Contexts of Music Analysis M9530A Fall 2016 Dr. Catherine Nolan TC 215 519-661-2111 ext. 85368 cnolan@uwo.ca Mondays 9:30 p.m. 12:30 a.m., TC 340 Office Hours: by appointment Course Description Music analysis resides in many contexts. Scholars and performers of music engage in close readings of musical works with concerns that range from details of the music itself to broader critical, analytical, philosophical, cultural, and historical contexts. Engagement with close readings of musical works offers a significant point of contact between the various specializations in the advanced study of music. The course is organized into six contexts of music analysis that animate the constructive tension between the abstract and concrete, between the general and particular, and between musical organization and musical expression. Interspersed among the six analysis contexts are three analysis excursions that shift attention from the philosophical and phenomenological to the application of the various contexts of music analysis to diverse musical works and repertoires. This course is directed to graduate students in all music programs. Course Objectives / Learning Outcomes Develop a critical understanding of the dialectics of musical organization and expression. Engage in current philosophical debates on the topic of music analysis and meaning in various musical genres and repertoires. Articulate and expand the role of music analysis in students academic and creative work. Course Requirements Weekly reading (and listening) assignments Participation in class discussions Page 1 of 7
Report on one supplementary reading Three reflection postings to online forum (c. 250 400 words each; details to be provided) Final project presentation Final project paper Evaluation Attendance and participation in discussions of 20% assigned readings Supplementary reading report 5% Reflection postings 30% Final project presentation 10% Final project paper 35% Due Dates Reflection posting on Context 1 11:59 pm Thursday, Sept. 22 Reflection posting on Context 2 11:59 pm Thursday, Sept. 29 Reflection posting on Context 3 11:59 pm Thursday, Oct. 20 Reflection posting on Context 4 11:59 pm Thursday, Oct. 27 Reflection posting on Context 5 11:59 pm Thursday, Nov. 10 Reflection posting on Context 6 11:59 pm Thursday, Nov. 17 Final project paper: Dec. 15 Mandatory statements Academic Offences: Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic offence, as found at http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_grad.pdf. Health and Wellness: As part of a successful graduate student experience at Western, we encourage students to make their health and wellness a priority. Western provides several oncampus health-related services to help students achieve optimum health and engage in healthy living while pursuing a graduate degree. Students seeking help regarding mental health concerns are advised to speak to someone in whom they feel comfortable confiding, such as a faculty supervisor, a program advisor, or the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies). Campus mental health resources may be found at http://www.health.uwo.ca/mental_health/resources.html. Page 2 of 7
Contexts of Music Analysis M9530B Fall 2016 Schedule of Topics Summary (Details below) Date Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Topic Introduction: Setting the Context(s) Context 1:The Musical Work Ontology and Autonomy Context 2: Aesthetic Categories of Formalism and Referentialism Analysis Excursion: Structure and Drama in Mozart Context 3: Musical Form and Experience Context 4: Musical Unity and Disunity Oct. 31 Analysis Excursion: Structure and Narrative in Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata D. 960, 1 st movement Nov. 7 Nov. 14 Nov. 21 Nov. 28 Dec. 5 Context 5: Dialectics of Structure and Subjectivity Context 6: Music Analysis and Meaning Analysis Excursion: Close Reading, Numerology, and Symbolism in George Crumb, Black Angels Epilogue: Music Analysis and Imagination Student Presentations Student Presentations Page 3 of 7
Contexts of Music Analysis M9530A Fall 2016 Syllabus Below is the preliminary schedule the readings assigned for class discussion each week. A separate list of supplementary readings will be provided at the beginning of the course and added to this schedule. It is expected that each student will give a 15- to 20-minute presentation on one supplementary reading. The due dates for the six reflection postings are indicated and highlighted below. Date Topic and Readings 12 September Introduction: Setting the Context(s) Cook, Nicholas. What Does Musical Analysis Tell Us? In A Guide to Musical Analysis, 215 33. New York: George Braziller, 1987. 19 September Context 1: The Musical Work Ontology and Autonomy Ingarden, Roman. Ontology of the Work of Art. Translated by Raymond Meyer with John T. Goldthwait. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1989. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 7 26), The Musical Work and Its Performances, The Musical Work and Mental Experiences, and The Musical Work and the Score. Samson, Jim. The Musical Work and Nineteenth-Century History. In The Cambridge History of Nineteenth-Century Music, edited by Jim Samson, 3 28. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Strohm, Reinhard. Looking Back at Ourselves: The Problem with the Musical Work-Concept. In The Musical Work: Reality or Invention?, edited by Michael Talbot, 128 52. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000. Treitler, Leo. History and Ontology of the Musical Work. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 51.3 (1993): 483 97. Thursday 22 September: Reflection post on Context 1 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 26 September Context 2: Aesthetic Categories of Formalism and Referentialism Ferrara, Nicholas. Philosophy and the Analysis of Music: Bridges to Musical Sound, Form, and Reference. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. Ch. 1 (pp. 3 30), Referential Meaning in Music. Page 4 of 7
