Introduction to Music History
Course #-MURU 1100 Sections 4 & 5
Section 4: MWR-2:30-3:20 Section 5: MWR-3:30-4:20 Faculty Memorial room 215
Professor Jason Roth
e-mail- jer37@columbia.edu
Mailbox-Room 448 Faculty Memorial

Overview:

This course satisfies the art/music requirement in the core curriculum. It is intended to introduce the student to the fundamental elements of music, increase the student’s sensitivity in listening to music, and study music’s relationship to human existence and the other arts and disciplines through recorded history. Students need not have any prior musical training to successfully complete this course.

Text:

Listening to Music by Craig Wright, third edition (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning Publisher, ©1999). This text comes with a 6 CD set, which is a necessity. They are available in the Bookstore. There will be additional readings, which will be handed out in class. Students should procure a folder of some sort to keep all handouts in. There may also be a supplemental CD containing several extra pieces of music which will be on reserve in the library media center.

Office hours:

Wednesday, 1:30-2:30 in room 447 of this building. If this time is not convenient, see me and we will schedule another meeting time.

Attendance:

It is expected that all students will attend ALL class meetings. As the class only meets for 2 and a half hours per week, every class meeting is essential, and all materials covered in class will be fair game for the mid term and final, even those not in the book. If you have to miss class, make sure that you have a buddy in the class who will get the notes to you.

Concert Attendance:

As a requirement for the course, the student is to attend one “art music” concert; that is, a concert of non-pop, non-musical theater, non-jazz music, preferably some sort of chamber music (string quartet, piano recital, vocal recital, etc.), orchestra (New York Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Juilliard Symphony, etc.), or Opera (New York Opera, Met Opera, etc.). There are many such concerts all over the city, and you don’t have to spend a fortune to attend one. Good places to look for concerts are the NY Free Press, New Yorker Magazine, Time Out New York or any other city publication. Juilliard has concerts of various kinds almost every night of the week, and they are all free. Call the box office to get schedules. On my website there are links to many concert listing pages. The address is: https://bartonmusic.tripod.com/concerts.html At the bottom of the page you will also find this syllabus. After you have attended your concert, simply hand in the ticket stub and/or program for credit. Be sure to write your name on them. No name, no credit.

Grading:

There will be two tests in addition to the final exam. The tests will take one full class meeting each. Semester grades will be calculated on the following scale:
Test I: 30%
Test II: 30%
Concert Attendance: 5%
Final: 35%

Basic outline for the semester:

This will serve as a basic guide to the semester. It will be treated flexibly to accommodate those subjects that require more or less time:
M=Monday, T=Tuesday, W=Wednesday, R=Thursday

W 1/17- First Day
R 1/18- Rhythm and Meter (chapter 1-3)
M 1/22- Pitch, Notation (chapter 1-3)
W 1/24- Melody, Harmony, Texture (chapter 1-3)
R 1/25- Scales (chapter 1-3)
M 1/29- Finishing up Elements (chapter 1-3)
W 1/31- Instruments of the Orchestra
R 2/1- Gregorian Chant, Hildegard, Ars Antiqua (pp. 65-70, I: 1-2)
M 2/5- Josquin, Palestrina (chapter 5, I: 6-8)
W 2/7- Early Baroque; Monteverdi (pp. 95-111, I: 10-13)
R 2/8- Basso Continuo, Concerto Grosso (pp. 112-126, pp. 132-134, I: 14, 18)
M 2/12- Late Baroque; J.S. Bach, Fugue (pp. 132-136, I: 19)
W 2/14- Cantata (pp. 126-131, I: 15-17)
R 2/15- TEST I
M 2/19- PRESIDENT’S DAY - NO CLASS
T 2/20 - MONDAY SCHED - Classical Era, Sonata/Allegro (chapter 8, pp.164-174, II: 3-4, 6)
W 2/21- Minuet, Theme and Variation (pp. 175-184, II: 5, 7)
R 2/22- Rondo (pp. 175-184, II: 5, 7)
M 2/26- Early Beethoven (pp. 209-217, III: 1-2)
W 2/28- Symphony #5 mvt. I-II (pp. 217-229, III: 3-6)
R 3/1- Symphony #5 mvt. III-IV (pp. 217-229, III: 3-6)
M 3/5- Symphony #9 (sup.)
W 3/7- The Romantic Style, Schumann (chap. 12, pp. 264-266, III: 11-12)
R 3/8- Lied (chap. 12, pp. 246-252, III: 7-8)
M 3/12- SPRING BREAK
W 3/14- SPRING BREAK
R 3/15- SPRING BREAK
M 3/19- Berlioz (pp. 254-259, III: 10)
W 3/21- Piano Music (pp. 264-277, IV: 3-5)
R 3/22- Opera, Verdi (pp. 278-286, IV: 6-8)
M 3/26- Opera, Wagner (pp. 278-293, IV: 9, sup.)
W 3/28- Wagner continued (pp. 278-293, IV: 9, sup.)
R 3/29- TEST II
M 4/2- Late Romantics; Brahms (pp. 299-304, IV: 11-12)
W 4/4- Tchaikovsky (pp.308-312, V: 1)
R 4/5- Mahler (pp. 312-319, V: 2)
M 4/9- Debussy (chapter 16, V: 3-4)
W 4/11- Stravinsky (pp. 333-345, V: 7-10)
R 4/12- Schoenberg (pp. 345-351, V: 11-13)
M 4/16- Bela Bartok (pp. 351-354, VI: 14)
W 4/18- Charles Ives (pp. 355-357, VI: 15)
R 4/19- John Cage (pp. 359-362, sup.)
M 4/23- John Cage continued (pp. 359-362, sup.)
W 4/25- Minimalism; John Adams, Steve Reich (pp. 369-371, sup.)
R 4/26- Postmodernism (sup.)
M 4/30- Postmodernism; John Zorn (sup.)
W 5/2- Review for Final

to Concert Listings