Mu 10
Selected Topics in Music;
offered by announcement
|
Units to be determined by arrangement with instructor
Instructors:
Staff, visiting lecturers
Mu 21
Understanding Music
9 units (3-0-6)
|
first term
The Listening Experience I. How to listen to and what to listen for in classical and other musical expressions. Listening, analysis, and discussion of musical forms, genres, and styles. Course is intended for musicians as well as nonmusicians and is strongly recommended as an introduction to other music courses.
Instructor:
Neenan
Mu 24
Introduction to Opera
9 units (3-0-6)
|
third term
Opera exploded onto the cultural scene around the year 1600 and quickly became the most popular, expensive, and lavish spectacle in all of Europe. The course will trace the history of the genre examining masterpieces by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Berg, and Britten, and will sample a host of newer works, including Einstein on the Beach, The Death of Klinghoffer, and The Ghosts of Versailles. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 25
History of Chamber Music
9 units (3-0-6)
|
third term
To be coordinated with Caltech's spring chamber music performances; enrollment limited to students preparing performances of chamber music during the term. The course will survey the history of chamber music and will offer more in-depth exploration of works in preparation for performance. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 26
Jazz History
9 units (3-0-6)
|
third term
This course will examine the history of jazz in America from its roots in the unique confluence of racial and ethnic groups in New Orleans around 1900 to the present. The lives and music of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and others will be explored.
Instructor:
Neenan
Mu 27
Fundamentals of Music Theory and Elementary Ear Training
9 units (3-0-6)
|
first term
Basic vocabulary and concepts of music theory (rhythm and pitch notation, intervals, scales, function of key signatures, etc.); development of aural perception via elementary rhythmic and melodic dictation, and sight-singing exercises. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 28
Harmony I
9 units (3-0-6), second term
Prerequisites: Mu 27 or entrance exam.
Study of tonal harmony and intermediate music theory; techniques of chord progression, modulation, and melody writing according to common practice; ear training, continued. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 29
Harmony II
9 units (3-0-6), third term
Prerequisites: Mu 28 or entrance exam.
More advanced concepts of music theory, including chromatic harmony, and 20th-century procedures relating to selected popular music styles; ear training, continued. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 122
Life and Music of Mozart
9 units (3-0-6)
|
second term
This course will explore Mozart's music within the context of his life and times, including the early works composed as a child prodigy and touring artist; the first masterpieces he composed, and finally the masterworks written during his meteoric rise and his equally amazing fall from grace. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 123
Life and Music of Beethoven
9 units (3-0-6)
|
third term
The course will examine the exuberant works of Beethoven's youth, the series of grand, heroic masterpieces of the early 1800s, and the puzzling and mysterious works of his final decade. Not offered 2012-13.
Mu 137
History I: Music History to 1750
9 units (3-0-6)
|
first term
The course traces the history of music from ancient Greece to the time of Bach and Handel. A survey of the contributions by composers such as Machaut, Josquin, and Palestrina will lead to a more in-depth look at the music of Monteverdi, Purcell, Corelli, Vivaldi, and the two most important composers of the high baroque, Bach and Handel.
Instructor:
Neenan
Mu 138
History II: Music History from 1750 to 1850
9 units (3-0-6)
|
second term
Music composed between 1750 and 1850 is among the most popular concert music of today and the most recorded music in the classical tradition. This course will focus on developments in European music during this critical period. An in-depth look at the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven along with the cultural and societal influences that shaped their lives will be the primary focus. Music of composers immediately preceding and following them (the Bach sons, Schubert, Chopin, and others) will also be surveyed.
Instructor:
Neenan
Mu 139
History III: Music History from 1850 to the Present
9 units (3-0-6)
|
third term
From the end of the 19th century to the present day, classical music has undergone the fastest and most radical changes in its history. The course explores these changes, tracing the development of various musical styles, compositional methods, and music technologies while examining acknowledged masterpieces from throughout the period.
Instructor:
Neenan
Mu 140
The Great Orchestras: Their History, Repertoire, and Conductors
9 units (3-0-6)
|
second term
This survey course will trace the symphony orchestra from its generally acknowledged beginnings with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Felix Mendelssohn to the present day. Special emphasis will be given to the great orchestras of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their conductors, and the core orchestral repertoire. Making use of historic audio and video recordings from the twentieth century, along with more recent documentary recordings, students will be exposed to the cultural history of modern Europe and America through the medium of classical music.
Instructor:
Neenan
Published Date:
July 28, 2022