Cal Poly SLO - Department of Music

Course Information - Music 431 (Music History III: Late Classic / Romantic) - Fall 2010

Professor: Dr. Alyson McLamore Office Phone: 756-2612

Office: 132 Davidson Music Center

Email: amclamor@calpoly.edu Web Site: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~amclamor

Office Hours: Tues 11-12; Wed 1-3; Thurs 12-1; other times by appointment—just ask!

Course Description: As the catalogue tells you, this course spans (roughly) the years “1780-1900.” We'll look at western art music from several perspectives: as individual masterworks, as representatives of various composers, as examples of particular styles and forms, as analytic ‘problems,’ and as artworks derived from changing social milieus. We'll emphasize the development of skills in talking and writing ‘about’ music. The course will include lectures and class discussions, assigned readings, oral presentations, written papers and periodic examinations.

Required Course Materials:

Books and Scores:

Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of Music in Western Culture. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Bonds, Mark Evan. An Anthology of Scores for A History of Music in Western Culture – Volume Two. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Mandyczewski, Eusebius, ed. Complete Song Cycles - Franz Schubert. New York: Dover Publications, 1970.

Berlioz, Hector. Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14. New York: Dover Publications, 1997.

Supplemental Anthology and Course Reader - available for a modest fee from Dr. McLamore

Listening Materials:

Compact Disks to accompany A History of Music in Western Culture. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Supplemental Listening - recordings will be available via loaner cds from the Music Department

Please bring your scores & reader with you every day, and please do your reading before each class.

Prerequisites: Music Research & Writing (MU 320), and, of course, Theory II, which was a prerequisite for MU 320. Music History I and II are strongly advised, as is Theory III.

Course Requirements:

I. A Midterm Exam, on October 28 (25%).

II. A Final Exam, on December 7 (30%).

III. Two Papers (10% each). The body of each paper should be no more than 5 pages long. Due dates are October 14 and November 30.

IV. Two Class Presentations. One of the presentations will be a 5-minute ‘solo’ discussion of a Schubert Lied (10%), while the other presentation will be a 25-minute group project, in which you study a particular concert presenter (15%). A good handout is expected each time, and your presentations will be graded on content, organization, and delivery.

V. All components of the course must be completed in order to receive a passing grade. Failure to meet your presentation due dates will result in failing the course, unless we have mutually agreed on a valid reason for a deadline extension.

VI. Prompt and Regular Attendance is Required. One absence or tardy will be allowed without penalty. Each successive absence or tardy (even if “just a minute or two late”) will pull your course grade down a third of a letter (e.g., B to B- or C+ to C) unless you can provide clear documentation as to why the absence or tardy was beyond your control.

MU 431 Course Outline – Fall 2010

(Titles prefaced by “Suppl” are located in the supplemental anthology) Reading:

Week 1 Sept. 21 Tues. “Classicism is health, romanticism is sickness” – Goethe Chapter 13

1733 Pergolesi - La serva padrona, Duet “Lo conosco” (4:22)

1767 Gluck: Alceste, Act II, Scene 3 (6:53)

Sept. 23 Thurs. “Opera to me comes before everything else” - Mozart

1787 Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act I, Scenes 1–4 (5:59, 7:59, 6:12, 5:44)

1791 Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Act I, “Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja” (2:50)

1791 Mozart: Requiem, “Introit & Kyrie” (4:39, 2:19)

Week 2 Sept. 28 Tues. “The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and

then write any kind of music you wish” - Virgil Thompson Chapter 14

1795 Reichardt: Italien (Kennst du das Land) (2:25)

1770 Billings: Africa (3:10)

1788 (Suppl) Hopkinson: My gen'rous heart disdains (4:53)

1828-31 (Suppl) Szymanowska: Nocturne in B-flat (4:30)

Sept. 30 Thurs. “Keep your eye on him; some day he will give the world something to

talk about” - Mozart Chapter 15

1803 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” (I, II) (15:29, 12:36)

1806 Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 (II) (5:26)

Week 3 Oct. 5 Tues. “There is only one Beethoven” - Beethoven Chapter 16

1798 (Suppl) Beethoven: Piano Sonata, Op. 13 “Pathétique” (I) (8:49)

1804 Beethoven: Piano Sonata, Op. 53 “Waldstein” (I) (11:14)

1826 Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 130 (I, II, V) (10:04, 1:58, 7:20)

Oct. 7 Thurs. “Here lie rich treasure and still fairer hopes” - Epitaph for Schubert by Franz Grillparzer

