Music 251. Theory and Practice of Music III

 

Spring 2004; TR 10:00 – 11:25 a.m., Booth 208

 

Irene Girton, Bruno Louchouarn (Musc 251L)

 

Contact information:

·          igirton@oxy.edu

·          323.259 2590 (my office)

·          323.259 2785 (Music Department office)

·          323.341 4983 (fax)

·          Office hours: MW 1 - 3, and by appointment

·          Check this class’s Blackboard site for updates and class information: http://blackboard.oxy.edu. You should also refer frequently to my own website: http://www.listeningarts.com/music/oxy/theory/2ndyrtheory

 

Required texts:

1) Gauldin, Robert. Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music. W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1997.

2) Gauldin, Robert. Workbook for Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music. W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1997.

3) Harnsberger, Lindsey. The Essential Dictionary of Music: Definitions, Composers, Theory, Instrument and Vocal Ranges. Alfred Publishing Company, 1997.

4) Music manuscript paper.

5) Handbook of musical scores, to be provided in class.

 

Optional but recommended:

Conroy, Frank. Body and Soul. Delta, 1998. Simply one of the best novels about music I’ve ever read.

 

Material covered: Chromatic harmony and basic forms, including simple and sectional part-forms (binary, ternary, and rondo), variation forms, sonata form, and imitative contrapuntal genres.

 

Concert attendance: You will attend and type reports (at least one page in length, 1-inch margins on all four sides) on four concerts this term, each worth 2% of your final grade.  Three of the four concerts must be largely devoted to "classical" or art music; one concert may be jazz, musical theater, folk or world music. Make sure you comment on aspects of the music that relate to material discussed in class. You must include a program with your report (unless no program is provided, of course). The first two concert reports are due by Thursday, March 11 (week 8).  NOTE: only 1 concert report will be accepted at the final exam (Monday, May 10)! Begin going to concerts right away, and type up your reports as soon as possible. This is an easy A (at least 8% worth…). Check the Music Department’s online calendar, or the class’s Blackboard site, for listings.

 

For guidelines on concert report writing, check the Links & Resources section of the Blackboard site for this course.

 

Musicianship (Music 251L): Your instructor, Bruno Louchouarn, will orient you. Your performance in Music 251L will contribute 25% to your final grade in Music 251. Please remember: you must register for Music 251L, even though it carries no units.

 

Grading Policy: Homework is graded on a scale from 0 to 10. Note: an unsatisfactory assignment (grade lower than 8.0) may be redone once.

 

At the end of each class period, you should summarize for yourself the main point(s) of the lectures and discussions, as well as any unanswered question(s) you still have.

 

For the Occidental College policy on student conduct and honor, please visit the following link: http://www.oxy.edu/departments/registrar/catalog/genpolicy.html. Students with learning disabilities are encouraged to speak with me concerning exam arrangements.

 

Music 251

Written homework

60%

weighted at 75%            

Concert reports

8%

 

Quizzes

17%

 

Final exam

15%

Music 251L

Dictation

 

weighted at 25%            

Sight singing

 

 

Keyboard

 

 

class meeting

material covered

Week 1: 1/22 (Th only)

Intro to class; lightning-fast review of harmonic and melodic concepts from 1st-year theory. Review Gauldin to 19. Discuss the basic elements of form (Bennet 1)

Week 2: 1/27, 1/29

Gauldin chapters 19 and 25. Tonicization and modulation. Gauldin pp 449ff: Imitative counterpoint.

Repertoire: Bach 2-part Inventions and Preludes from Well-Tempered Clavier (WTC).

Weeks 3-5: 2/3, 5 (short class), 10, 12,  17, 19

Gauldin chapters 22 and 25: Sequence; tonicization and modulation II. Introduction to fugue.

Repertoire: Bach Fugues from WTC and Art of Fugue.

Week 6: 2/24, 2/26

Chapter 27: modal exchange or mixture. Review of phrase structure: motive, theme, cadence, similarity relations.

Repertoire: Mozart, Violin Sonata in B-flat major, KV 454.

Week 7: 3/2, 3 / 4

More modal mixture. Excursion I: Simple Forms (sectional forms: binary, ternary, rondo).

Repertoire: Mozart, Violin Sonata in B-flat major, KV 454.

Week 8: 3/9, 3/11

Simple Forms II.

