Global Arc

What is "folk" music, and who makes it? How do notions of authenticity, class, and capital affect the construction of "folk" identity? How has recording technology impacted oral traditions? This course introduces the folk music of America, focusing on Anglo-American ballads and hymns, African-American spirituals and blues, and Appalachian old-time/bluegrass, while also touching on various Native-American and ethnic traditions. We'll learn ballads by ear, sing from shape notes, debate various folk-song collectors' agendas, and discuss the 1960s folk revival. We'll also explore the influence of folk music in popular culture.

A study of the development of the symphony from its origins in the mid-18th century through the first half of the 20th. Representative works will be chosen for detailed study in the class meetings. Two lectures, one class. Prerequisite: any music course, some musical background, or instructor's permission.

A study of the concerto genre persisting through stylistic and formal changes from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Two lectures, one class. Prerequisite: any music course, some musical background, or instructor's permission.

Major developments of Western music up to about 1400, including some of the following: the origin and growth of chant, its liturgical context and musical properties; medieval secular song; early polyphony and Parisian organum; the French ars nova and Machaut; the Italian trecento; English medieval music. Prerequisite: a year of theory or instructor's permission.

Introduction to the history and current scholarship of European music in the period 1400-1600. The principal thread is compositional history; in addition, the course includes extensive coverage of these topics: aesthetics, orality/literacy, improvisation, gender and sexuality.

An introductory survey of style developments, aesthetic trends affecting music, and principal vocal and instrumental genres (opera, cantata, concerto, sonata, and suite) of the period 1600-1750. Major figures to be considered include Monteverdi, Schütz, Lully, Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, and J. S. Bach. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: any music course or instructor's permission.

Introduction to the history of 18th-century music, giving equal attention to pre-Classical and Classical periods, and covering France, England and Italy as well as Germany. The course features Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and numerous other significant figures. The chief narrative thread is the history of musical style and taste. A separate storyline running alongside this is the imaginative retelling of Dr. Charles Burney's musical journeys through Europe in the early 1770s. Extensive playlist and readings of contemporary texts (diaries, letters, travel accounts, music treatises, opera libretti, translated into English). Two lectures, one class.

A study of major styles and issues in European music from the death of Beethoven through the generation after Wagner, as seen against the aesthetic and cultural backgrounds of the time. Selected works from Schubert through Strauss and Mahler may be included. Two one-hour lectures and one one-hour class. Prerequisite: any music course, or some musical background, or instructor's permission.

What is the relationship between sound and place? How do we experience the everyday sounds of our acoustic environment? What stories can sound tell? This course invites students to engage with Princeton's soundscape. We will explore a range of topics in sound studies--including acoustic ecology, sound maps, sonification, and historical soundscapes--as well as study, perform, and experience sound art and experimental music that engages with notions of place. Students will make field recordings and work on creative final projects (individual or collaborative) developed in consultation with the instructor.

An introduction to modern music, beginning with its origins in late Romanticism, up to World War II. Composers considered include Mahler, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, and Berg. Topics range from urban centers for modern music (Paris and Vienna), the relationship of musical modernism to contemporary literature and visual arts, music and politics, to the impact of recording technology and cinema on musical arts. Prerequisite: any music course, some classical music background, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one preceptorial.