Music 731: Twentieth-Century Theories (Spring 2008)
Mondays 4:30-7:10 pm, Meir Library E280
Christopher Burns (cburns at uwm dot edu)
office hours: Monday, 3 - 4:15 pm, Music 367 or by appointment
Course description: Examination of the relationship between
theory and practice in twentieth- and twenty-first-century composition.
Consideration and analysis of the specific techniques and constructive
principles used by composers, as well as the aesthetic positions and
formal types allied with particular approaches.
Prerequisites: Open to Music Department graduate students who
have completed entrance requirements for music theory; others admitted by
consent of the instructor. Please let the instructor know as soon as
possible if you need any special accommodations.
Learning goals and measurement: Upon successful completion of this course, students should:
1. Develop new perspectives on the relationship between theory and practice in twentieth-century and contemporary music;
2. enhance their ability to contextualize specific compositions within broad theoretical frameworks, and to recognize the frameworks which may be relevant to a particular work;
3. improve their music analysis skills;
4. improve their ability to write about music in detail.
Student attainment of these objectives will be measured through assessments of participation in classroom discussion, in-class presentations, and written assignments.
Grading policy: Semester grades will be determined in accordance with the following priorities.
Preparation and participation 20%
In-class analysis presentations 40%
Final paper and presentation 40%
Attendance is required; students who miss three or more class meetings will receive reduced grades.
Course materials: Listening and reading assignments for the course are available online from the UWM Library electronic reserves; scores are on reserve in the Music Library.
UWM Uniform Syllabus Policies: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf
Course syllabus online: http://www.uwm.edu/~cburns/731-spring-2008/
Course schedule:
January 28: course introduction: theory and practice
- February 4: theories I: twelve-tone
- listening/score reading:
- Anton Webern String Quartet op. 28
- Igor Stravinsky Variations (Aldous Huxley in Memoriam)
- reading:
- Arnold Schoenberg, "Composition With Twelve Tones (I)," in Style and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, rev. ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press), 1984: 214-245.
- Charles Wuorinen, "On The 12-Tone System" and "The 12-Tone Pitch System: Elements and Operations," in Simple Composition (New York: Longman), 1979: 3-14 and 81-97.
- February 11: theories II: pitch-class set theory
- listening/score reading:
- Arnold Schoenberg Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke op. 19
- Anton Webern Vier Stücke op. 7 for violin and piano
- reading:
- Allen Forte, from "Pitch-Class Sets and Relations," in The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven: Yale University Press), 1973: 1-15.
- George Perle, "Pitch-Class Set Analysis: An Evaluation," Journal of Musicology 8/2 (Spring 1990): 151-172.
- February 18: theories III: indeterminacy
- listening/score reading:
- John Cage Williams Mix [no score]
- John Cage Theater Piece [score on e-reserve; no recording]
- John Cage 27'10.554" for a percussionist
- reading:
- James Pritchett, "Throwing Sound Into Silence (1951-56)" and "Indeterminacy (1957-1961)," in The Music of John Cage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993): 74-137.
- February 25: theories IV: integral serialism
- listening/score reading:
- Milton Babbitt Philomel [no score]
- Milton Babbitt Reflections
- Karlheinz Stockhausen Plus-Minus [no recording]
- reading:
- Babbitt, Milton. "Twelve-Tone Rhythmic Structure and the Electronic Medium", in The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), pp. 109-140.
- Hollander, John. "Notes on the Text of Philomel." Perspectives of New Music 6/1 (1967), pp. 134-41.
- March 3: theories V: stochastics
- listening/score reading:
- Iannis Xenakis Atrées
- Iannis Xenakis Akrata
- Iannis Xenakis Herma
- reading:
- Xenakis, Iannis. "Free Stochastic Music" and "Symbolic Music", in Formalized Music (Stuyvesant: Pendragon, 1992), pp. 131-177.
- March 10: theories VI: spectralism
- listening/score reading:
- Jonathan Harvey Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco [no score]
- Gerard Grisey Vortex Temporum
- Kaija Saariaho Pres
- reading:
- Julian Anderson, "A Provisional History of Spectral Music," Contemporary Music Review 19/2, pp. 7-22.
- Joshua Fineberg, "Guide to the Basic Concepts and Techniques of Spectral Music," Contemporary Music Review 19/2, pp. 81-113.
- Gerard Grisey, "Did You Say Spectral?" Contemporary Music Review 19/3, pp. 1-3.
- Damien Pousset, "The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel, and Marc-André Dálbavie - Stile Concertato, Stile Concitato, Stile Rappresentativo," Contemporary Music Review 19/3, pp. 67-110.
- Tristan Murail, "After-thoughts," Contemporary Music Review 19/3 (2000): 5-9.
- March 17: no class meeting (Spring Break)
- March 24: investigations I: neoclassicism
- listening/score reading:
- Erik Satie Parade
- Igor Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
- March 31: investigations II: texture and sound-mass
- listening/score reading:
- James Dillon East 11th Street NY 10003
- György Ligeti Requiem
- Witold Lutoslawski String Quartet
- Witold Lutoslawski Third Symphony
- April 7: investigations III: timbre
- listening/score reading:
- Olivia Block Make the Land [no score]
- Kyle Bruckmann Exponential [no score]
- Helmut Lachenmann Pression
- April 14: investigations IV: extramusical reference
- listening/score reading:
- George Crumb Black Angels
- Francis Dhomont Points de fuite [no score]
- Sofia Gubaidulina Offertorium
- György Kurtág Kafka-Fragmente
- April 21: investigations V: improvisation
- listening/score reading:
- Pauline Oliveros Traces [no score]
- Anthony Braxton Composition #118A [intervallic] [no score]
- Abrams/Lewis/Mitchell Bound [no score]
- April 28: student presentations I
- May 5: student presentations II