Quiz 1: tonicization, modulation, and modal mixture (in-class and take-home).

Repertoire: Beethoven, Piano Sonata #1, op. 2 no. 1, 3rd movement.

Week 9: 3/23, 3/25

Chapter 28-29: More chromatic harmony: beyond modal mixture to augmented 6ths and Neapolitan harmony.

Repertoire: Schubert Lieder from Winterreise and Schwanengesang.

Week 10: 3/30, 4/1

Consolidation of chromatic harmonic vocabulary.

Listening quiz: Mozart violin sonata and Schubert Lieder.

Week 11: 4/6, 4/8

More complex forms: compound sectional forms.

Quiz 2: chromatic harmony and analysis.

Repertoire: Schubert, Piano Sonata TBA.

Week 12:  4/13, 4/15

Week 13: 4/20, 4/22

Week 14: 4/27, 4/29

Analysis and model composition for the remainder of the term:

Sonata forms and imitative counterpoint.

 

Readings: chapters 31-2, 34.

 

Look for syllabus updates in class and on the web.

 

Final exam: Monday, May 10, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.

 

Music 251 ASSIGNMENTS

 

Due

concert reports

3/11, Th

Week 8, first two concert reports by this date

Date TBA

Final exam, last concert report by this date

 

Check when done
Homework to be turned in is in bold type

 

Homework due T, 27 Jan 04

 

 

 

Review Gauldin 19.  Bring questions and comments regarding the reading.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 29 Jan 04

 

 

 

Read Gauldin 20 and 22 (sequences), and 25 (tonicization and modulation II: secondary dominants).

 

Wkbk 19:1 (pivot chord modulation), and be prepared to play and discuss 19:5 in class today.

 

 

 

Homework due T, 3 Feb 04

 

 

 

Wkbk 25:1 (or worksheets).

 

Invention in d minor: T and CT analysis; cadential/key area analysis on score (in class on Thursday).

 

 

 

Homework due R, 5 Feb 04

 

 
 
Listen to C, d, F, and a inventions
 
Listen to Preludes 6 and 20 from WTC II

 

 

 

Begin work on an analysis of Prelude 6, WTC II, in the style of the class handouts. Include comments on tonal centers and motivic behavior.

 

 

 

 

Be prepared to discuss chapter 22 on sequence.

 

Homework due T, 10 Feb 04

 

 

 

Continue working on Prelude 6, per Thursday’s class discussion.

 

 

Visit the 7th chord website at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/%7Etas3/courseindex.html#sojurn. Do at least 10 instances of each of the three exercises and email me the results (see instructions on the website).

 

Complete tonicization worksheet (download from Blackboard/Assignments section of the site).

 

 

 

Homework due R, 12 Feb 04

 

Complete and turn in your map of Prelude 6 (WTC II)

 

Homework due T, 17 Feb 04

 

 

 

Listen to Prelude in a, WTC II, and be prepared to discuss its design in class. Nothing to turn in.

 

Wkbk 20:1ABC. Be sure you understand the importance of the consistent relationships between all voices in a sequence, not just the bass.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 19 Feb 04

 

Read Gauldin pp 451 – 458 (Excursion 2, Invention and Fugue)


Visit the 7th chord website again (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/%7Etas3/courseindex.html#sojurn). This time, do at least 20 instances of the third exercise (secondary functions) and email me the results (see instructions on the website).

 

 

 

Listen to C, d, F, and a Inventions, and P&F in g and a, WTC Book II (recordings on reserve). There will be a short listening-based quiz on Tuesday, Feb. 24,

 

 

 

Homework due T, 24 Feb 04

 

Map the entries of the S and A (only those entries which are complete!) for the fugue in g, Fugue 16 from WTC I. Your map should indicate measure numbers, voice number (1, 2, 3, or 4), and tonal region for each entry. Remember that for this fugue, A (answer) is tonal – that is, its first melodic interval is different from the subject. To distinguish S and A from motivic fragments, look for the conjunction of S/A’s two motives.

 

 

 

Homework due T, 2 Mar 04

 

 

 

Complete your analysis of Fugue 16 in g minor from WTC Book I. On your map, designate ME’s, key areas (with roman numerals showing relationship to home key), episodes (with comments about specific developmental devices). Include written comments on a separate sheet.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 4 Mar 04

 

 

 

Review chapter 12 (phrase structure and grouping) and read chapter 27 (modal exchange and mixture chords).

