Music 212

MUSC 211:212
Theory III:IV

Catalog Entry

MUSC211:212. Theory III:IV
Three hours lecture (3:3).

Prerequisite (MUSC211): Completion of MUSC 112 with a grade of "C" or better.

Prerequisite (MUSC212): Completion of MUSC 211 with a grade of "C" or better.

Shaping features of texture, timbre, rhythm and tonal motion at various levels. Dissolution of tonality from late chromatic harmony through the emergence of 20th century techniques, including Impressionism, set theory, 12-tone technique, experimentation and neo-Impressionism.

 

Detailed Description of Content of Course

MUSC211: The course focuses on the study of extended chromaticism and form in music composed between 1750 and 1850. Examination of texture, timbre, rhythm and tonal motion at various levels.

MUS 212: The course focuses on chromatic harmony and its ultimate dissolution and the emergence of 20th-century techniques through the study short part-writing examples and large-scale works. Examination of texture, timbre, rhythm and tonal motion at various levels in the music of Chopin, Wagner, Debussy, Ravel, and Schoenberg. Continued study of principal works composed since 1950.

 

Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

MUS 211: The course will include lecture, demonstration and individual projects. The conduct of the class will be designed to help students become aware of important structural features found in music by composers active during the Classical period. Students will complete analysis of large-scale works by D. Scarlatti, W.A. Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert in the form of typewritten papers. However, students will be asked to complete the analysis in stages categorized as the following: cursory macroanalysis, micro-analysis, and final macroanalysis in order to develop a systematic, orderly approach to music analysis.

MUS 212: The course will include lecture, short part-writing assignments, and large-scale written projects. Students will become acquainted with harmonic devices first by completing short part-writing assignments and through examination of excerpts. They will then be asked to complete full-scale analyses of representative works from the late-Romantic and 20th-Century. This will allow students to synthesize their enlarged harmonic vocabulary with traits found in music of earlier periods. 20th-Century music will be addressed through short compositional assignments and short analyses of representative music.

 

Goals and Objectives of the Course

MUS 211: Students should be familiar with important harmonic and formal features found in music composed during the Classical period. They should be able to approach music with a sound analytical approach, and articulate observable features comprehensibly.

MUS 212: Students must understand the development of harmonic devices through the 19th-Century toward the total dissolution of tonal harmony, and resultant approaches to this "Crisis of Tonality." Students should be able to identify, and describe the enlarged harmonic vocabulary used prior to the 20th-century, as well as principal compositional techniques used during the 20th-century.

 

Assessment Measures

MUS 211: Course assessment will be based on written analyses completed by students during the term, short part-writing and harmonic analyses, and examinations given at mid-term and at end of term. Examinations will assess students ability to complete a short analysis which identifies important harmonic and formal features found in the music.

MUS 212: Knowledge of harmonic devices and their application in musical compositions will be measured using an array of assessment efforts that can among others include tests, structured part-writing and composition-based assignments, and formal analytical papers. A final examination will assess students ability to complete a short analysis which identifies important harmonic and formal features found in the music.

 

Other Course Information

 

Approval and Subsequent Reviews

DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
Revised February, 2009