Music 150C
[Course #66777]
Advanced Theory, Literature, and Musicianship:
Tonal COUNTERPOINT IN 18th-century WESTERN ART MUSIC AND BEYOND
UC Santa Cruz
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Meeting in Music Center 138
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:30 AM to 10:40 AM
Prerequisites: MUS 30B
Instructor: Ben Leeds Carson
Office: Music Center 148
Office hours: Mondays 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, and Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 pm
or by appointment. Don’t be shy!
Phone: x9-5581
Write to me: blc at ucsc dot edu
Teaching Assistants:
Course Description: This course introduces compositional practices of the Baroque era of Western Art Music, with special emphasis on counterpoint and imitation. We will develop skills in the composition of tonal melody and counterpoint voices (bass initially, and then a third and fourth voice) small-scale development; there will also be some application of the principles of counterpoint to later musical genres. Regular assignments will include composition exercises, as well as the analysis of short compositions or excerpts in a variety of 18th-century Western Art Musics. Each student will complete three small composition projects (a binary form in the style of a dance suite, a two-part invention, and a three-part canon). The final project will undertake all principles in a fully formed prelude and three-part fugue.
Objectives:
1. Understand the art of 18th-century melodic and harmonic writing in detail.
2. Proficiency in the advanced challenges of musicianship in the tonal language.
3. Build on your foundational knowledge of basic tonal harmony, and expand it to include principles of rhythmic clarity, development, and imitation.
4. Gain proficiency in contrapuntal writing, and complete an effective Prelude and Fugue project
Course Texts:
[Excerpts only, within the requirements of fair-use copyright law]
Gauldin, Robert. A Practical Approach to Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1995.
Kennan, Kent. Counterpoint Based on Eighteenth-Century Practice. Englewd: Prentice Hall, 1959.
Koss, Ellis. Musical Form. Palo Alto: Houghton Mifflin, 1976.
Reicha, Anton. Treatise on Melody [1803, 1848]. Translated by Peter Landley. Hillsdale: Pendragon Press, 2000.
Schoenberg, Arnold. Fundamentals of Music Composition [1948]. Edited by Gerald Strang. London: Faber and Faber, 1967.
Recommended Texts:
Burkhardt, Charles. Anthology for Musical Analysis. Fifth (or Sixth) Edition. Belmont: Schirmer, 2004.
[ Course Calendar ]
Course Credit and Grading:
Weekly exercises, including exercises and analysis: 18% [180 points]
In-class work, including quizzes, and getting here on time*: 12% [120 points]
Large Projects: 25% [50+50+50+100]
Musicianship Lab*: 35%
Final Exam: 10% [100 points]
(100% = 1000 points)
*If you are absent, without an advance arrangement, from a total of 5 meetings, including musicianship labs, or a total of 3 musicianship labs, then you will not earn a passing grade in the course.
More about grading:
My late-assignments policy is that students with late work should make an appointment to see me outside of class, and bring whatever “catch up” work they have to the appointment. (Or if you turn it in late, I keep it on a pile next to my piano.) In that meeting, I’ll do my best to get you back on track for the big projects, and when the big project comes in, I use the late work in combination with the big project as a basis for deciding what kind of back-credit to give you in lieu of “zeros.”
The advantage is that with good work on major projects, you can get C+/B- averages on homework that you did late. The disadvantage is that the feedback you get won’t be as thorough, ongoing, or cumulative, and you won’t have written comments from me, to refer back to, as you’re working on assignments in the next phase of the course. The disadvantage is very large — learning a style is like learning a language, and you can’t do it by “catching up” at the last minute.
One last note about grading: for me, grades are a reflection of what you accomplish, not of who you are. In other words, high grades are not necessarily given to ‘deserving students’, but rather to deserving accomplishments. Low grades are the same – in no way do they reflect my opinion of you or your potential. If you are ever uncertain about why I’ve given any particular assessment, please come to me with questions. I’ll be happy that you want to know more about what was expected in that assignment. I want this class to be, as much as possible, an exchange of questions and ideas. The written evaluations that will supplement your grade at the end of the quarter are only a small part of that conversation.
