Music 408 E

ANALYSIS OF MUSICAL FORM

(second half of the 20th. century)

Summer 2008

• Time: M-Tu-W-Th 12:00 - 1:50 pm
• Room: 1201 Music Building
• Credit: 2 - 3 credits
  

• Instructor: Dr. Sever Tipei
  Office: 5052 MB
  email: s-tipei@uiuc.edu

This course will cover composition techniques developed and used during the historical period between the end of WWII and present. It will include four major units:

1. Integral Serialism and Aleatory Music
2. Indeterminacy and Concept Music
3. Music and Mathematics
4. Music and Technology (Electro-acoustic Music)

There will be three assignments:

• A choice between:
  • Analysis of a fragment from Structures Ia by Boulez;
  • Analysis of a fragment from Le marteau sans maitre by Boulez;

    (due July 14)

  • A 20 min. presentation in class on a trend/artistic movement and/or an aleatory/chance piece;

    (due July 21-22)

• Writing a short piece using methods discussed in the third unit.

  (due July 28)

• Producing computer generated sounds by using software available in the Computer Music Project and participating in the planning of a short piece using such sounds.

  (due August 2)

There will be a number of required readings (articles by Boulez, Cage, Stockhausen, Xenakis, etc.) which will be discussed in class. Participation in such discussins will count toward the final grade.

• Reserve List
• Assignments
• List of Presentations
• Useful links:
  • Tone-row music: matrix; Schoenberg - "Variations for Orchestra Op.31"
    • score excerpt (pdf) ]
    [ Tone-row II: Berg - Violin Concerto
    • score excerpts (pdf) ]
    [ Tone-row III: Webern
    • "Variations Op. 27" score excerpts (pdf) ]
    [ Integral serialism I
    • Messiaen - Modes de valeurs et d'intensitees (pdf)
    • Boulez - Structures Ia ]
    [ Integral serialism II
    • Le marteau sans maitre -text (pdf)
    • Le marteau sans maitre: "domains" and score fragments (pdf) ]
  • Aleatory music
  • Indeterminacy
  • Conceptual music
  • Mathematical Tools in Music
  • Set and Group Theories
  • Computer Sound Synthesis
• List of terms discussed in class.

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