Music 408E syllabus

Analysis of Musical Form Since WW II
Music 408E, summer 2007
Instructor: Stephen Taylor
MTWR, 12 - 1:50 pm, Music Building 1180
School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Office hours: MW, 2 -3 pm

Course description
Extensive study of the formal structure of representative musical compositions from World War II to the present.

Course objectives
- Learn or review the basics of pitch class set theory
- Learn about some of the major compositional trends and representative works over the last 60 years
- Perform or compose a short piece of new music
- Write a short (10-12 page) analysis paper on a topic of your choice

Required materials
Although there are some interesting written surveys of new music, I've usually found it more valuable to read books and articles about individual composers; for browsing, the ML 410 section is a great place to start. There are no Dover scores available for this music, since nearly all of it is still under copyright; so most course materials will be on reserve or handed out in photocopy. I have also been impressed with nearly every Wikipedia article I've seen on contemporary music and composers.

Online listening reserves are here: http://guava-web.cites.uiuc.edu/musicreserve/408e-taylor-sum07.html

Many of the online articles we'll be reading can be found here:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/results.php?types=&subject=34

To access both of these, you'll need a UIUC email account and password; if this is a problem please let me know.

Evaluation
20% short assignments and class discussion
30% final exam
20% composition/performance (this may change)
30% final paper

Participation
I hope that this course will be an opportunity for you to study works that speak to you, that you are excited about. If one of your favorite pieces or composers is missing from the schedule, please let me know during the first week and I will try to accommodate all requests.