Music 411 Assignments

Music 411: Assignments

The assignments are listed in reverse chronological order
(newest assignment on top) .
Abbreviations: A = Anthology of Post-Tonal Music; R-F = Understanding Post-Tonal Music (text)

Due Thursday, 12/6:
- Prepare for class discussion of The Beatles, Abbey Road, Side Two

Due Tuesday, 12/4:
- Listen to Part, Cantus (A 194-198); listen to Dobrian, Unnatural Selection.
- Read R-F 334-337.

Due Thursday, 11/29:
- Listen to Reich, Violin Phase (A 174-181); and Andriessen, De Staat (A 182-193).
- Read R-F 321-334.

Due Tuesday, 11/27:
- Listen to Grisey, Partiels and Saariaho, Sept Papillons.

Due Thursday, 11/15:
- Listen to Berio, Sinfonia (A 158-171).
- Read R-F 309-318

Due Thursday, 11/8:
- Listen to Varese, Poeme Electronique; Stockhausen, Gesang der Junglinge.

Due Tuesday, 11/6:
- Read R-F 292-297.
- Listen to Ligeti, Ramifications (A 116-139) and Varese Hyperprism.

Due Thursday, 11/1
- Find and listen to a recording of Cage's 4'33"

Due Tuesday, 10/30:
- Listen to Coleman, "Free Jazz" and Hancock, "Quasar."
- How does this music compare to Cage's Winter Music, Lutosloawski's Jeux venitiens, and/or other improvised music with which you are familiar?

Due Thursday, 10/25:
- Listen to at least a 15-minute block of Stimmung, then re-read R-F 275-276 and be prepared to discuss the issues raised.
- Read R-F 280-291.
- Listen to Cage, Winter Music (A 111) and Lutoslawski, Jeux venitiens (A 112-115).

Due Tuesday, 10/23:
- Read R-F 253-264 and 271-276.
- Listen to Messiaen, Turangalila Symphony, Introduction (A 84-102) and Stockhausen, Stimmung, excerpts (A 108-110).

Due Thursday, 10/18:
- Read R-F 245-253 and 264-271.
- Listen to Bartok, Change of Time and Dance in Bulgarian Rhythm #1; Carter, String Quartet #1 (A 103-107).

Due Tuesday, 10/16:
- Study for Quiz 1

Due Thursday, 10/11:
- Read R-F 182-195.
- Listen to Webern, Piano Variations, II (A 61) and Schoenberg, Klavierstück, Op. 33a (A 62-66).

Due Thursday, 10/4:
- Read R-F 164-178 (12-tone music).
- Listen to Dallapiccola, "Quartina" and "Contrapuntus Secundus" (A 57-58).
- Individual assignments for class discussion:
    Building a Row. Riley: discuss the main features of the row in Ex. 7.2a and 7.2b, p. 163; Chandler: discuss the main features of the row in Ex. 7.4, p. 165; Sam: discuss the main features of the row in Ex. 7.5, p. 166; J.Jay: discuss the main features of the row in Ex. 7.6, p. 167 (see also Ex. 8.4, p. 186).
    Building a Twelve-Tone Matrix. Mitchell: discuss the construction of a matrix, p. 169-170.
    Identifying Row Forms without a Matrix. Leo: demonstrate how to ID the forms from Dallapiccolla's row by using the AIS, p. 171-172; Jamisen: go through the "exercise" beginning with the last paragraph on p. 172 (ID row forms from Schoenberg's row in Ex. 7.11, p. 173).
    Dallapiccola, "Contrapunctus Secundus" analysis (Anthology, p. 57). Kristina: discuss the musical surface, p. 174; Carolyne: discuss identification of row forms, p. 174-175.
    Time permitting, discuss the Dallapiccola "Quartina" (Anthology, p. 58). J.Jay: discuss the row forms (p. 177); Leo: discuss invariance (p. 178).

Due Tuesday, 10/2:
- Listen to Cowell, "Aeolian Harp" and "The Banshee."
- Read R-F 159-164 (introduction to 12-tone music).

Due Thursday, 9/27:
- Read R-F 129-142. Be prepared to discuss these analyses.
- Listen to Ives, "The Things Our Fathers Loved," and "The Cage," both from 114 Songs (A50-52).
- Read R-F 145-151 (Ives).

Due Tuesday, 9/25:
- Read R-F 125 ("What were the composer's intentions") and 126 ("Application and class discussion") and be prepared to discuss the issues raised.
- Listen to Stravinsky, Agnus Dei, from Mass (A 38-41) and Hindemith, Interlude in G, from Ludus tonalis (A 42).

Due Thursday, 9/20:
- Continue discussion of Webern (A 31-32).
- Be prepared to discuss the following questions (try to put into your own words, without looking in the text): (1) How is pitch coherence achieved in the Webern piece? (2) How does pitch structure contribute to an understanding of the form of this piece?
- Listen to Schoenberg: "Angst und Hoffen" (A 33-35). Begin general discussion of the piece (Expressionism, music/text relationship, basic formal organization.)
- Read R-F 120-126.
- Further discussion of Schoenberg (motives and collections, pc set analysis).

Due Tuesday, 9/18:
- Continue discussion of Webern (A 31-32).
- Be prepared to discuss the following questions (try to put into your own words, without looking in the text): (1) How is pitch coherence achieved in the Webern piece? (2) How does pitch structure contribute to an understanding of the form of this piece?
- Listen to Schoenberg: "Angst und Hoffen" (A 33-35). Begin general discussion of the piece (Expressionism, music/text relationship, basic formal organization.)

Due Thursday, 9/13:
- Read R-F 105-120.
- For the Webern (A 31-32), identify all the trichords in m. 1-8, as well the hexachords in m. 4 and the septachords in m. 7. See if you can provide both the normal order and the prime form without looking at the text.

Due Tuesday, 9/11:
- Study R-F 58-61 (Song of the Harvest analysis). Be prepared to answer questions about this material.
- Read R-F 69-78; 82-89: Introduction to Pitch-Class Set Theory. (78-82 are optional; just for those who are really into this stuff!)
- Listen to Webern: Five Movements for String Quartet, op, 5, III (A 31-32).

Due Thursday, 9/6:
- Be prepared to summarize the issues opened by Debussy and Stravinsky and the solutions offered by these two composers. Focus on: form and formal growth; pitch organization/pitch-class collections; melodic/motivic elements and coherence; harmony and texture; rhythm and meter; tonality and centricity.
- Listen to Bartok: Song of the Harvest (A 23).
- Read R-F 37-58: Pitch Centricity and Symmetry.

Due Tuesday, 9/4:
- Listen to "Introduction to Part I" from The Rite of Spring (A 12-22).
- Read R-F 24-32.
- Individual presentations on this material: Jamisen, Riley: Form and Formal Growth (24-26); Chandler, Kristina: Melodic and Motivic Releationships (26-28); Carolyne, J.Jay: Tonality and Pitch Centricity (28-29); Leo: Review of Rhythmic and Metric Concepts (30); Sam, Mitchell: Rhythm and Meter (29-32).

Due Thursday, 8/30.
- Study R-F 1-23.
- Listen to Debussy: La cathédrale engloutie (A 1-5). Be prepared to discuss the piece in class.