PY.710 (Music Theory)

The study of voice leading, melody, figured bass, and diatonic harmony, through analysis and composition. Open to undergraduates only.

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course is a continuation of techniques learned in Theory 1. Students will study diatonic harmony, cadences, tonicization and modulation, non-chord tones and figuration, sequence, and the tonal phrase model. Open to undergraduates only. 3 credits.

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 1, needed, PY.710.111[C]

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course begins with a reinforcement of chromatic part-writing and voice-leading, and then focuses on two- and three-voice counterpoint in the Baroque style. Placement by examination. Open to undergraduates only. This is a year long course. Must take both the fall and spring sections.

Prerequisite(s): Only Undergraduates who test into this course will be allowed to register.

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course is a continuation of techniques learned in Theory 2. Students will study chromatic harmony, Classical forms, and post-tonal analysis. Open to undergraduates only. 3 credits.

Prerequisite(s): Previous course needed, PY.710.112[C] OR PY.710.110[C]

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course is an introduction to Renaissance counterpoint and the musical practice of the late 16th century as exemplified by works of Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, and Byrd. The course will cover topics in mode, consonance and dissonance, cantus firmus, counterpoint species, cadence, voice leading conventions, and canonic and free imitation.

Prerequisite(s): Students must have completed Theory 3 or Theory 1-3.

Distribution Area: P, Y

A study of the music of the late-19th through 21st centuries. Open to undergraduates only.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of previous course needed, PY.710.212[C] OR PY.710.214[C]

Distribution Area: P, Y

Students take one of several specially-designated electives. Open to undergraduates only.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of Theory 5 needed, PY.710.311[C]

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 3 (PY.710.211) or Theory 1-3 (PY.710.113) needed

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 3 (PY.710.211) or Accelerated Theory 1-3 (PY.710.113) needed

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 3 (PY.710.211) or Accelerated Theory 1-3 (PY.710.113) needed

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 3 (PY.710.211) or Accelerated Theory 1-3 (PY.710.113) needed

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Previous course, Theory 3 (PY.710.211) needed

Distribution Area: P, Y

Informed by theories of memory, semiotics, media technology, and narrative, this course will prepare students to critically investigate the sound and music in the movies we watch, the shows we stream, and the games we play. From neo-Riemannian Triadic Transformation Theory to Spectrographic analysis, students will acquire a range of linear and non-linear analytical techniques through hands-on analysis of cues, theme songs, interstitials, modular loops, stingers, and more.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of Theory 3 or Accelerated Theory 1-3 required

Distribution Area: P, Y

A course designed to introduce students to idiomatic writing for orchestral instruments, individually and in standard combinations. Lectures, listening, and score study will be complemented by arranging exercises. Open to Computer Music, Music Education, and Music for New Media majors (others by permission of the instructor). This class may not be used for graduate theory seminar credit.

Prerequisite(s): Open to Computer Music, Music Education, and Music for New Media majors only. Others may take course with permission of instructor.

Distribution Area: P, Y

A course for composers and conductors studying instrumental technique and ensemble combinations as demonstrated in orchestral literature, 1750 to the present. Open to conductors and composition majors only. Course must be taken for the entire school year. May not be used for graduate seminar credit.

Distribution Area: P, Y

A course for composers and conductors studying instrumental technique and ensemble combinations as demonstrated in orchestral literature, 1750 to the present. Open to conductors and composition majors only. Course must be taken for the entire school year. May not be used for graduate seminar credit.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of Orchestration 1 needed, PY.710.413[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

An intensive review of the materials and techniques of tonal music, including diatonic and chromatic harmony, part writing, and analysis.

After completing the core sequence and taking two topics courses, students will enroll in a theory capstone practicum seminar. Each section of this course will be driven by analysis of the repertoire that enrolled students are performing and works of special interest that influence the composition and music for new media students’ own work. Students will take the knowledge and skills they have gleaned from the core and topics courses and apply it directly to their own creative practice.

Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of Theory 5

This course delves analytically into the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We will cover a range of musical forms and genres, such as solo sonatas, concertos, chamber music, symphonies, and opera, though the focus will be on instrumental repertoire. In some cases, we will briefly examine other contemporary composers to better understand what sets Mozart apart and has made him so beloved. While it is not a performance practice class, we will discuss current understanding of certain performance practice issues during our study and engage with a range of recordings as well.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

