City University of New York Graduate Center Music PhD/DMA Program
  Home  Programs  Announcements  Concerts and Events  Classes  Faculty


Music Program Classes

Classes offered at the Graduate Center in Fall 2008
Click here for registration schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
10am-
1pm

 

MUS 74100
Introduction to the Analysis of Post-Tonal Music
Prof. Pieslak 
NB: Music students only.

 

MUS 74500
Introduction to Schenkerian Theory
Prof. Carey

MUS 83500 (Ethno)musicology and Social Theory Prof. Sugarman

 

 

MUS 86800
Seminar in Music History: Emerging Modernism in French Music, 1871-1939
Prof. Kahan

MUS 86500
Seminar in Music History:  Hearing Mahler
Prof. Kramer
 

MUS 83200
Cross-Cultural Studies in Musical Composition
Prof.  Blum

 
2pm-
5pm
(unless noted otherwise)

MUS 88300
Indian Music
Prof.  Manuel
limit 15


 

MUS 70000
Bibliography and Research Techniques Prof.  Atlas

MUS 81502
Performance Practice: Baroque
Prof. Erickson

THEATRE 82000  Critical Perspectives on American Musical Theatre Prof.  Savran (4:15-7:15pm)

MUS 85400
Seminar in Theory/Analysis: Analysis of Italian Romantic Opera
Prof. Rothstein
 

MUS 88500
Composer's Seminar
Prof. Olan 

MUS 82501
History of Theory I
Prof. De Ford


MUS 70000 Bibliography and Research Techniques
Prof. Atlas (4 credits)
Tuesday, 2–5pm Room 3389.
    An introduction to what “musicologists” (using that term in the widest possible sense) do, this by doing at least some of the things that some of them do: editing, archival research, codicology, analysis/criticism, book reviewing, etc. A survey of the chief musicological research tools, including encyclopedias, journals, histories, catalogues, etc; a discussion of some of the “hotter” musicological topics of the day. A series of short papers and a semester-long project. A look at the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. If all this sounds somewhat like a rather traditional approach to the discipline, it is just that!

MUS 74100 Introduction to the Analysis of Post-tonal Music
Prof. Pieslak (4 credits) NB: Music students only.
Monday, 10am–1pm. Room 3491.
   
A survey of basic theoretical approaches to post-tonal music through analytical and compositional exercises. Classic prewar repertoire will comprise the core of the syllabus, though not exclusively, and we will explore secondary literature by Babbitt, Lewin, Morris, and others. Limited to doctoral students in music.

MUS 74500 Introduction to Schenkerian Theory
Prof. Carey  (4 credits)

Tuesday, 10am–1pm. Room 3491.
    One of the most influential theorists of the 20th Century was Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935). Schenker's theory proposes that tonal compositions can be understood as organically unified according to certain principles. In this course, Schenker's key concepts including those he calls 'prolongation' and 'structural levels' are discussed, along with an introduction to his notational analytic system of 'graphing.' A successful Schenker graph will, ideally, explain the contrapuntal role every note of a tonal composition and can provide a powerful image for the metaphor of unity that is associated with the masterworks of the tonal era. Implications of Schenkerian analysis for musical performance will be discussed.

MUS 81502 Performance Practice: Baroque
Prof. Erickson (3 credits)

Tuesday, 2–5pm. Room 3491.
    This course, intended for performers, will approach various issues in Baroque performance practice primarily through the music of J.S. Bach. Issues to be dealt with include: Baroque instruments and vocal and instrumental technique, dances and dance music, national styles, ornamentation, and continuo playing.

MUS 82501 History of Theory I
Prof. DeFord   (3 credits)
Thursday, 2–5pm. Room 3389.
    
This course focuses on three broad issues in music theory from ancient times to ca. 1600: (1) concepts of pitch, including interval measurement, tuning systems, musica ficta, and the chromatic and enharmonic genera; (2) theories of counterpoint; and (3) mode. It emphasizes conflicting opinions, both among early theorists and among their modern interpreters, with the objective of discovering the (often unstated) assumptions that underlie these conflicts. Relationships of theory to composition and performance practice are also considered.

MUS 83200 Cross-Cultural Studies in Musical Compositions
Prof. Blum  (3 credits)
Friday, 10am–1pm. Room 3491.
    
This seminar attempts an overview of conceptions of compositional process and uses of the resulting compositions (taking the form of ceremonies, scenarios for performance, models, works, etc.) in several regions of the world prior to World War II. Musical practices of Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas are considered with a focus on sequences of action that are involved in both the creation and the use of compositions.
     Open only to doctoral students. Not open to auditors.


MUS 83500 Seminar in Ethnomusicology: (Ethno)musicology and Social Theory
Prof. Sugarman (3 credits)
Tuesday 10am-1pm, Room 3389
     The analysis of music's relationship to the communities that produce and consume it has long been a major concern of music scholarship. This course reviews some of the classic and contemporary schools of social thought that music scholars have drawn on in recent decades to address that topic. Theoretical writings in sociology, anthropology, philosophy, cultural studies, feminist studies, and related fields will be paired with case studies that situate musical creation, performance, dissemination, and reception within the unfolding of societal processes. We will begin with various versions of Marxist/Marxian theory, continue with semiotics and poststructuralist theory, and conclude with recent writings on gender, nation, and modernity.  
    
