does the piece/experience mean to you and why? What role does it play in your life? When do you use it and how? Do you remember when you first heard it? Do you feel differently about this work now? Please note that these questions are merely starting points, you can go in other directions. I do NOT want a paper that is simply a list of brief answers to the series of questions above. Your paper should have a single focus and make a strong statement. Note: Unless it is standard repertoire, please turn in a cassette tape of your piece with your assignment. These tapes will be used in our discussion in class #3.

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Monday, September 11 Paper 1 due

Reading: none

Listening: test online setup with Copland Fanfare, download Real Player as needed

Task: Intro to course website, listening, learn about CourseTools discussion, register, spotlight on technology, sending attachments

Directions: the School of Education computing site is located in Room 3010 on the 3rd floor of the School of Education Building (SEB) on Central Campus. When you arrive ask the attendant at the information desk for the Electronic Classroom.

Go to the discussions folder of the Coursetools site and read the discussion questions related to Wednesday’s reading assignments. Read all postings and contribute to at least one of the discussion threads.

Wednesday, September 13 Peer Paper Comment 1 due

Reading: Struble, Foreword and Introduction

Listening: None

Task: contribute to online reading discussion

Task: complete group project worksheets

Thursday, September 14

Screening of Amadeus (6-9 p.m., Modern Languages Building Room #2013)

You may also rent and watch this film on your own time, but you’ll need to see it to complete paper 2.

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Paper Two

(2 intelligent pages)

Explore the implications of the manner in which classical music is represented in the film Amadeus and how this portrayal might reflect or shape American values. I suggest that you focus on a particular aspect of the film, such as the image of the composer, how men and women are treated in relation to music, the way music is used to accompany image, or another theme of your own choosing. Your argument must be based on details of sound, image, and narrative, so you may need to take notes during the screening and/or rent the film to review particular scenes.

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Monday, September 18 Paper 2 due

Reading: CP1: Billings

Listening: Billings and Read examples, contrast performances

Tasks: Sing psalmody, assign project groups / Win All You Can

Project tasks: identify potential interview candidates and set up appointment

Wednesday, September 20 Peer Comment 2 due

Reading: CP2: Dvorák

Listening: Peter, Michael, Bristow, Dvorák

Tasks: discuss paper 2, team strategy session (elect area leaders)

Project: have first group meeting to assemble website info and list interview questions, take a team photo to put on web.

Monday, September 25

Reading: Struble, Ch. 1 "Forerunners"; CP3: Hopkinson, Gottschalk

Listening: Hopkinson, Reinagle, Heinrich, Gottschalk(2), Buck, Root

Task: interview progress reports

Project: put team website online

Wednesday September 27

Reading: Struble Ch. 2; CP4: MacDowell

Listening: Chadwick, Beach, Paine, MacDowell

Play MacDowell "To a Wild Rose"; score in CP

Task: Choose characters for panel discussions, Look at project group web sites with problem statement and interview profile

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Monday, October 2

Reading: CP5: Farwell, Peck

Listening: Farwell, Blackfoot Crossing Singers, Orem

Task: perform part of Gleason Ode; pass out Midterm review sheet

Wednesday, October 4

Session 9: Panel Discussion: Challenges to the American Musician

Reading: review for midterm

Listening: practice examples 1 and 2
Task: try online practice exam questions

Monday, October 9

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Wednesday, October 11 Interview reports and issue statements

Reading: CP: Questionnaire examples

Listening: None

Task: Elect symposium organizers

Project: meet with team and draft questionnaire

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Monday, October 16

Reading: Struble 3 (begin 4); CP6: Ives

Listening: "America" variations, songs, concord sonata, symphony excerpt

Task: test questionnaire draft

Wednesday, October 18 Recital proposal due

Reading: Struble 4-5; CP7: Gershwin

Listening: Rhapsody in Blue, original scoring; Porgy excerpt, piano sonata

Task: present final questionnaire

Projects: begin collecting questionniare responses

Thursday, October 19

Screening of Fantasia (6-9 p.m., Modern Languages Building Room #2013)

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Paper Three

(2 Intelligent Pages)

Explore the relationship between the music and image, fantasy, and spectacle presented for any one musical work by Walt Disney in Fantasia. Base your paper on some observation about the film and support it with detail. You will need to take notes during the screening and/or rent the film to review it. You may discuss any aspect of this relationship, including the connections between sound and image, image and ideology, socialization, or any topic of your choice. One interesting approach is to examine the social values embedded in the cartoonists' interpretation. What, does Disney suggest, is the role of classical music in American life?

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Monday, October 23 Paper 3 due

Reading: CP8: Locke, Still

Listening: Joplin (Treemonisha), Still, Ellington, Walker

Task: Team progress reports/problem solving: mid-course evaluation by CRLT

Project: continue collecting questionnaire data

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Wednesday, October 25 Peer Comment 3 due

Reading Struble 6 & 8: Copland’s Music and Imagination

Listening: Copland (Clarinet Concerto), Harris (Sym. 3); Thomson

Tasks: discuss evaluation

Discuss Paper 3

Visit the online discussion site and describe how you listen to music and read and respond to the stories of others.