MORE ABOUT THE COURSE
To get the most out of this course, consider:
Being there: Regardless of any reason for absence, students are responsible for compensating whatever work they have missed when they are gone. Please let me know about absences that result from health conditions, family emergencies, or major transportation accidents, and so on. Other reasons – don’t feel the need to contact me with an apology, instead, just catch up and seek my help when you need it. In any case of absence, be sure to check with a classmate for information about what was discussed on that day, and get a clear sense of all new assignments.
Performance anxiety: In class, we’ll work on your skills and your musical literacy in a direct and conversational way. But I’m never interested in getting you to prove anything on the spot. Please consider our classroom conversation to be a type of “group practice” – we are working on this together, and students should help each other in a spirit of collaboration.
Deadlines: Please complete your assignments in clear hand-written notation, with a pencil, and get them in on time! Late assignments will be accepted but they will not receive full credit and I cannot guarantee that I will give them thorough comments.
Email: I love email! I reply to most emails religiously and with pleasure. Especially if you’re writing to me about the materials and the ideas that we discuss in class or in your assignments. But please don’t send email with explanations of your lateness on an assignment, or absence from class…those issues are better discussed in person.
LISTENING:
(1) Domenico Scarlatti
Selections: Virginia Black, harpsichord
(2) Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
Book II Suite I in D minor: John Metz, harpsichord
(3) Andre Campra “Les ages” (Opera Ballet): ensemble Bal interrompu
Bach collections for weeks 1 and 2
(1) Bourrées I and II (from cello suite no. 3, BWV 1009): John Williams, guitar
(2) Two-part Inventions
(#4 in D minor, #8 in F major
#12 in A major, #14 in B-flat major):
Ton Koopman, harpsichord
(3) 4 canons from “A Musical Offering,” arranged by Neville Mariner:
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Selections for weeks 3 and 4
(1) Prelude and fugue in E minor, BWV 533: Nikolai Demidenko, piano
(2) Prelude and fugue in D major, BWV 532: Nikolai Demidenko, piano
(3) L’Art de la fugue, BWV 1080
Contrapunctus V and VI: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Contrapunctus V and VI: Charles Rosen, piano
(4) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Prelude and Fugue 2 in C minor (BWV 847):
Ralph Kirkpatrick, clavichord
Selections for weeks 5 and 6
(1) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Prelude and Fugue 2 in C minor (BWV 847):
Glenn Gould, piano
(2) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Prelude and Fugue 6 in D minor (BWV 851):
Jeno Jandó, piano
(3) Well-tempered clavier, part 2, Prelude 20 in A minor (BWV 889):
Ralph Kirkpatrick, clavichord
(4) Well-tempered clavier, part 2, Prelude 11 in F major (BWV 880):
David Ng-Quinn, piano
Selections for weeks 7 and 8
(1) Fuga a 6 voci, in the arrangement for orchestra by Anton Webern:
Berliner Philharmoniker
(2) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Prelude 1 in C major (BWV 846):
Ralph Kirkpatrick, clavichord
(3) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Fugue 11 in F major (BWV 856):
Glenn Gould, piano
(4) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Prelude and Fugue 16 in G minor (BWV 861):
Jeno Jandó, piano
Selections for weeks 9 and 10
(1) Well-tempered clavier, part 1, Fugue 21 in B flat major (BWV 866):
Colin Tilney, clavichord
(2) Well-tempered clavier, part 2, Prelude and Fugue 9 in E major (BWV 878):
Ralph Kirkpatrick, clavichord
Colin Tilney, harpsichord
Glenn Gould, piano
(3) L’Art de la fugue, BWV 1080
Contrapunctus VII: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Contrapunctus VII: Charles Rosen, piano