Music Program Classes
Classes offered at the Graduate Center in
Fall 2008
Click here for
registration schedule.
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 2002, Fall
2001.
Music Programs • The Graduate Center,
CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue • New York, New York 10016-4309
(212) 817-8590 • music@gc.cuny.edu
Music Programs • The Graduate Center,
CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue • New York, New York 10016-4309
(212) 817-8590 • music@gc.cuny.edu
