Dr. Marianne R. Pfau                                                                            Fall 2009

Camino 173B, x4101, mpfau@sandiego.edu

T/Th 1:15-2:30, W 1:30-4:00pm

or by appointment

MUS 130-01

Music in Society

T/Th 2:30-3:50pm

Camino 153

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

In this course, we will examine the changing styles of classical music and their shifting meaning in society from the Middle Ages to the Present.  Primary emphasis is on listening and understanding the audio examples from the CD’s as evolving cultural expressions throughout the ages.  There will also be live concert  visits , CD reviews, and textbook reading.    

 

Part I: students will learn to listen to the musical elements that are common to all classical music, and develop a sense of how musical style is forged from these elements. Part II: We will survey the six style periods of Western music history, discuss representative composers and their works, and find out what contemporary philosophers, writers, visual artists, theorists, teachers, and composers themselves had to say about the music of their times in order to ascertain the meaning music had in its respective society.

 

                                                                  MATERIALS

 

Text/CDs:         Craig Wright, Listening to Music, 5th ed. Thomson *  Schirmer (2009);

                        with accompanying CD Set

 

Review CD:      ♫ Telemann: Der getreue Music-Meister, Hamburg: virtilia 2007 (choose one)             (www.toutes-suites.com, also on CD-Baby and i-tunes); or

♫ J.M. Muller: 12 Sonates pour un Hautbois de concert…, Leipzig: genuin 2008 (www.genuin.de). 

♫ Sebastian Bodinus. 6 Trios for Two Hautbois and BC, Leipzig: genuin 2009 (www.genuin.de)

 

All CDs available at the USD bookstore

 

Live Concerts: Organ Recital, Oct 9, 8pm, Founders Chapel;

Two more classical concerts of your choice, on or off campus (www.sandiego.edu/music).

 

                                              REQUIREMENTS (subject to change)

 

How to study for this class: As a study routine for this course, it is best to do the assigned readings/listenings once before each class so that you can participate actively in discussions, and to do your in-depth reviewing of the same material right again after class, or the next day. Delays in listening and reading will make the listening portion of the course much more difficult than it is designed to be.

 

Concerts (5% each): For credit for this class, you need to attend 3 classical concerts during the semester. The organ concert in October, listed above, is mandatory.  The other two you may select from the USD Concert Calendar Fall 2009,  or visit off-campus concert (for listings, see www.reader.com)

 

USD concerts are $6 to $10 with USD student ID, and are available at the door 15 minutes prior to each concert.  Make sure to sign the Attendance Stub at the end of each concert, and hand it to the usher. I will receive the stub as proof of your attendance from the usher. 

 

CD-Review (15%) You may choose one of the three CDs listed above for your review. The review entails your own 2-page (double spaced) description of the music (you may choose 5 tracks), based on your listening.  The task is to apply the terms and musical/historical concepts you learned in class to your selections. Each CD has a booklet with a description of the music and style.  To read this will be helpful for your own listening description.

 

CD Review due on Dec 3 (no class) by email:

Please name you document: your last name.02.CDrev.doc

Ex: “pfau.01.CDrev.doc”

and send to mpfau@sandiego.edu

 

 

Exams (20% each): All exams involve listening, identification of the musical works, terms and definitions.  No make-up exams will be given. If you miss an exam for any reason but a documented medical emergency, you loose the points.  Late work will earn only partial credit.

 

Participation (10%):  More than 3 absences from class will result in a final grade lower than an A.  Your active participation is encouraged.  The more you listen to the assigned materials outside class (every day), and the more familiar you become with the classical sound, the better you will be able to contribute to the class.

 

 

GRADES (subject to change)

 

3 Exams 20% each                    60%                 100-93 = A, 92-90 = A-

3 Concert Attendances5% each 15%                 89‑87 = B+, 86‑83 = B, 82‑80 = B‑

1 CD review                             15%                 79‑77 = C+, 76‑73 = C, 72‑70 = C‑

(Telemann, Muller or Bodinus)                           69-67 = D+, 66-63 = D, 62-60 = D-

Participation                              10%                 below 59 = F

           

Total                                         100%               

 

Course Preview

 

Each day we will discuss a number of classical works  from your book and CD-set. You will find listening guides for them all in your book. These we will use in class, so please bring your book to every class session. 

 

Please come to class by having listened once on your own to the works listed for each lecture. After every class session, plan to listen to each piece repeatedly until you know each one well and can identify it by its sound (c. 5-8 times for each piece).

 

It is best to make yourself a list of all pieces, adding them as we discuss them in class.  Then use this list to learn your pieces each week.  This will be a good way to prepare for your exams.

 

SCHEDULE

(subject to change, per announcement in class)

 

 

Part I: Listening and the Musical Vocabulary

Weeks 1-3: Sept. 3-17

ch. 1-6

 

Week 4: Sept. 24

First Exam on ch. 1-6

 

Part II:  Composers and Works in Western Music History

           

Week 5: Sept. 29 and Oct 1

Early Style Periods in Music History, ch. 7,

Later Style Periods, ch. 7

 

Week 6: Oct 6 and 8

Medieval Music, ch. 8

Renaissance Music, ch. 9

Baroque organ music

First concert: Oct. 9, 8pm, Founders Chapel (Organ Recital)

 

Week 7: Oct 13 and 15

Early and Mid Baroque Music, ch. 10, 11, 12

                        Late Baroque Music, ch. 13, 14

 

Week 8: Oct. 20 and 22

Review of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Music

Mid-term Exam on ch. 7-14

 

Week 9: Oct 27 and 29

Classical Style, Composers, Forms, ch. 15, 16

Classical Forms and Genres, ch. 17

 

Week 10: Nov 3 and 5

Classical Forms and Genres, ch. 18, 19

Classical Forms and Genres, ch. 20

 

Week 11: Nov 10 and 12

The Bridge to Romanticism: Beethoven, ch. 21

Review of Classical Forms and Genres

 

Week 12: Nov 17 and 19

                        Exam on ch. 15-22

Romanticism, ch. 22

Week 13: Nov 24

                        The Early Romantics, ch. 23-25

 

Week 14: Dec 1 (class at 10:45-12:05) and Dec 3 (no class)  

                       

                        Romantic Opera, ch. 26

                       

CD Review due on Dec 3 by email:

Please name you document: your last name.02.CDrev.doc

Ex: “pfau.01.CDrev.doc”

and send to mpfau@sandiego.edu

                       

Week 15: Dec 8 and 10 (class at 10:45-12:05 on Dec 10)

                        Late Romanticism, ch. 27

                        The Twentieth Century, ch. 28 and 29

                       

Final:   Dec 17, 11-1pm, on Romantic and Twentieth Century Music History, ch. 22-29