MUSC - Music

A study of the basic concepts and skills of diatonic music: chords in major and minor keys, voice-leading, part-writing, harmonic progressions, introductory analysis, non-chord tones. Musicianship portion to include recognition of scales, intervals, triads, seventh chords, and rhythms, plus executing rhythms and sight-singing with solmization.

A survey of western art music from a listener’s point of view, the styles and composers of the various periods, and the relationship of music to the other arts and to its social and historical background.

This course will survey selected stage works of American musical theater and Broadway, from the early twentieth century to the approximate present. We will study these works alongside the historical circumstances during which they were written to see how the latter influenced the writing and reception of the former. Among the musicals to be studied are Show Boat, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Cabaret, Company, Cats, and Rent. No musical experience is required for this course.

Prerequisite: MUSC 101.

A continuation of concepts from MUSC 101. Basic principles of 4-part voice leading, an introduction to species counterpoint, all non-harmonic tones, harmonic progression and sequence, cadences, phrases, periods and sentences. Voice leading for seventh chords and secondary dominants. Aural skills include recognition of all diatonic intervals, including compound intervals, triads and seventh chords in all inversions. Melodic and two-part dictation, sight singing with solmization.

In this course, we will study the use of music in movies. We will focus on two broad areas: 1) The analysis and interpretation of film soundtracks, with particular attention to the relationship between music and image; 2) A historical survey of soundtracks, with particular attention to style, genre, and influence from select moments in this history of film. The class will culminate in a final research paper in which students will write a critical exegesis and critique of select aspects of film music.

Occasional special courses, taught on a one-time basis. Topics have included study trips to Europe, a Beethoven research class, and opera history and literature.

Prerequisites: MUSC 201. A study of advanced, late, and post-tonal harmony and various twentieth-century systems including atonal and serial techniques, plus study of counterpoint and fugal analysis and formal analysis of works. Each student will undertake analysis of a large work for a report and class presentation.

Prerequisites: Completion of the Visual and Performing Arts category of the Core Curriculum. A survey of the non-Western musical cultures of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America within the context of ethnomusicology, aesthetics, cultural anthropology and ethnic diversity. 

Prerequisites: MUSC 201. This class surveys Western art music from 800 A.D. to 1800, covering the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic periods. We will discuss the major composers of these periods alongside major historical milestones such as the Reformations, the Age of Enlightenment, and the French Revolution.

Prerequisites: MUSC 201 This class surveys Western art music from 1800 to the present, covering the late Romantic, modern, and postmodern periods. We will discuss the major composers of these periods alongside major historical milestones such as the revolutions of 1848, the First and Second World Wars, the Civil Rights Era, and the internet age.

Prerequisites: Completion of the Literary Analysis and the Visual and Performing Arts areas of the core. In this class we will survey the writings of philosophers, artists and other figures who attempted to explain why music appeals to us and what the musical experience says about human nature. Readings will be taken from antiquity, the distant past, and the present day. Our goal will be: (1) to study how philosophers have attempted to explain what the musical experience says about human nature; (2) to study what these explanations say about the time periods and cultures from which they came.

(May be repeated for a maximum of 4 credits) An opportunity for qualified juniors or seniors to assist in the teaching of music theory or history. Interested students are selected by the department. Grading is on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisite: Permission of the department.

An intensive study of a musical topic, usually an individual composer, genre, or specific body of music. Students will research primary and secondary literature on the topic. May be conducted in a group when several students pursue the same study.

An upper-level special topics course offered at the discretion of the department. The content and methods vary with the interest of students and faculty members

Prerequisite: Open to junior and senior music majors, with permission of the department. Supervised part-time work in a musical setting approved by the department. Grading is on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisites: Completion of all music theory and music history requirements for the major in music history and literature. The course may, if necessary, be taken in conjunction with the last semester of theory and the last 3 credits of music history. A capstone research project in which the student will work one-on-one with a professor in writing a significant historical paper in music history and literature. The student will present his or her findings in a public reading at the end of the semester of study.

Prerequisites: Completion of at least 8 credits of applied piano and all other requirements for the concentration in piano pedagogy. This course is usually taken in the senior year. A capstone experience for the piano pedagogy track. Students will observe and critique piano lessons in the department, write several chapters of a sample method book and teach several students of varying ability, under the supervision of a faculty member. The piano students will perform their pieces for a panel of faculty pianists for evaluation.

Prerequisite: By invitation of the department. The departmental honors paper is a two-semester senior-year program designed for students who wish to pursue intensive research or special projects in close coordination with faculty advisers. Departmental honors students are known as the Christine P. Tischer Scholars and receive 6 credits for this work.

Prerequisite: By invitation of the department. The departmental honors paper is a two-semester senior-year program designed for students who wish to pursue intensive research or special projects in close coordination with faculty advisers. Departmental honors students are known as the Christine P. Tischer Scholars and receive 6 credits for this work.