This course is designed to expose the general student to the principal forms of traditional Western art music as well as multicultural music genres through the study of music history and literature. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)]

Course Materials

This course will not use a conventional textbook. Written course materials and links to online audio material will be made available on the course Canvas site.

In this course students will develop an enriched appreciation of music by studying the various repertories of the Western European and American concert tradition—the music you probably know as “classical.” Students will learn about historical, social, and artistic contexts of major musical works and develop a vocabulary to communicate cogently about their style, structure, and expressive qualities.

As an SUU general education course, “Introduction to Music” will develop your capabilities with respect to the following essential learning outcomes:

• knowledge of human cultures (in both the fine arts and humanities)
• inquiry and analysis
• communication

These outcomes will be assessed in the forms of 1) tests with both written and listening components, 2) attendance at musical performances, 3) written responses to the performances attended, and 4) group presentations.

Tests (30%). Two in-class tests on the topic of Baroque period and Classical period in the last week of September and October. Each test comprises 15% of your final grade. The tests require you to identify excerpts from the works on the recordings by titles and composers, and to answer questions about these works and composers as well as other concepts discussed in class and in the textbook. More information on the format of these tests will be given in class.

Concert Attendance (15%). Over the course of the semester, students will attend at least five Music Department concerts. Students may also substitute the department performances with other collegiate- or professional-level performances. By the last day of class students will submit a list of the performances attended via Canvas; this list should include the dates of the performances and the names of the ensembles or individual performers. The performance attendance will constitute 15% of your final grade.

Concert Reviews (15%). For three of the performances attended, you will submit a review of approximately 500 words. Each review must include the list of the date, location of the performance, the name(s) of the ensemble or individual performer(s) and the titles of the music numbers. Each review should be a thoughtful response to the performances you attend and should demonstrate at least some mastery of the vocabulary and concepts you are learning in the course. Students’ hardcopy reviews can be submitted at any point of scheduled dates (see the schedule) during the semester, after which no reviews will be accepted. Together, the performances and reviews will comprise 15% of the final grade.

Group Presentations (40%). There will be two group presentations. One Group Presentation on Romantic period music scheduled in the third week of November. Students will organize your own group and determine a group leader at the beginning of the semester. Each group is composed by 5 or 6 students. Each group will choose one or multiple pieces of Romantic-period music, about 10 minutes totally, and analyze the music piece(s). The analysis needs to demonstrate what you will have learnt in class. Every group member should contribute to the group presentation and demonstrate at least some mastery of the vocabulary and key concepts of music. A rubric will be provided. Group Presentation will comprise 15% of the final grade.

The second Group Presentation will be held in the last week of class in the form of a Tell/Share show. Students can do a traditional group presentation on any music pieces they would like to choose. Students are also encouraged to perform live-show music in groups. The second group presentation will comprise 25% of the final grade.

Grading Policy

Course Schedule

Aug. 28 Unit 1 Fundamentals—The Middle Ages and Renaissance

Sep. 2 Fundamentals cont. Tonality, Modality, Volume/Dynamic, Rhythm

4 Fundamentals cont. Harmony, Form Alleluia: Pascha nostrum (chant and organum)

9 The Middle Ages and Renaissance Machaut, Josquin

11 The Middle Ages and Renaissance cont. Palestrina, Weelkes

16 Unit 2 The Baroque Music
The Early Baroque Monteverdi Purcell

18 Baroque Instrumental Music Bach Fugue, Brandenburg Concerto no. 5
Vivaldi The Four Seasons

23 Baroque Instrumental Music cont.

25 Late Baroque Vocal Music Bach, Cantata no. 140
Handel, Messiah

30/Oct. 2 Examination no. 1 of Baroque Music and 1st concert review due

Oct. 7 Unit 3 The Classical Period
The Classical Symphonies Haydn, String Quartet and Symphony no.95; Mozart, Symphony no. 39, no. 40

9 The Classical Symphonies cont.

16 Other Classical Genres Mozart Piano Concerto K 488
Marriage of Figaro Opera

21 Beethoven and his Symphony His life and his Symphonies

28 Beethoven Symphony no. 5 The four movements

30 Examination no. 2 of The Classical Music (in class) and 2nd concert review due

Nov. 4 Unit 4 The Romantic Period
Early Romantic Song Schubert, Schumann

6 Early Romantic Piano Music Chopin, Liszt

11 Early Romantic Orchestral Music Mendelssohn, Berlioz

13 Romantic Opera Verdi, Wagner

18 Late Romantic Orchestral Music Tchaikovsky, Brahms

Nov. 20 First Group presentation of Baroque Music and 3rd concert review due

25 Unit 5 The Twentieth Century
The Early Modernists Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg,

Dec. 2 Between Two World Wars Bartok, Copland

6. The Later Twentieth Century Cage, Ligeti, Adams

9 & 11 Final group presentation No. 2 (In class) and Concert Attendance report due.

