MUSC 407
Theory IV
Catalog Entry
MUSC 407. Theory IV
Three hours lecture (3).
Prerequisite Completion of MUSC 306 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
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
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
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
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
A variety of music scores will be required reading as well as listening to their respective recordings.
Approval and Subsequent Reviews
DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
Revised February, 2009
April 16, 2024