FORMAL ANALYSIS AND INTRODUCTION TO 20th-CENTURY TECHNIQUES
FORMAL ANALYSIS AND INTRODUCTION TO 20th-CENTURY TECHNIQUES
MUSIC 302 – FORMAL ANALYSIS AND
INTRODUCTION TO 20th-CENTURY TECHNIQUES
Instructor: Huck Hodge | email: hhodge@uw.edu
TA: Daniel Webbon | email: danielwebbon@gmail.com
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
What is formal analysis and how is it different from a simple description of a piece of music? When we describe a piece of music we may identify its melodic and harmonic content, its meter, its key areas. However, analysis is something much richer than this. It is a practice by which we uncover deep relationships between these structures and examine how they dramatize the form, how they may heighten the expressive quality of the work.
In this course, we will often examine what composers do instead of the form as we know it from our textbooks. We will look at the ways that seemingly accidental events on the surface of the music spin out in a sort of ripple effect to influence the global structure, and the ways that large-scale relationships may be reflected in the moment-to-moment action of the music.
In addition, we will examine the techniques that composers used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to expand the expressive and formal possibilities of musical art.
EVALUATION
- Exercises and Analysis [45%] – Students will regularly be assigned specific exercises and analysis activities either from the textbook or the instructor in preparation for the lectures.
- Quizzes [10%] – At various points in the quarter, quizzes will be given to evaluate comprehension and acquisition of specific skills and concepts. Listening identification of repertoire will also be assessed.
- Midterm [20%] A 6-page analytical paper on a work from the 18th through early 20th centuries. You may include musical excerpts, but you must have at least four pages of text. Include a 1-page formal diagram for a total of 6 pages.
- Final Project [25%] – A composition of roughly 3-5 minutes duration. Students may work in groups of 2 – 4 people, and all will be involved in the composition and performance of their pieces. The pieces must use many of the techniques covered in the second half of the course:
Chordal planing
Extended tertian harmonies
Pandiatonicism
Polytonality
Irregular rhythms and meters
Whole-tone, octatonic and various pentatonic scale collections
Polymeter or polytempo
Nonserial atonality
Each student is expected to do his/her own original work. Any plagiarism or other academic dishonesty will result in a grade of F for the course.
The scale for converting percentages to grade point scores can be found here.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Regular attendance is mandatory. Good attendance behavior reflects a positive learning attitude that is beneficial for each individual and the entire class. Students who cannot attend class regularly and promptly will jeopardize their success in the class and are therefore advised not to take the course.
If class is missed, it is the responsibility of the student to obtain any missed information from others class members first, and then the instructor if necessary. Missed classes will not alter the due date for assignments, tests, and other class responsibilities. However, in the event of extended illness, every effort will be made to assist the student in completing the required course work whenever possible if it is determined feasible to do so.
Missed assignments and tests cannot be made up unless the student receives prior instructor approval or sufficient documentation is presented that verifies a substantial reason (e.g., emergency, extended illness, etc.).
COURSE SCHEDULE
The individual course sessions will be devoted to in-depth analysis and commentary on full pieces drawn from the course packet. YOU MUST BRING THESE SCORES TO EVERY CLASS SESSION. The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the course schedule and to amend the assigned homework at any time. In addition, students may be required to turn in exercises done in class.
FORMAL ANALYSIS OF TONAL MUSIC
Session 1 [3/28]: Ternary Forms
Repertoire: Mozart C minor String Quintet, Mvmt III
Read: Laitz, Chapter 25
Session 2 [3/30]: Ternary Forms
Repertoire: Beethoven, Symphony #9 Mvmt II
Read: Laitz, Chapter 25
Session 3 [4/4]: Ternary Forms
Repertoire: Beethoven, Symphony #9 Mvmt II
Read: Laitz, Chapter 26
Session 4 [4/6]: Sonata Form
Repertoire: Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304
Read: Laitz, Chapter 26
HW: one Assignment chosen from 25.1 - 25.3 Due
Session 5 [4/11]: Sonata Form
Repertoire: Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304
Read: Laitz, Chapter 26
Session 6 [4/13]: Fugue and Other Contrapuntal Genres
Repertoire: Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II: Fugue in C minor
Canons from A Musical Offering
HW: one Assignment chosen from 27.1 - 27.4 Due
Session 7 [4/18]: Fugue and Other Contrapuntal Genres
Repertoire: Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II: Fugue in C minor
Canons from A Musical Offering
HW: Handout
Session 8 [4/20]: Musical Structure in Songs
Repertoire: Schubert, Der Erlkönig
HW: Handout
Session 9 [4/25]: Musical Structure in Songs
Repertoire: Schubert, Der Erlkönig
Brahms, O Tod from Vier ernste Gesänge
Read: Chapter 31
HW: Handout
PRELUDE TO 20TH-CENTURY HARMONY
Session 10 [4/27]: At Tonality’s Edge (a postlude)
Repertoire: Wagner, Prelude to Tristan und Isolde, Liszt, Nuages Gris
Read: Chapter 31
HW: one Exercise chosen from Assignment 31.4 Due
Session 11 [5/2]: At Tonality’s Edge (a prelude)
Repertoire: Gesualdo, Moro Lasso, Weelkes, O Care Thou Wilt Dispatch Me
Read: Chapter 31
- Midterm Paper Due —
Session 12 [5/4]: Pentatonic and Whole-Tone Collections | New Approaches to Voice-Leading
Repertoire: Debussy, The Sunken Cathedral
Read: Kostka, Chapter 2
HW: Kostka: Ch 2: A5 (notate scales and mark intervals), B5 Due
Session 13 [5/9]: Pentatonic and Whole-Tone Collections | New Approaches to Voice-Leading
Repertoire: Debussy, The Sunken Cathedral
Read: Kostka, Chapter 3
HW: Kostka: Ch 3: A2, A3 Due
THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Session 12 [5/11]: Stravinsky | Ballet and the New Medium of Film
Repertoire: Petruschka: At the Shrovetide Fair
Read: Kostka, Chapter 4
Session 13 [5/16]: Stravinsky | Ballet and the New Medium of Film
Repertoire: Petruschka: At the Shrovetide Fair | Sacre du Printemps (I-II)
Read: Kostka, Chapter 4
HW: Kostka, Ch 4 A2, B2 Due
Session 14 [5/18]: Stravinsky | Non-Developmental Form
Repertoire: Sacre du Printemps (I-II)
Read: Kostka, Chapter 5
Stein
HW: Kostka, Ch 5 B7 Due
Session 15 [5/23]: Bartok | Form Reconsidered
Repertoire: Bartok, Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste (I)
Read: Kostka, Chapter 6 (to page 129)
HW: Kostka, Ch 6 B5, C2 Due
Session 16 [5/25]: Bartok | Form Reconsidered
Repertoire: Bartok, Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste (I)
Read: Kostka, Chapter 7
HW (Due on 5/30): Kostka, Ch 7 A (choose one piece to analyze)
Session 19 [5/30]: Ives | Collage and Polytempo
Repertoire: The Unanswered Question
HW: Kostka, Ch 7 A Due
Session 20 [6/1]: Final Project Workshop
Course Summary:
This course content is offered under a Public Domain license. Content in this course can be considered under this license unless otherwise noted.