SYLLABUS

MUSIC 502 B

(timings are tentative)

Spring 2017

January 18 - February 6

Get acquainted, organizational.
Recapitulation: The tonal system, a historical perspective. Common language and grammar. Enharmonic ambiguities in late romantic music. Atonality.
Aesthetic trends at the turn of the century in the Western world.
Modes in medieval/renaissance Western music, in East-European folklore. Stravinsky and Bartok.

First assignment due 2/3
First listening test 2/20

February 8 - 24

Rhythm as a constructive device.
Polychords, polytonality, polymodality; quartal harmony.
Neo-classicism and constructivism.
Non-tonal centricity. Stravinsky, Varese.
Messiaen and his musical technique.
Timbre as a constructive device.

First creative assignment due 2/27

February 22 - March 17

The row as a constructive device.
Transformations of the row; matrix, combinatoriality, symmetries.
Structuralism
Integral serialism. Boulez and the "domains" technique.

Second listening test 3/6
Fist quiz 3/10
First reading assignment due 3/13
Second assignment due 3/15

Spring Break

March 27 - April 17

The three (or four...) types of indeterminacy in music
John Cage and chance music; the influence of Zen and DADA
Aleatory music.
Existentialism.
Textkomposition, improvisations, concept music; classes of compositions and open works.
The "new" notation, "graphic" scores. Other trends and techniques; minimalism.

Third listening test 3/27
Second creative assignment 4/7
Second quiz 4/10
Fourth listening test 4/17

April 19 - May 3

Electronic music and music concrete; MIDI, synthesizers: new sounds, new attitudes.
Acoustics: How do we hear sounds ? How are CDs made and what's on them ? Pitch, loudness, modulation, and timbre
Computer Music: digital sound synthesis.
Music Formalization and various mathematical and scientific models for music.
Computer Music: computer-assisted composition.
Spectral music.

Third assignment due 4/21
Third quiz 4/26
Second reading assignment 4/28
Fifth listening test 5/1

[ back to Music 502 B | to Reserve list | Class notes | back to Courses | back to Sever Tipei's home page | Computer Music Project | ]