Monday, October 30

Session 16: The Listener’s Imagination

Reading: Finish Music and Imagination; CP9: Cusick;

Listening: Copland (Third Symphony)

Tasks:

Paper Four

(2–4 intelligent pages)

You are an ethnologist studying American culture. Analyze a concert ritual in the classical music sphere by attending a concert and keeping a detailed research log. Who has attended the concert? Is there a concentration of people from any particular ethnic group or class? What can you find out from talking with / interviewing others in the audience? How do people listen to the event? What visual aspects highlight or help interpret the music? Are there theatrical elements? How is time articulated by the stages of the ritual? Note the dress and behavior of the audience in particular detail as well as the sales and advertising opportunities that are inserted into the concert experience. How much did you pay for your ticket? Did you or others spend any additional money? Who benefits monetarily from the concert (remember to look past the band and record companies to local businesses and the employees of the hall itself)?

Due class #17; Thursday, November 1

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Wednesday, November 1 Paper 4 due

Reading: Struble 10, pp. 256-74 & 281-2, CP10: Cowell

Listening: Cowell (piano works); Ruggles (Sun Treader); Crawford (Diaphonic Suite No. 1)

Monday, November 6 Peer Comment 4 due; final recital program info due

Session 18: '40s, '50s, & '60s

Reading: Struble 9; CP11: Thomson, Carter
Listening: Barber, Carter (Quartet), Bernstein (Mass), Menotti

Tasks: Discuss Paper 4

Wednesday, November 8 Questionnaire Data Reports

Reading: none

Listening: none

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Write a serial melody and two variations for any soloist or ensemble, using a serial row or your own design. You may serialize as many aspects of the composition as you choose. You should be prepared to play your work for the class. If you want, you may expand the melody into a full composition including several instruments and accompaniment.

Monday, November 13

Session 20: Serialism Serial Melody Due

Reading: Struble 7; CP12: Babbitt

Listening: Sessions Symphony; Babbit, (Philomel, It Takes Twelve to Tango)

Tasks: perform compositions

Write an indeterminate composition for any soloist or ensemble, using a process or your own design. You may base your method on the I Ching, coin tosses, or any other method of your choice. You should be prepared to perform a section of the work for the class.

Wednesday, November 15

Session 21: Cage and Indeterminacy Indeterminate Work Due

Reading: Struble 11; CP13: Cage

Listening: Construction in Metal, Sonatas and Interludes, Music of Changes, 4'33" rehearsal

Task: perform compositions, finalize dress rehearsal schedule, proof program

Thursday, November 16, dress rehearsal

MacIntosh, beginning at 9:30

Saturday, November 18, recital

Classical Music in the United States: a lecture recital

8 p.m. MacIntosh

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Monday, November 20

Reading: Struble 282-84

Listening: Harrison, Griffes, McPhee, Crumb (Ancient Voices of Children)

Task: Pass out resume info packet

Wednesday, November 22 Resume Due

Session 23: American Experimentalists

Reading: Struble 275-281; CP14: Partch

Listening: Partch (Barstow); Nancarrow; Paul Lansky

Monday, November 27 Solution Presentation One

Reading: CP15: Elson, Ran

Listening: Tower, Zwillich, Larsen, Ran, Tower, Leon (selections)

Wednesday, November 29 Solution Presentation Two

Session 25: Postmodernism

Reading: Struble 12; CP16: Bolcom

Listening: Corigliano (Sym. 1), Bolcom (violin concerto), Torke (Bright Blue Music), Marsalis, Zappa

Paper Five

(2 intelligent pages)

Piano Lessons is something of an apparent oxymoron of a book -- a best seller about classical music. After reading Noah Adams diary of his first year of piano study, what observations can you make about the role of classical music in his life. How does it relate to other musics he comes into contact with? Why does he want to study the piano? Finally, consider your observations in light of the questions raised in your research project for the symposium. What solutions does the book present to you?

Due class #26; Thursday, December 4

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Monday, December 4 Paper 5 due; Solution Presentation Three

Reading: Struble 13, Adams, Piano Lessons

Listening: Adams (Nixon in China) Reich (Different Trains), Riley

Wednesday, December 6 Peer Comment 5 due; Solution Presentation Four

Reading: none

Listening: Finney, Albright, Daugherty, Chambers, Santos

Task: pass out review sheet

Saturday, December 9, 2-5 p.m., School of Music Rehearsal Hall

Symposium: The Future of Classical Music in America?

Including class project presentations and invited guest panelists.

Monday, December 11

Reading, Struble 14

Wednesday, December 13

Task: complete course evaluation, turn in extra credit evaluation if desired (due by Dec. 15)

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2 pages

due on or before Dec. 15

As I find the traditional course evaluation to be useful, but not specific enough, I am offering 25 points to students who write a brief prose evaluation of the course. You can organize your discussion in anyway you wish. One possibility would be to discuss strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement. Another is to write an essay entitled "If I Taught This Course..." You can also write a letter to a student taking this course next year telling them how to be successful in the class. I will post helpful letters on next year’s course website. The amount of extra credit awarded has nothing to do with your opinion of the course, rather I’m looking for thoughtful analysis and suggestions. Do not put your name on the evaluation, but place it in a sealed envelope with your name on the outside. An independent reviewer will verify the contents of the envelope and all submissions will receive the full points available. I will not see the evaluations until after the final grades for the class have been submitted to the registrar’s office.

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