Music 266B: Twentieth-Century Music After WWII

Winter, 1997.

The class meets Tuesdays from 3 until 6 pm; all registered students must attend all classes.

Books for the course:

Williams, T. Kent, Theories and Analyses of Twentieth-Century Music, (Harcourt-Brace).
Simms, Bryan, Music of the Twentieth Century, (Prentice-Hall).

January 7: Introduction.

The limits of the present study.

Jan. 14: Tonality. Read Williams, Chapter I. Analyze Copland, Barber, and Menotti materials.

Read Simms, Chapters 11 and 12.
Dealing with tonality after WW II (not including Neoromantic and Minimalist composers).

Jan. 21: Serialism. Read Williams, Chapters 2 amd 3.

Read Simms, Chapter 13.
Twelve-Tone and Serial Music after Webern. Schoenberg's last period. Analyze the String Trio.

Jan. 28: Finish with 12-tone and serial; read Williams, Chaps. 4-6. Babbitt, Randall, etc.

Indeterminacy. Read simms, Chap. 14; Williams, Chap. 16.
Cage, Feldman, etc. Score analysis.

February 4: First class on comprehensive comparisons of pitch analysis.

Read Williams, Chaps. 10-12: (Diatonicism, Symmetrical sets, New concepts).

February 11: Second class of comparisons.

Read Williams, Chaps. 13-15: (Neotonality, Free Atonality, Serialism).

Feb. 18: Electronic Music.

Read Simms, Chapter 15.
Reports on electronic pieces.

February 25: Minimalism and recent experiments.

Read Simms, Chapter 17; Williams, Chap.17.

March 4: Eclecticism and the Revival of Tonality.

Read Simms, Chap. 16; Williams, Chap. 18.

March 11: Review and remaining analytical reports.



Notes: Each student will prepare an analytical report on one kind of tonal piece, as well as one kind of serial piece (or 12-tone). In addition, the student will select an electronic, sound mass, or minimal piece to present.

In all, three reports of approximately 3000 words each will be required.

Projects:

Neotonality.

Michael Tippett: Symphony No. 1 (1946) vs. Symphony No. 3 (1973).

Serialism and 12-Tone.

Schoenberg: String Trio (1945), Boulez Sonatine for Flute and Piano (1946), Babbitt's time point system.
Borderline uses: Copland Piano Fantasy (1958), Stravinsky Agon (1953), and Movements for Piano and Orchestra(1958).

Sound Mass Music.

Carter Double Concerto (1961), Lutoslawski Livre (1968), Messiaen Et Expecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964).

Electronic Music.

Varèse Poème électronique (1958), Stockhausen, Cage, new processes (midi, FM synthesis, improvisation).

Synthesis.

Stravinsky Agon (1953), Crumb Black Angels (1970), Takemitsu, Davidovsky, etc.

Postmodernism, Minimalism, etc.

DelTredici, Glass, Reich, Pärt, Kurtag, Bolcom, Harbison, etc.
Updated: January 2, 1997.