Global Arc

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).

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.

An overview of modernism in European and Euro-American art music, including movements such as symbolism, expressionism, and neoclassicism. Required listening includes music of Bartók, Berg, Copland, Debussy, Ives, Mahler, Milhaud, Satie, Schoenberg, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Varèse. Students may find it useful to have some prior experience with classical music, whether as listeners or performers. Ability to read music not required. Prerequisite: any music course, some classical music background, or instructor's permission.

European and American music since World War II. Study of many recent approaches to music and their cultural, social, and philosophical bases. Topics include: postwar European avant-garde, American extensions of serialism, technological developments, influences of popular and folk cultures, American avant-garde. Prerequisite: any music course, some musical background, or instructor's permission.

A performance course in African dance drumming with a focus on music from the West African Manding Empire (Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Senegal.) Taught by master drummer Olivier Tarpaga, exponent of the Mogo Kele Foli drumming technique, the course provides hands-on experience on two main instruments, the Djembe and the Dun dun. Students will acquire performance experience, skills, and techniques on the Také and Diansa and develop an appreciation for the integrity of drumming in the daily life of West Africa.

From holiday costumes to dining hall menus to GIFs, from popular songs to films to operas, many forms of expression cross cultural borders, raising aesthetic and ethical questions. This course explores the phenomenon of cultural appropriation through a wide lens, analyzing popular song, film, television, opera, and concert music. We scrutinize the familiar claim that respectful intentions negate power imbalances, and we explore complex questions regarding identity, ownership, representation, and authenticity. In the face of ever-shifting cultural boundaries, how do individuals and cultures retain and reconfigure meaning?

Music can get your feet tapping, trigger a cascade of memories, mire you in nostalgia, or leave you with an earworm. What happens when tools drawn from cognitive science are applied to understanding these experiences? What can music tell us about the human mind and what can psychology and neuroscience tell us about music? This course will provide an introduction to music cognition, emphasizing the potential and the challenges that characterize work at the intersection of science, the humanities, and the arts. Students will gain experience posing their own questions at this intersection, and identifying appropriate methods to answer them.

Performance course in West African drumming with focus on music from Mandé Empire (Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Senegal.) Taught by master drummer and exponent of Mogo Kele Foli drumming technique. Course provides hands-on experience on two instruments, Djembe and Dun dun. Students acquire performance experience, skills and techniques on Wassolon and Diansa, and develop appreciation for integrity of drumming in daily life of West Africa.

This course will delve into the many historical themes, social issues, and musical aspects that arise from surveying and comparing the diverse musical traditions of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.

In this course, we'll examine how horizontal activity (melody) in multiple voices generates vertical structure (harmony), and how horizontal and vertical activity combine to yield musical architecture (form). We'll explore the building blocks of melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, and form using practical examples, exercises, transcriptions, and composition/arranging projects as a means to internalize concepts.We'll examine representative works by important jazz composers and arrangers, and develop strategies for writing idiomatically for jazz ensembles of up to 9 musicians.