Under the Hood: How Classical Music Works

Catalog description

This course examines selected works from twenty of the greatest composers of western art music, with emphasis on the baroque, classical and romantic eras. The curriculum combines aspects of two existing courses, Rudiments of Music ( MUSIC 8 ) and Introduction to Western Music ( MUSIC 5 ). Preliminary objectives will include basic musical information associated with tonality (the fundamental elements of music; the broad stylistic eras of western music and their associated characteristics). The main objectives of the course are: to explore techniques of tonal composition in detail, with an emphasis on conceptual understanding; to hear and recognize musical sounds and compositional devices within such comparative contexts as scales v. modes, diatonic v. chromatic, consonance v. dissonance, polyphony v. homophony; to hear and recognize fundamental harmonic relationships between tonic and dominant, as well as their importance in the formal design of tonal music; to enhance appreciation for classical music and to encourage attendance of live performances. While students will necessarily acquire knowledge of fundamental elements of music, they will not be required to learn to read or write notated music to the same extent that is required of students in MUSIC 8 . And while students will necessarily acquire knowledge of western music history, they will not study as many composers nor as many pieces as is customary in MUSIC 5 . Instead, students will be drawn closer to a smaller number of works, and closer to the performances and the performers. Specific compositional devices (e.g., suspension, sequence, textures, rhythms, harmonies) will be highlighted in detail. These objectives will be met by utilizing an interactive, multimedia online curriculum, including demonstration videos by the author, a virtual keyboard and music notation files (e.g., Sibelius). An essential component of the online curriculum will be the inclusion of selected video-recorded performances, along with commentary from the performers. Twelve members of our performance faculty have been video-recorded in studio performance, allowing students a close-up view of a substantial portion of the repertoire to be examined. The course will be available for GA credit. It will not satisfy any requirements for the major or minor in music. All musical pieces and excerpts will be made available to students online.