The Art of Listening

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1 The Art of Listening MUAR , Fall 2009 Adams Auditorium M-W-F 12:35-13:25 Instructor: Daniel Donnelly Strathcona Music Bldg. E-229 Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00-3:00 and Thursdays 3:30-4:30, or by appt. Teaching Assistants and Office Hours: A - Har Mimi Haddon (mimi.haddon@mail.mcgill.ca) Thursdays 10:00-11:00 in E-226 Hau - Par Ruth Phillips (ruth.phillips@mail.mcgill.ca) Mondays 11:00-12:00 in E-226 Pat - Z Pascale Roy (pascale.roy@mail.mcgill.ca) Fridays 10:00-11:00 in E-229 Course Objectives This course is designed to equip students with skills to critically evaluate music of the Western Classical Tradition. It will introduce the appropriate historical, cultural, and æsthetic contexts for the works, as well as the listening techniques required to aurally identify important musical elements from diverse genres. To succeed in this course it is not necessary to read music or have any previous musical instruction, but it is crucial that students read, listen, and attend lecture in order to have adequate preparation for exams. There is no prerequisite for this course. Required Text Kerman, Joseph, and Gary Tomlinson. Listen, 6 th ed. (Bedford, 2008) AND the accompanying 6 CD set. Copies of the textbook and the CD set are on reserve in the Marvin Duchow Music Library (4 th Floor Reserve Desk). X-tra Listening Some pieces assigned for the course will not be on the Listen 6 CD set because they are not discussed in the textbook. Recordings of these pieces will be provided to you on WebCT and on a special compilation disc on reserve in the Marvin Duchow Music Library. ou may also consult other recordings of these pieces, which have been detailed on the X-tra listening table.

2 Required Work and Evaluation Assignment Due Date Percent of Grade Midterm Exam I 5 October 20% Concert Report I 14 October 10% Midterm Exam II 4 November 20% Concert Report II 23 November 15% Final Exam (Cumulative) Date TBA 35% McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures. (see for more information) Attendance: ou are expected to attend all class lectures. Questions on the exams will be based on the content of the lectures, which include more information than the textbook. If you miss a class, please get the lecture notes from a classmate. Do not expect me or your TAs to fill you in on missed materials during our office hours. Please arrive on time and turn off cell phones. Please also avoid using Facebook and outube during class, or at least don't make it obvious. Reading and Listening Assignments: The Course Outline below contains the reading and listening assignments for the whole term. The listening assignments are given in the form (CD: Track number), which refers to the Listen 6 CD set. Where the CD number is given as X, please refer to the X-tra listening table. Reading assignments are given as the required page numbers in Listen. It is much better if you do your reading and listen to the pieces before we discuss them in class, as familiarity with the music will make it easier to follow the lecture. I will not have time to play all of the listening examples in their entirety during class time. Do use the given listening charts in the textbook, and listen actively question yourself constantly about what you're hearing, and try to keep in mind the terminology we've used to discuss it in class. Concert Reports: During the course of the semester, you must attend two (2) concerts of classical music (not Pop or Jazz these require different skillsets addressed in other McGill courses). ou may attend the concert at any time before the Concert Report is due. There are free concerts at the Schulich School of Music nearly every day; check the calendar online at < ou are also encouraged to explore Montréal's active music scene.

3 Exams: Midterm exams will contain only material from the previous unit. Exams will test your knowledge of key terms, musical style, historical and cultural context, and your ability to identify aurally the pieces we have studied in class. Questions will be drawn both from the textbook and from class lectures. The written portion of the Final Exam will be cumulative, but the listening will cover only the last unit of the course. The Final Exam schedule will be posted on Minerva. I will announce the date in class, but it is your responsibility to check the date and location and arrive on time with your McGill ID. Please contact the Student Affairs Office at least 5 days prior to the exam if you have a schedule conflict. Policy on Late Work and Make-ups Assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will be marked down 5% for every day they are late, unless an extension is arranged. Extensions will only be granted more than five (5) days before the assignment is due. Make-up exams will not be given without a valid doctor's note. No exceptions. It is your responsibility to contact me with your availability for such an exam. WebCT I will post handouts, X-tra listening files, and other important information on WebCT. ou may also use the My Grades function to follow your progress in the course. The discussion board will be open, if you want to discuss things with your peers. Please do not contact me via WebCT mail. I do not check it regularly, and may not respond promptly. Office Hours: Please feel free to drop by during my office hours, or those of your TAs. If you cannot make any of our scheduled office hours, we will try to accommodate you with an appointment. Please direct all s to the TA responsible for your part of the alphabet. If it is a question they cannot answer, they will forward it to me, and I will respond personally. Due to the size of the class, I will only respond to s forwarded to me by your TAs. We will all do our best to respond promptly, generally within 24 hours on weekdays. Be aware that we will likely not respond promptly to s sent after 5pm or over weekends and holidays.

