2019-20 Catalog

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.

This survey course will trace the symphony orchestra from its origins in the mid eighteenth century to the present day. Special emphasis will be given to the great civic orchestras of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their conductors, and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.