1815 Schubert: Erlkönig, D. 328 (4:03)

1819 Schubert: Prometheus, D. 674 (5:31)

1824 Schubert: Wanderers Nachtlied, D. 768 (2:26)

1815 Schubert: Kennst du das Land (Mignons Gesang), D. 321 (4:23)

1849 Schumann: Kennst du das Land (Mignon), Op. 98a (4:01)

1888 Wolf: Mignon (6:55)

Week 4 Oct. 12 Tues. “I could never have believed [Der Freischütz] of the poor weak little Manikin” - Beethoven

1820 (Suppl) von Weber: Der Freischütz “Wolf's Glen Scene” (16:28)

1862 Foster: Beautiful Dreamer (3:28)

1874 Mussorgsky: Bez solnca “In four walls” (2:11)

Oct. 14 Thurs. “Everything beautiful is difficult, the short the most difficult” - Schumann

1834-5 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: “Papillons,” “A.S.C.H.-S.C.H.A.,” “Chiarina,” "Chopin,” “Estrella” (:46, :47, 1:11, 1:28, :33)

1841 (Suppl) Schumann, Clara: Liebst du um Schönheit (2:56)

1848 Schumann, Clara: Vorwärts! (1:21)

1846 Hensel: Trio in d minor, Op. 11 (III) (2:25)

1846 (Suppl) Hensel: Schwanenlied (2:40)

Paper I Due

Week 5 Oct. 19 Tues. Oral Presentations - Schubert Lieder

Oct. 21 Thurs. Oral Presentations - Schubert Lieder

Week 6 Oct. 26 Tues. "Delight must be the basis and aim of this art" - Rossini

1826 Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream “Overture” (11:31)

1816 Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Act I, Scenes 2 & 5 (4:19, 6:14)

Concert Presentation 1 (Wesleys)

Oct. 28 Thurs. Midterm Exam

Week 7 Nov. 2 Tues. “Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!” - Schumann

1833 Chopin: Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, no. 4 (4:32)

1835 Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (9:18)

1836-9 Chopin: Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, Nos. 1-4 (:36, 1:52, 1:05, 2:21)

Concert Presentation 2 (Salomon)

Nov. 4 Thurs. “My life is to me a deeply interesting romance” - Berlioz [Chapter 14]

1830 (Dover) Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (1-4, 5) (14:01; 6:07; 14:59; 4:23) (9:46)

Week 8 Nov. 9 Tues. “Whoever has not heard Liszt cannot even speak of piano playing” - Brahms

c. 1840 Liszt: Galop de bal (:44)

1838 (rev. 1851) Liszt: Transcendental Etudes, No. 1 in C Major (:55)

1881 Liszt: Nuages gris (3:04)

1855 Gottschalk: The Banjo (3:38)

Concert Presentation 3 (Paganini)

Nov. 11 Thurs. Holiday [Veteran’s Day]

Week 9 Nov. 16 Tues. “To me Tristan is and remains a wonder! I shall never be able to understand how I could have written anything like it” - Wagner Chapter 17

1868 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Prelude (10:34)

1870 (Suppl) Wagner: Die Walküre, Act III, Finale “Wotan's Farewell” (12:12)

Concert Presentation 4 (C. Schumann)

Nov. 18 Thurs. It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better” - Verdi

1851 Verdi: Rigoletto, Acts I & III (excerpts) (14:48, 16:05, 5:30)

1871 (Suppl) Verdi: Aida, Act IV, Scene ii “Tomb Scene” (12:37)

Week 10 Nov. 23 Tues. “Bruckner! He is my man!” - Richard Wagner

1885 Bruckner: Virga Jesse floruit (3:22)

1892 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker “Le café (Danse Arabe),” “Le thé (Danse Chinoise),” “Trépak (Danse Russe)” (3:36, 1:16, 1:16)

Concert Presentation 5 (Liszt)

Nov. 25 Thurs. Holiday [Thanksgiving]

Week 11 Nov. 30 Tues. “I believe Johannes [Brahms] to be the true Apostle, who will also write Chapter 18 Revelations” - Schumann

1885 Brahms: Symphony No. 4 (IV) (11:18)

1888 Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major (III) (10:22)

1893 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor “Largo” (12:10)

Paper II due

Dec. 2 Thurs. “Oh, how difficult it is to make anyone see and feel in music what we see and feel ourselves!” - Tchaikovsky

1869 (Suppl) Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture (19:08)

Finals Dec. 7 Tues. Final Exam (1:10 pm - 4 pm) (please bring back your Loaner CDs!)