Hooper, Giles. An Incomplete Project: Modernism, Formalism, and the Music Itself. Music Analysis 23.ii-iii (2004): 311 29. Kivy, Peter. Introduction to a Philosophy of Music. Oxford University Press, 2002. Ch. 5 (pp. 67 87), Formalism. Thursday 29 September: Reflection post on Context 2 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 3 October Analysis Excursion: Structure and Drama in Mozart Abbate, Carolyn and Roger Parker. Dismembering Mozart. Cambridge Opera Journal 2.2 (1990): 187 95. Platoff, John. Myths and Realities About Tonal Planning in Mozart s Operas. Cambridge Opera Journal 8.1 (1996): 3 15. Suurpää, Lauri. Form, Structure, and Musical Drama in Two Mozart Expositions. Journal of Music Theory 50.2 (2006): 181 210. Please study and listen closely to the following works by Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Overture and opening Figaro/Susanna duet The Marriage of Figaro, Act II Symphony K. 550, 2 nd movement String Quintet K. 516, 1 st movement 10 October No meeting Thanksgiving 17 October Context 3: Musical Form and Experience Cook, Nicholas. Musical Form and the Listener. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 46.1 (1987): 23 29. Higgins, Kathleen Marie. The Music of Our Lives. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2011. Ch. 2 (pp. 33 61), The Many Faces of Form. Lidov, David. Is Language a Music?: Writings on Musical Form and Signification. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004. Chapter 8 (pp. 145 64), Mind and Body in Music. Thursday 20 October: Reflection post on Context 3 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 24 October Context 4: Musical Unity and Disunity Korsyn, Kevin. The Death of Musical Analysis? The Concept of Unity Revisited. Music Analysis 23.2/3 (2004): 337 51. Leydon, Rebecca. Debussy s Late Style and the Devices of the Early Silent Cinema. Music Theory Spectrum 23.2 (2001): 217 41. Morgan, Robert. The Concept of Unity and Musical Analysis. Music Analysis 22.1/2 (2003): 7 50. Page 5 of 7
Thursday 27 October: Reflection post on Context 4 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 31 October Analysis Excursion: Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata D. 960, 1 st movement Cohn, Richard. As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert. 19 th -Century Music 22.3 (1999): 213 32. Fisk, Charles. What Schubert s Last Sonata Might Hold. In Music and Meaning, edited by Jenefer Robinson, 179 200. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997. Marsten, Nicholas. Schubert s Homecoming. Journal of the Royal Musical Association 125.2 (2000): 248 70. Become very familiar with Schubert s posthumous sonata, D. 960, 1 st movement, before and as you complete the readings. 7 November Context 5: Dialectics of Structure and Subjectivity Cumming, Naomi. The Horrors of Identification: Reich s Different Trains. Perspectives of New Music 35.1 (1997): 129 52. Kramer, Lawrence. The Mysteries of Animation: History, Analysis and Musical Subjectivity. Music Analysis 20.2 (2001): 153 78. Williams, Alistair. Torn Halves: Structure and Subjectivity in Analysis. Music Analysis 17.3 (1998): 281 93. Become familiar with Steve Reich s Different Trains. (It is not necessary to work with the score.) Thursday 10 November: Reflection post on Context 5 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 14 November Context 6: Music Analysis and Meaning Cook, Nicholas. Theorizing Musical Meaning. Music Theory Spectrum 23.2 (2001): 170 95. Hatten, Robert. The Troping of Temporality in Music. In Approaches to Meaning in Music, edited by Byron Almén and Edward Pearsall, 62 75. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. Newcomb, Anthony. Schumann and Late Eighteenth-Century Narrative Strategies. 19 th -Century Music 11.2 (1987): 164 74. Thursday 17 November: Reflection post on Context 6 due in OWL forum (by 11:59 pm) 21 November Analysis excursion: Close Reading, Numerology, and Symbolism in George Crumb, Black Angels Adamenko, Victoria. George Crumb s Channels of Mythification. American Music 23.3 (2005): 324 54. Page 6 of 7
Johnston, Blair. Between Romanticism and Modernism and Postmodernism: George Crumb s Black Angels. Music Theory Online 18.2 (June 2012). Leydon, Rebecca. Clean as a Whistle: Timbral Trajectories and the Modern Musical Sublime. Music Theory Online 18.2 (June 2012). Become familiar with Black Angels as you complete the readings, and bring a score to class. 28 November Epilogue: Music Analysis and Imagination (and possibly final project presentations) Almén, Byron and Robert S. Hatten. Narrative Engagement With Twentieth-Century Music: Possibilities and Limits. In Music And Narrative Since 1900, edited by Michael L. Klein and Nicholas Reyland, 59 85. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013. Walton, Kendall. Listening with Imagination: Is Music Representational? Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 52.1 (1994): 47 61. 5 December Final Project Presentations Page 7 of 7