Listening List

Unit 1: Fundamentals—The Middle Ages and Renaissance

A. Fundamentals

B. The Middle Ages

• anonymous • Mass for Easter Day, Alleluia: Pascha nostrum (Gregorian chant, Middle Ages [precise date uncertain])
• leoninus • Mass for Easter Day, Alleluia: Pascha nostrum (two-part organum, late 12th century)
• machaut • Puis qu’en oubli (polyphonic chanson [rondeau], ca. 1363)

C. The Renaissance

• josquin • Ave Maria . . . Virgo serena (motet, 1480s)
• palestrina • Pope Marcellus Mass: Gloria (polyphonic mass, ca. 1560)
• weelkes • As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending (madrigal, 1600)

Unit 2: The Baroque

D. The Early Baroque

• monteverdi • Orfeo, Act III: aria, “Possente Spirto” (opera, 1607)
• purcell • Dido and Aeneas: recitative, “Thy hand, Belinda,” and aria, “When I am laid in earth” (opera, 1689)

E. Late Baroque Instrumental Music

• vivaldi • Violin Concerto in E Major, op. 8, no. 1, RV 269 (Spring, from The Four Seasons): first movement, Allegro (solo concerto, 1725)
• bach • Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050: first movement, Allegro (concerto grosso, ca. 1721)
• bach • “Little” Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 (organ fugue, ca. 1709)

F. Late Baroque Vocal Music

• bach • Cantata no. 140: chorus, “Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme” (Lutheran church cantata, 1731)
• handel • Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Act I: aria, “Empio, dirò, tu sei” (opera seria, 1724)
• handel • Messiah (oratorio, 1741)
  Recitative, “There were shepherds,” and chorus, “Glory to God”
  Chorus, “Hallelujah”

Unit 3: The Classical Period and Beethoven

G. The Classical Symphony

• mozart • Symphony no. 40 in G Minor, K. 550: first movement, Allegro molto (symphony, 1788)
• haydn • Symphony no. 94 in G Major, Hob. I:94: second movement, Andante (symphony, 1791)
• mozart • Symphony no. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543: third movement, Menuetto: Allegretto (symphony, 1788)
• haydn • Symphony no. 95 in C Minor, Hob. I:95: fourth movement, Finale: Vivace (symphony, 1791)

H. Other Classical Genres

• mozart • Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488: first movement, Allegro (piano concerto, 1788)
• mozart • The Marriage of Figaro, Act I: trio, “Cosa sento! tosto andate” (opera buffa, 1786)

I. Beethoven

• beethoven • Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, op. 67 (symphony, 1807–8)
  First movement, Allegro con brio
  Second movement, Andante con moto
  Third movement, Allegro
  Fourth movement, Allegro

Unit 4: The Romantic Period

J. Early Romantic Song

• schubert • Erlkönig (Lied, 1815)
• schumann • Dichterliebe, op. 48: no. 7, “Ich grolle nicht” (song cycle, 1840)

K. Early Romantic Piano Music

• chopin • Nocturne in E-flat Major, op. 9, no. 2 (nocturne [character piece for piano], 1830–31)
• liszt • Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 (rhapsody [character piece for piano], 1847)

L. Early Romantic Orchestral Music

• mendelssohn • Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64: first movement, Allegro molto appassionato (violin concerto, 1844)
• berlioz • Fantastic Symphony: fourth movement, “March to the Scaffold” (program symphony, 1830)

M. Romantic Opera

• verdi • Rigoletto, Act III: quartet, “Un dì, se ben rammentomi” (opera, 1851)
• wagner • Die Walküre, Act III: “Wotan’s Farewell” (music drama [opera], 1870)

N. Late Romantic Orchestral Music

• tchaikovsky • Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy (symphonic poem, 1880)
• brahms • Symphony no. 3 in F Major, op. 90: third movement, Poco allegretto (symphony, 1883)

Unit 5: The Twentieth Century

O. Early Modernists: Parisian Breakthroughs

• debussy • Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (symphonic poem, 1894)
• stravinsky • The Rite of Spring, Part One: “Dance of the Adolescents” (ballet, 1913)

P. Early Modernists: The Second Viennese School

• schoenberg • Pierrot lunaire: no. 18, “Der Mondfleck” (song cycle, 1912)
• berg • Wozzeck: Act III, Scene 5 (opera, 1917–22)

Q. Between Two World Wars

• bartók • Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta: second movement, Allegro (orchestral suite, 1937)
• copland • Appalachian Spring: variations on “Simple Gifts” (ballet suite, 1944)

R. The Later Twentieth Century

• cage • Sonatas and Interludes: Sonata II (suite for prepared piano, 1946–48)
• ligeti • Atmosphères (work for large orchestra, 1961)
• adams • Short Ride in a Fast Machine (orchestral fanfare, 1986)

Students’ hardcopy reviews can be submitted at any point of scheduled dates (see the schedule) during the semester, after which no reviews will be accepted.

Citizenship. Students are expected to contribute meaningfully to the overall learning environment of the course. While the instructor will not keep track of your attendance or of the quantity or quality of comments you make in class, they do reserve the right to adjust the grade downward if a student exhibits an unacceptable pattern of absence, disruption, or non-participation.

Intensive English Program majors may not enroll

Fine Arts