Course Title Credit MUHL M306 History of Western Art Music I 3 Credits
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Course Title Credit MUHL M306 History of Western Art Music I 3 credits Fall semester 2019 What’s going on here? The guy on the left who’s gesturing—who is he? (You probably don’t know his name, but what can you tell about him?) What’s the guy on the right doing? And what’s up with that bird?? Stay tuned! (image from the Hartker Antiphoner, Abbey of St-Gall, Cod. Sang. 390, copied c. 990-1000; http://www.e- codices.unifr.ch/en/csg/0390/13/medium ) Classes MWF 9:30-10:20 (section 001) or 11:30-12:20 (section 002), CM 204g Bulletin description This course is the first part of a two-semester survey of western art music, this semester covering music and ideas about music from antiquity to the mid-eighteenth century. Where relevant, we will consider influences on western art music from other cultures and styles. Prerequisites MUTH M103 (Theory II) and MUHL M106 (Introduction to Music Literature), or permission of instructor. Note that both Theory III and History I are prerequisites for History II, so students in this class should have completed or be concurrently enrolled in Theory III, and students who have not passed Theory III may not take History II in the spring. If you have any questions, please ask. Course objectives and learning outcomes This class will cover western art music composed before c. 1750. We will consider not only the history of musical style, but also as appropriate how music was composed, performed, transmitted, and used as part of broader culture. By the end of the semester, students should be able (among other things) to: • identify by ear or eye a group of known compositions composed before c. 1750 • apply principles derived from known compositions to identify unknown examples of major genres and styles of music practiced before c. 1750 • define key terms relating to music composed before c. 1750 • explain the significance of a group of major composers active before c. 1750 • explain major historical and cultural influences on the composition, performance, and transmission of music before c. 1750 History I (19f)—2 Students should also become more comfortable reading scholarly literature in music and using basic tools of scholarly research (such as Grove Music Online and RILM), developing skills they can use in other settings. We’ll cover over a thousand years’ worth of music this semester! Sometimes we’ll focus more on aspects of musical style, sometimes more on aspects of historical or cultural framework. Most or all of this material will be new to you, and some may even seem strange, but this is part of the foundation of later music. On the other hand, this music comes from and reflects a world different from our own, and thinking about these different ways of “musicking” (as one author has put it) might inspire you to do something new! Instructor Dr. Alice V. Clark phone 865-3065 Monroe Hall 303 (note office location!!) e-mail [email protected] Office hours by appointment (avclark.youcanbook.me). This is not a throwaway line; I really do want to see you! I’m around campus a lot, so you’re welcome to drop by my office, but I ask you to make an appointment just to ensure that I’ll be there. You can also often find me in Roussel lobby or the 204a conference room during the MWF 10:30 hour (between sections). Pronouns: She, her, hers Preferred title: Dr. (or Professor) Clark It is often easiest to communicate with me by e-mail between classes; barring emergencies or natural disasters, I will answer messages within 24 hours, except on weekends, during breaks, and while out of town at conferences. (This is a minimal goal, and in real life I usually will reply much sooner, even on weekends!) Some background: I started my undergraduate career as a music education major, until I encountered a course like this one, which answered questions I hadn’t known how to ask. While I don’t expect you to have a similar experience in this course (!), I hope you will come to value thinking and writing about music as useful in its own right, and as helpful to your work. Textbooks and course materials A-R Online Music Anthology: Go to www.armusicanthology.com to register and subscribe. Individual subscriptions are $60 for six months of unlimited use (including unlimited printing). There will be lists for our class (one per unit) with links to the pieces on the syllabus, and perhaps some others as well. Please make sure you have the pieces we’re studying in class on a given day, whether in hard copy or as a PDF saved on your laptop or other electronic device, so that we can talk about specific aspects as needed. This is important! We will not have a separate textbook this fall: instead, we will use readings from the A-R Anthology and other sources. All material outside the A-R Anthology will be available electronically (usually by way of Blackboard) or on reserve in Monroe Library. History I (19f)—3 It should go without saying, but you must have paper and a writing implement for every class! On some days you will also need to have staff paper, which can be easily printed for free at sites such as http://www.blanksheetmusic.net/ . I will try to signal here or before class the days we will be using staff paper, but it should go without saying that staff paper is as essential as “regular” paper for music students! Just to underline: bring to every class whatever pieces from the anthology you’ll need, pencil and paper, and whatever else you need to be able to participate! As Dr. Frazier tells her choirs, if you don’t have the music for that day’s rehearsal, you are absent— here too, you cannot be fully present if you don’t have the material you need. Course requirements / Types of assignments There will be some listening and/or reading in preparation for each class, and often also a short video lecture; for many days there will also be a pre-class assignment (usually as a Google form, due by 8am). (Pre-class assignments will be posted on Blackboard at least a week in advance.) During class I will not lecture extensively, but we will engage in discussion and activities (solo, pair, small group, and/or full class); these may include short assignments or quizzes. Naturally there will be exams (I know—but studies show learning increases when it is tested!), but you will see that they count for only half your final grade, far less in many other classes. Because studies also show it helps learning to go back over material, each exam will have a limited comprehensive component. Unknown listening—that is, identifying pieces you do not know by comparing them to pieces you do know—will be a significant feature of these exams, especially the comprehensive components. We’ll talk about all that later. Writing is also important, and so is reflection. While it’s not realistic for you to create full- blown research papers in this class, I do want you to practice expressing yourself in writing. I also want you to practice reading scholarly literature in music. You will therefore complete several special topic assignments and article report assignment. I’m trying to vary the assignments and activities so everyone can do things they like— which probably means sometimes you’ll end up doing things you don’t like. I hope all these activities will help you learn, in one way or another. Exams are necessary, but as you’ll see they only count for half of your final grade. Unknown listening is a particularly useful way to test your learning, because the ability to extrapolate from pieces you do know to new material is a high-level cognitive skill. Note that higher-education professionals generally say that each hour spent in class should be supported by 2-3 hours of work out of class; while we all know that doesn’t usually happen, you should do more than simply show up! That’s not just because I say so, but because you won’t get much out of the class if you aren’t prepared. How should you spend that out of class time? I’d suggest the following: • Start by reviewing the previous class: listen to the music (with score), reread your notes, and identify anything you don’t understand or any questions you have. See if you can fill in History I (19f)—4 those gaps by going back over the reading, score, or video; if you can’t, ask! It can also help to ask yourself what the most important points are, and maybe think of what exam questions might look like. • Look to the next class: start by listening to the music (with score). If it’s got text, read the text in English to get a general idea, but also identify important words or phrases in the original, and look at how they are set to music. (This is one of those times you might want to draw circles or otherwise point to things in the score itself.) After you’ve done this, listen to the piece again, paying attention to what you’ve marked in the score. • Do any reading that’s assigned for the next class, watch the video, and do the pre-class assignment if there is one. Write down any questions you have, and make notes about what you think is most important about this material.