4 Tentative Course Schedule Subject to change as conditions require Date Topic Listening Reading September Wed 2 What is Western Music? Concert Etiquette. Music to 1750: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque Fri 4 Plainchant & Devotion Recitation: Vere dignum (1:1) Antiphon: In paradisum (1:2) Mon 7 NO CLASS Labour Day Wed 9 Fri 11 Mon 14 Monophonic Song: Sacred & Secular Polyphony: Organum & Ars Nova Ars subtilior & The Contenence Angloise Hildegard: Columba aspexit (1:3) Ventadorn: La dousa votz (1:4) Pérotin: Alleluia. Diffusa est gratia (1:5) Machaut: Quant en moi (1:6) Cordier: Tout par compas (X:1) Dufay: Ave maris stella (1:7) Wed 16 The Cyclic Mass Josquin: Missa Pange lingua Kyrie (1:8) Gloria (1:9) Fri 18 The Madrigal Arcadelt: Il bianco e dolce cigno (X:2) Weelkes: As Vesta was... (1:12) Mon 21 Palestrina Saves Music Palestrina: Missa papæ Marcelli Gloria (1:11) Wed 23 Claudio Monteverdi & The Birth of Opera Monteverdi: Il lamento della ninfa (X:3-4) Monteverdi: Poppea Tornerai (1:16) Speranza tu mi vai (1:17) Fri 25 Music in England Purcell: Dido and Æneas Thy hand, Belinda! & When I am laid in earth (1:18) With drooping wings (1:19) Mon 28 The Baroque Concerto Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12 I: Spiritoso e non presto (1:24) II: Largo (1:25) III: Allegro (1:26) Wed 30 Two Contemporaries: J.S. Bach and G.F. Händel Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge Contrapunctus IV (2:6) Händel: Giulio Cesare ;

5 La giustizia (2:9) Fri 2 The Church Cantata Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn (2:12) Es war ein wunderlischer Krieg (2:13) Wir essen und leben wohl (2:14) October Mon 5 Midterm I Classical and Romantic: Wed 7 Form and Function: The Sonata Haydn: Keyboard Sonata No. 20 in Bb Maj I: Allegro (X:5) Fri 9 Opera buffa Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act I, scene iii. Ho Capito, signor, sì! (3:2) Alfin siam liberati (3:3) La ci darem la mano (3:4) Mon 12 NO CLASS Thanksgiving Holiday Wed 14 The Symphony I Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor I: Allegro con brio (3:5-13) II: Andante con moto (3:14-15) Fri 16 The Symphony II Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor III: Allegro [Scherzo] (3:16-17) IV: Allegro (3:18-19) Mon 19 The Lied Schubert: Erlkönig (3:21) Schumann: Diechterliebe Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (3:22) Wed 21 The Character Piece for Piano Chopin: Nocturne in F#, Op. 15, No. 2 (3:28) Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte Op. 19 No. 6: Venetianisches Gondellied (X:6) Fri 23 Program Music I Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique I: Reveries, Passions (X:7) II: A Ball (X:8) III: Scene in the Country (X:9) Mon 26 Program Music II Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique IV: March to the Scaffold (X:10) V: Dream of a Witches' Sabbath (4:2-8) ; 195; ; ; ; Wed 28 Italian Romantic Opera Verdi: Aida,Act IV, scene ii. (4:9-12) Fri 30 Wagnerian Musikdrama Wagner: Die Walküre, Act I, scene i. (4:13-18)

6 November Mon 2 Wed 4 The Romantic Concerto Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 (5:1-6) Midterm II The Twentieth Century November Fri 6 Musical Impressionism Debussy: Clouds (5: 15-20) ; Mon 9 Primitivism Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps I: The Adoration of the Earth (5: 21-27) Wed 11 The Second Viennese School Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire No. 8: Night (5:28) No. 18: The Moonfleck (5:29) Webern: Fünf Orchesterstücke No. 4 (6:11) Fri 13 NO CLASS (Bad Luck) ; Mon 16 Expressionist Opera Berg: Wozzeck, Act III, scenes iii-iv. (5:30-34) Wed 18 Looking back? Ravel: String quartet in F I: Moderato très doux (X:11) II: Assez vif Très rhythme (X:12) Fri 20 Music in America Ives: The Unanswered Question (6:1) Copland: Appalachian Spring (5:42-45) Mon 23 Folk Music Holst: 2 nd Suite in F for Military Band IV: Fantasia on the Dargason (X:13) Bartók: Music for Strings, Perc., and Celesta II: Allegro (6:2-8) Wed 25 Music in Soviet Russia Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67 [Mov'ts I-III optional] (X:14-16) IV: Allegretto (X:17) Fri 27 Electronic & Aleatory Music Varèse: Poème électronique (6:16) Cage: 4'33'' Mon 30 The Postwar Avant-Garde Ligeti: Lux æterna (6:12-15) Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (X:18) Wed 2 Minimalism Reich: Electric Counterpoint I: Fast (X:19) II: Slow (X:20) III: Fast (X:21) Thurs 3 Post-Minimalism Fujieda: Patterns of Plants The 2 nd Collection: Pattern V (X:22) The 5 th Collection: Pattern XVII (X:23) H.O. on WebCT 381

7 Table of X-tra Listening (Also available on WebCT) X Piece X-tra Reserve CD Recordings in Music Library On Naxos? 1 Cordier: Tout par compas 1 CD 2703; 2804; 4146 N 2 Arcadelt: Il bianco e dolce cigno 2 CD Monteverdi: Il lamento della ninfa 3-4 CD 21259; 21874; 13071; Haydn: Keyboard Sonata No I 5 CD 16208; Mendelssohn: Op. 19, No. 6 Venetianisches Gondellied 7-11 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Mov'ts I-IV 6 CD (tr 23); NA CD 284; 11926; 11682; Ravel: String Quartet in F 7-8 CD 1658; 3554; 14954; 2375; Holst: 2 nd Suite in F - IV 9 CD 1016; 546; 8814; Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67 NA CD 21328; 12805; 20615; 8530; Penderecki: Threnody CD Reich: Electric Counterpoint CD 4456; Fujieda: Patterns of Plants CD N

Art of Listening (MUAR ) p. 1

Art of Listening (MUAR ) p. 1 Art of Listening MUAR 211, Section 001 McGill University Fall 2014 Class Meetings Monday & Wednesday: 4:35-5:55 p.m., Adams Auditorium Professor Dr. Jerry Cain New Music Building, room A622 Office Hours: