Stern College, Yeshiva University
                                    Spring 2003

The Sense of Music                                                 MUS 1111A
Dr. David Glaser                                                Office: Room 410
    Office hours: Tuesdays 3:00 till 4:00 p.m., and by appointment
                            e-mail: dglaser@attglobal.net

COURSE OUTLINE: 

This course is an examination of Western art music.  The aim is to
develop some of the tools necessary for intelligent and critical listening.
This will help enable you to perceive the events and internal relationships
in a musical work.  There are no tricks to achieving this goal; an awareness
of the ways in which musical ideas unfold can only be attained through
the practice of active and conscious listening.  No assumption of musical
literacy is made.  However, enough of the mechanics of music notation
will be taught over the course of the semester so that you will be able
to roughly follow a notated melody.  We will build a vocabulary of musical
terms as we proceed.  All terminology and its appropriate application
is presented, defined and discussed in class. You are expected to use
your growing musical vocabulary in our class discussions. In addition
to careful and attentive listening then next most important activity is
asking questions. NEVER HESITATE to request clarification about something
that you don’t understand because if you don’t understand it several of your
colleagues are probably also confused.  Do us all a favor, ask the question.

We will study representative works of Western art music drawn from several
periods.  Emphasis will be placed on understanding the elements of musical
organization, on gaining some experience with the variety of compositional
procedures and formal designs, and on a determination of æsthetic criteria.
These pieces are our primary texts. Mindful, critical listening is essential
in order to understand them. Rather than being a series of lectures,
the course is conducted more as a lab or workshop.  Thus attendance and
participation are essential.  Both of these will be taken into account when
determining grades.  In addition to the class work there are two assignments
that you must do on your own:

CONCERT ATTENDANCE AND REPORT:

Students must attend one concert approved by the instructor. If you don’t
get my approval, the assignment will not count toward your grade. 
Choose a concert on your own from the many venues in New York.  Carnegie
Hall, Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y all have excellent series, and will
send you season calendars.  They also have websites where you can get
schedules and program information. Most venues offer student discounts,
but the discount policy differs from place to place, so check before you go,
and don’t forget to bring your valid student ID.  The New York Times
(Sunday), The New Yorker, Time Out New York and New York Magazine also
list concerts for the coming week. The experience of listening to live music
is far different from hearing recordings, and will help you develop your
listening skills.  Pick a program that features orchestral music.  Opera, ballet
and any other staged works will not be permitted. 

There will be a one page written assignment about the concert.  See below
for details. 

TERM PAPER:

See below.

GRADING:

The midterm and final are essay-based.  Class attendance is essential.
Unexcused absences shall lower your grade by 3% for each unexcused
absence over three, to a maximum of 12%.  Weddings will not be accepted
as an excuse for missing assignments or exams.  Course grades will be
determined by weighing grades in the following categories:

The instructor reserves the right to increase a final grade based on overall
improvement during the course of the semester.

SCHEDULE AND TOPICS

REQUIRED LISTENINGS:

The following are required listenings.  The works assigned are some of those
that a well-educated listener would be expected to know. This aspect of
the course will help you develop the habit of repeated and focused listening
that will sensitize you to the experience and gain the understanding that
leads to a deep and rich involvement with music.

You should coordinate your listenings to the class schedule.  The listenings
for “Rudiments” and “Simple Forms” should be attended to before the
midterm.  After the midterm, start listening to the pieces listed in “Complex
Forms and Processes.”  Your recall of these pieces will be tested during the
“identification quiz” component of the course. 

Most, but not all of the following selections are at the reserve desk.  The
rest are in the media room. 

RECOMMENDED REFERENCE:

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES:

The purpose of this assignment is the further development of the analytical
skills that we are working on in class.  Our concern in this course is with
seeing the way in which music is put together; the manner in which
specifically musical motives are transformed in a work, and how these
transformations affect the shape of a musical movement. During the class
we have been dealing largely with works of the Classical period.  There are
many other ways of handling musical materials and this assignment is
designed to see your approach to the unfamiliar. 

Choose one of the pieces listed below and submit a listening analysis of it.

Analyze the piece for the basic melodic, harmonic and rhythmic materials
and the way in which they are used to structure the piece. A chronological
description of the events of the piece should be part of the paper.  You
must include a comparison of the way in which this piece works relative to
the general procedures we have been listening to.  Proper spelling, correct
grammar and clarity are essential.  If the work is sloppy or careless it will be
graded accordingly. 

The works to choose from are grouped according to difficulty.  Listen to
passages from each of the pieces on the list and choose the one you have
an affinity for.  If you choose a relatively simple piece, I will expect much
more detail than if you elect to try your hand (ear?) at a hard work.  If you
decide to opt for one of the works in category II you will automatically get
20 points.  Choose a piece from group III and you will get 35 points just for
making the effort.  In other words, you will be rewarded for stretching
yourself and attempting something more challenging. 

Length: Five pages.

I-Easier: (no extra points)

II-Somewhat challenging: (20 points)

III-Really hard: (35 points)

Alternatively, you may choose to analyze a painting if you wish.  As the
general idea of development may be applied in other areas as well, it is
possible to look at a work of visual art and discuss the use of motives.  In
a paper that deals with a visual work you must discuss the general formal
divisions of the piece, the development of particular shapes and the way in
which color is used to highlight certain elements or relate various portions of
the work to each other.  I do not want any historical information, anecdotes
about or interpretations of the work under discussion.  This is not a research
paper, it is your analysis of the structure of the piece.  Do not try to relate
the work to music, nor should you use music terminology in the paper. 

SUGGESTIONS:  These are relevant to the painting project.  Perhaps most
important is that you choose a work that has a strong and clear basic form.
This means that, with few exceptions, you should avoid the work of minor
Impressionists and all Surrealists.  You will most likely find works of the
Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classicists and Post-Impressionists the easiest
to deal with.  As a first step look at general survey texts, the classic being
H.W. Janson’s History of Art, but there are many others as well.

Painters I would suggest you look at include, but are not limited to:
Bonheur, Bonnard, Bruegel, Caravaggio, Cassatt, Cezanne, Chardin, Degas,
Durer, El Greco, Gaugin, Goya, Hopper, Manet, Monet, Sanredaam, Seurat,
Velazquez, Vermeer to name but a few.

Painters to avoid (among many others) are Boucher, Chagall, Dali, Escher,
Fragonard, Renoir and Wyeth. 

Length: Five pages.  Should you find it impossible to meet the page limit
with one painting, you may do the following; Choose one representational
painting and one abstract painting.  Write a two page analysis of each. 
Then write a one page comparison of your analyses of the works.  How did
you write about the abstract painting?  Did it differ from the way you
analyzed the painting that was a representation of objects from the real
world? Do not compare the works to each other, compare your analyses. 

You must consult with me on this project and get approval before
beginning your work.

FORMAT:  One inch margins on the left, right, top and bottom.  Use a
standard font, nothing fancy and do not use any font larger than 12 points.
All pages should be double-spaced.  Any paper that deviates from this
will not be read or graded.

CONCERT REPORT:

A one-page paper is expected following your attendance at a concert.  All
you should write about are your expectations and whether or not they were
realized.  Do not, under any circumstances, tell me about how much
you enjoyed the experience and how soon you want to go back.

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