Prerequisite: Music 70000 or Music 71200. Open only to doctoral students in Music; limit 12

MUS  85400 Seminar in Theory/Analysis: From Rossini's Otello to Verdi's Otello: Analysis of Italian Romantic Opera
Prof. Rothstein (3 credits)
Wednesday, 2–5pm. Room 3491.
    
This is a course on the analysis of serious opera in the Italian (or Franco-Italian) tradition. Primary emphasis will be on the operas of Verdi, ranging from Macbeth (1847) to Otello (1887). Operas by three of Verdi’s predecessors—Rossini, Bellini, and Meyerbeer—will also be examined. An oral presentation will be required; an expanded form of the presentation will serve as a term paper. Other requirements include readings (all in English), a few short analyses, and a good deal of listening.
     Prerequisite: Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (Music 74500) or the equivalent, as judged by the instructor. A reading knowledge of Italian is helpful but not required.
     Enrollment limit: 15, of whom no more than 12 will be GC students.

MUS 86500 Seminar in Music History: Hearing Mahler
Prof. Kramer  (3 credits)
Thursday, 10am–1pm Room 3491
   
In two essays from the 1930s and in his Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy (1960), Adorno figures Mahler at two historical moments. Our inquiry will range over a century of hearings, beginning with Mahler’s contemporary and compatriot, Guido Adler. Mahler as conductor: the retouchings of earlier music; in the opera pit. The exchanges with Richard Strauss. Schoenberg’s memorial address, and the appropriation of Mahler for the "new Viennese school." Mahler as political flashpoint: Vienna at 1900. The restoration of Mahler: Bernstein as Apostle (rehearsals of Ninth with Vienna Philharmonic); La Grange and the documents; Mitchell’s "biography"; Dahlhaus, Eggebrecht, and the idea of Absolute Music. Feder’s psycho-biography. Recent topical inquiries by Danuser, Hefling, Micznik, Knittel, Painter, Botstein, others.
    At the core is the music: studies to include Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Kindertotenlieder; the Rückert songs; Das Lied von der Erde; the symphonies, with emphasis on One, Three, Five, Seven and Nine. The fragmentary Tenth. Inquiries into the autograph manuscripts.
    Knowledge of German language helpful but not required.

MUS
86800 Seminar in Music History: Emerging Modernism in French Music, 1871-1939
Prof. Kahan  (3 credits)
Wednesday, 10am–1pm Room 3491.
    This cross-disciplinary course will examine significant events in French composition and the intellectual, cultural, and social trends and forces that contributed to the emergence of musical modernism in France from the period of the Franco-Prussian War to the beginning of World War II in 1939. Using the founding of the Société nationale de musique in 1871 as a starting point, we will look at such topics as the conflict between the “D’Indyistes” and the “Debussyistes”; the influence of nationalism, Republicanism, and the religious Right on concert and opera programming; the creation of breakaway musical groups such as the Société musicale indépendante and “les Apaches”; the influences of Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets russes and, after 1918, Jean Cocteau and Les Six on modernist French music; and the important role of women – especially the great salon hostesses, and Nadia Boulanger – in Paris’s musical life. The course will focus on the music of Fauré, Debussy, Satie, Ravel, and Poulenc, but will also include works by Lili Boulanger, Caplet, Chabrier, Dukas, d’Indy, and Roussel. Written assignments will include four “responses” – in the form of analyses or performances – and a 15-page final research paper or combination of paper and performance. A knowledge of French will be helpful, but is not required.

MUS 88300 Indian Music
Prof. Manuel
(3 credits)
Monday, 2–5pm. Room 3491.
    
A survey of major music traditions in India, including North and South Indian classical music, commercial popular music, and selected folk genres. Thematic approaches will comprise, where relevant, analysis of style and structure, historical development, the role of diasporas, and dynamics pertaining to gender, class, and religious communities. Enrollment limit: 15.

MUS 88500 Composer's Seminar
Prof. Olan 
(3 credits)
Thursday, 2–5pm. Room 3491.

Theatre 82000 Critical Perspectives on American Musical Theatre
Prof. David Savran (3 credits)
Tuesday, 4:15-7:15pm: this class is cross listed with the theater department. 
     This course provides an analysis of the history and historiography of the musical, from Showboat (1927) to the works of Stephen Sondheim, with critical analyses of music, text, performance, and reception. Click here for more information.

Classes of previous semesters: Spring 2008, Fall 2007, Spring 2007, Fall 2006, Spring 2005, Fall 2004, Spring 2004, Fall 2003, Spring 2003,  Fall 2002,  Spring 2002Fall 2001.

Music ProgramsThe Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue • New York, New York 10016-4309
(212) 817-8590 • music@gc.cuny.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music ProgramsThe Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue • New York, New York 10016-4309
(212) 817-8590 • music@gc.cuny.edu