 

 

 

Homework due T, 9 Mar 04

 

 

 

Wkbk 27: 1BDE, and 2 (make a copy of page 158; you’ll need it later).

 

 

Number the measures in the Mozart violin sonata in B-flat, K. 454.

 

Analysis: Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454, III. Consider the phrase structure of the 1st 16 measures and write a brief description of events. Explain your analysis of phrases and subphrases, including comments on the behavior of and interactions between the various musical elements (melody, timbre, rhythm, and harmony).

 

 

 

Homework due R, 11 Mar 04

 

 

 
Wkbk 27: 3BE

Analysis: Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454, III. Find all instances of the opening theme in this movement, as represented originally in measures 1-16. Comment on any differences between the first instance and subsequent appearances of this theme, including instrumentation and phrase structure (length, symmetry, etc.).

 

 

 

Homework due T, 23 Mar 04

 

 

Read Excursion 1 (Simple Forms) to page 275 (one-part, binary, and ternary forms), and Chapter 29 (augmented 6th chords). 

 

Explore http://www.listeningarts.com/music/general_theory/ -- there’s actually a lot on this page for each of you, so spend some time here. Pay special attention to the “good introduction to form.”

 

 

Homework due R, 25 Mar 04

 

 

 

Listen intently to the 2nd movement of the Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454. We’ll discuss chromaticism in this movement on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Homework due T, 30 Mar 04

 

Complete the take-home analysis quiz.

 

 

 

Listen to the four Schubert Lieder: Winterreise, #2 and 3, and Schwanengesang, #12 and 13. We will discuss the use of augmented 6th harmony in each of the four.  CDs on reserve: Winterreise  M1621.4.S3 D.911 SL 89; and Schwanengesang M1621.4.S3 D.957 PR 6.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 1 April 04_

 

 

 

Review cadential 6/4 harmony (chapter 16, p212 ff), and do a harmonic analysis of Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454, 2nd movement, mm 49-59.  How many phrases do you see? What process makes them asymmetrical? Xerox this page of the score and hand it in.

 

 

 

Read chapter 28: the Neapolitan.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 8 April 04

 

 

 

Contemplate the opening of “Am Meer” (Schwanengesang). What sort of a chord is this? What’s atypical about it?

 

 

Workbook 28:1, with the best possible voice leading. Be sure to use a Neapolitan chord in each example.

 

 

 

Homework due T, 13 April 04

 

 

 

Listening Quiz 2: prepare by listening to all four Schubert songs and the 2nd and 3rd movements of the Mozart violin sonata.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 15 April 04

 

 

 

Read: Variations and Rondo (pp275-288).

 

Listen: Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454, 3rd movement.

 

In-class analysis: Be prepared to discuss the form of the Mozart 3rd movement. Consider “tunes and keys.”

 

 

 

Homework due T, 20 April 04

 

 

 

Read: Sonata Form (pp 439-447).

 

Listen: Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K.454, 1st and 2nd movements. Contemplate the sonata-form structure of both movements.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 22 April 04

 

 

 

Diagram the sonata-form structure of the first movement of the Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat, K. 454.

 

Listen to the first movements of Beethoven op. 31/1, op. 31/2, and op. 31/3. Choose one of these to diagram and discuss for Tuesday’s class.

 

 

 

Homework due T, 27 April 04

 

 

 

Do the most detailed schematic analysis possible of the Beethoven movement of your choice (from op. 31/1, 31/2, or 31/3). On your schematic analysis, include information at several levels:

·                       

·        the large formal divisions of the form (exposition, etc.)

·                       

·        the next level down, including themes or theme groups, transitional passages, codas or codettas

·                       

·        the phrase level

·                       

·        motives, if applicable

·                       

·        keys and cadences (indicate key areas with Roman numerals relative to the piece’s tonic)

·                       

·        written comments

 

 

 

In your written comments, address any unusual characteristics of the movement you’ve chosen, and discuss such things as thematic content and contrast (consider the various design elements), proportion (how long are the sections; what are their proportional relationships?), and interesting harmonic details.

 

 

 

Homework due R, 29 April 04

 

 

 

Listen to the first movement of Schubert’s B-flat Posthumous Piano Sonata, D. 960. We’ll discuss the exposition in class. Start having thoughts about motivic influences on large-scale harmonic structure.