MuH 2012: Survey of Western Music II
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Site accessed
times since 11/5/2006
Required Texts:
Craig Wright and Bryan Sims. Music in Western Civilization, Volume II - Enlightenment through Contemporary Music, (Thomson-Schirmer, 2006); and
Craig Wright and Bryan Sims, ed. Anthology for Music in Western Civilization, Volume II - Enlightenment through Contemporary Music, (Thomson-Schirmer, 2006).
Required Recordings:
Craig Wright and Bryan Sims, ed. Audio CD for Wright/Simms' Music in Western Civilization. Volume II - Enlightenment through Contemporary Music, (Thomson-Schirmer, 2006).
Writing Assignments: This course should partially fulfill Manhattanville's College-wide writing requirements. There will be two written assignments for the course: one from the Classic Era and a project on musical style.
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Due February 22: Assignment I: Classic Era (10%) -- Choose two works from the anthology by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven and describe how the musical forms of the works are derived from the binary form unit. 3-5 pages |
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Due April 16: Assignment II: Musical Style Project (20%) -- Describe the major characteristics of one European musical style from the 19th Century: identify the major composers, works and focus upon one research question. |
Useful Online Bibliography Reference: Towson University has an online guide in the style of Irvine's Writing about Music, which can be accessed here.
Additional Course Materials: Additional required materials are available on the Blackboard Page for this course. Registration instructions will be described in class. Registered students can access on line materials with Manhattanville's Blackboard site: http://blackboard.mville.edu.
"What should I be listening for?" This question cannot be answered specifically, because as musicians you should be listening to all stylistic factors that will help you form a critical judgment about a composer and his or her work. As initial guidelines, however, you may wish to consider the following questions to ask yourself. Remember that a majority of the pieces assigned for listening are famous works that deserve to be part of your knowledge as musicians whatever your specialty.
Before listening to an assignment, review your
reading and lecture notes, and make sure, in the case of vocal
music, to read the text carefully. While listening, take note of
things that strike your interest, of characteristic features, or
of any questions you have about the piece.
Some students find it helpful to study with the use of 3" x
5" study cards: one per piece with significant features
noted for each piece. Shuffle the cards and associate
expectations for what you will hear in a piece.
To get the most from the course it is essential that you prepare
for lectures by reading the required assignments and by listening
in advance of lectures to a given week's pieces. You should make
every attempt not to fall behind in this weekly work. If there is
anything, in either the reading or the lectures that you do not
understand, ask me about it. See me after lecture or make an
appointment. I will have regularly scheduled office hours, too.
| Date | Topic and Related Web Sites |
Ex. in Anthology |
Ch. in Text |
| 1/18 | The Early Classic Period: Opera and Instrumental Music in the Eighteenth Century: Investigate the American Musicological Society Websites of Interest to Musicologists | 118, 120a, 120b, 121, 122-126 | 41, 42, 43 |
| 1/25 | The Late Eighteenth Century -- Haydn and Mozart: A good starting site for exploring the web is the Mozart Project. | 128-131, 133-134, 136-138 | 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 |
| 2/5 | Ludwig van Beethoven: See the Mad About Beethoven site for a passionate account of his work. | 139, 141-143 | 49, 50, 51 |
| 2/19 | First Semester Exam | 118-143 | 41-51 |
| 2/22 | Romanticism in Vienna and Paris: See the essay on Symphonie Fantastique on the Berlioz page. | 144, 146-147, 149 | 52, 53 |
| 2/26 | Romanticism in Germany: See the pages on Robert
Schumann and Johannes
Brahms. Writing Assignment I due |
150, 152 | 54 |
| 3/1 | Opera and Music Drama in the Nineteenth Century: See the list of works and links for Verdi's operas. | 153-156 | 55, 56 |
| 3/19 | New and "Old" Germans in the Nineteenth Century: See pages on Liszt and Brahms. | 157-158, 159-160 | 57, 58 |
| 3/26 | European Music
from the 1870s to World War I: See the pages on Gustav
Mahler for overview. Additional Musical Selections On Line: 167. |
161-165, 167-170 | 59, 60, 62, 63 |
| 4/2 | Second Semester Exam | 144-170 | 52-63 |
| 4/5 | The European Mainstream into the Twentieth Century in Germany and Russia: Check the Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky sites for links. | 173-174 | 64, 65 |
| 4/9 | Atonality, Serialism, and Recent Developments in Twentieth-Century Europe: See the page on Arnold Schoenberg. | 175-179, 182-187 | 66, 67, 69, 70, 71 |
| 4/19 | The American
Twentieth Century: See the American Music Resource Center Homepage. Writing Assignment II due |
192-198 | 75, 76 |
| Exam Week | Final Exam | 173-198 | 64-76 |
To help focus on the paper project for this semester, I offer the following: “The Musical Style Project will be an independent study of a nineteenth-century repertoire. You will sketch the main elements of a one country’s national style of music, outline major compositions in specifically identified genres, and provide a working bibliography for future study.”
Choose a country and repertoire from the materials in the Classic, Romantic and early 20th-Century, i.e., 1800-1920 in Europe. Your paper will be 7 to 10 pages, and should incorporate reference materials from the major music encyclopedias (including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed.), books, at least two articles from scholarly journals (journals like the Journal of Musicology, the Journal of Musicological Research, the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Nineteenth Century Music, Musical Quarterly, etc.), and a discography of recommended recordings from the resources in our Library.
The citation format for materials that you cite must match the Modern Library Association style. Do not guess at the proper format; look it up. Notice the MLA has moved away from footnotes and has a specific order for the way materials are listed in the bibliography. When in doubt, you can use Mark A. Radice’s Irvine's Writing about Music. 3rd ed. (Portland, OR, 1999), the Chicago Manual of Style (both available on the reference shelf in the Library), or ask a reference librarian.
Choose your topic carefully. You can not cover all of German Symphony in 10 pages; you would have trouble covering all of the Beethoven Symphonies in 7 pages. Your work should identify important issues for study in one aspect of style. You will mention relevant composers and pieces and identify important scholars working in the field. If you can’t find enough references for a chosen topic, then change your topic. Part of the exercise is in identifying a defensible topic. You will use your research to suggest an hypothesis for further study. Your paper will supply the initial stages of research towards defining a paper topic and will identify clearly and thoroughly the appropriate supporting materials for that paper.
Links to Interesting Music Related Sites
The American Musicological Society web page contains links to many music organizations, as well the most comprehensive list of both classical and popular music on the web.
The Classical Music Page offers links to many composers and articles about music.
The Library of Congress often presents interesting musical and cultural exhibits in their on line exhibitions.