How can instrumental tonal music convey meaning and emotions? In this class we analyze and discuss the expressive content of absolute music, mainly from 19th century Europe. We view meaning as an objective phenomenon deriving from formal structure and symbolic associations.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course consults literature in the field of music cognition to explore how it may inform music analysis, which in turn has implications for both performer and listener.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Strict rules about resolving dissonances dominated Western classical music theory and composition across the Common Practice Period, thereby codifying a precise framework of expectations for how music “should” work. Yet what could arguably be described as some of the most expressive moments in music from this time occur precisely when those established rules are subverted. This 3-credit graduate seminar invites students to enter into the mindset of composers and initial audiences of selected music and to examine such issues as 1) when–and under what conditions–subversion of the rules was indeed considered subversive; 2) what it meant for music to exert clear—even visceral—power over audiences in such moments; and 3) how the irregular treatment of dissonance has been almost an idée fixe within the Common Practice Period, a function whose expressive potential has been endlessly reimagined.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Analysis of chamber music in various styles, with particular emphasis on works being currently performed in Peabody’s chamber music program.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This class focuses on text-music relationships, analyzing the processes through which they interpret the meaning of each other. Although most of our work concentrates on art and popular song, the tools we develop throughout the semester may be applied to all repertoire that combines music and text. For the final project, students are welcome to analyze any piece that pairs music with text. Song Analysis is designed specifically for singers, accompanists, and composers of all types

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

The study of musical content in relation to harmonic, tonal, motivic and formal aspects of Scriabin's technique. A significant part of the discussions will be devoted to innovations in pitch structure and form, as well as large-scale musical projects of Scriabin. In particular, we will cover the topics of three stylistic periods in Scriabin’s biography, the evolution of his harmony on the examples of harmonic analysis of preludes, etudes, piano miniatures and orchestral compositions. The format of this seminar will include student performances, short presentations and exercises in harmonization.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

The study of Renaissance dance as a crucial source for the formation of the common practice styles.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course focuses on developing skills in improvisation in Baroque and Classical styles through the understanding of harmony, proper voice leading, good melodic accompaniment, cadence, modulation, and sequence. Topics include melody harmonization, ornamentation and variation, prelude, the free fantasia, and the cadenza. If time permits, chorale setting and fugue. Open to graduate students only.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Analysis of recent experimental music in a variety of aesthetic styles. Focus will be placed on the structural foundations for these works and its basis in manipulation of time and sonority.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This seminar will explore Schubert’s music in a range of genres, with particular attention to chamber and solo works. Our discussions will be informed by a range of past and present scholars, though our focus will be the scores themselves. Our goal is the development of analytic and persuasive skills, a deeper and clearer understanding of Schubert’s style, and, ideally, some sense of how the composer creates his unique ‘magic’ via distinctive structural and expressive power.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

An examination through composition of the musical practice of the late Renaissance, including modal theory, species counterpoint, and imitative composition in two and three parts.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

The course concentrates on the contrapuntal practice of J.S. Bach, including analysis and composition of a suite movement, invention, fugue, and chorale-prelude or passacaglia. Open to graduate students only.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;UG Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course will use standard jazz repertoire to give students an introduction to the jazz harmonic language. Listening, analysis, and composition will be the focus of this course.

In this graduate-level music theory seminar, students will acquire and apply the analytical techniques necessary to understand the broad musical language of the 20th-century American stage, from Tin Pan Alley to the Met. Stage works composed by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Gian Carlo Menotti, Vernon Duke, Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, John Adams, Alan Menken, and several others will be examined using a variety of methods including an expanded approach to functional harmonic analysis (including tritone substitutions and extended tertian sonorities), post-tonal techniques, motivic analysis, structural analysis, and textual analysis.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;UG Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Partimento is a method of harmony and composition teaching developed in Naples in the 18th Century, which was the basis of conservatory education from the time of Pergolesi though Verdi. It uses figured and unfigured basses as the foundation for extempore and written-out compositions, starting with the simplest chord progression patterns and working up to entire movements. This is a skills-based course in which students will realize examples from the partimento tradition at the keyboard. All students are welcome; keyboard skills required.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

A survey of important trends in music from the turn of the 20th century. Emphasis on score analysis and listening.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

A tapestry of ideas, musical style since 1945 is as varied as the polemics of its composers – individuals who sometimes defined their work as much by its divergence from their peers as its convergence. In the sprit of this contrast, this semester we will explore a diverse selection of music with an ear towards two ideas: clarity and complexity. Through listening and analysis, we will consider how a complex musical idea can be clearly rendered and vice versa and how this realization may inform the harmonic, formal, or procedural structure of an individual composition. Our discussion will further extend to the roles performer and audience share with the composer in bringing an idea to life, including how different the demands on each may be.

Distribution Area: P, Y

A detailed analysis of representative works from the piano repertoire. Open to graduate students only.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course investigates and discusses available teaching resources for students who may wish to teach undergraduate theory, including current technology, as well as classroom observation and practice teaching.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course consists of a semester of supervised teaching for students in Peabody's Master of Music in Music Theory Pedagogy (MM MTP) program.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C]

This analysis course is for anyone interested in the intersections of gender and music theory. We will explore a wide variety of works by women, contextualize their practices via short readings, and develop creative analytical approaches to illuminate their music. Special emphasis will be placed on living composers and the development of a nuanced analytical tool kit to respond critically and contribute to the discourse of intersectional analysis.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

A study of techniques for the analysis of common-practice tonal music. A variety of forms, genres, and styles will be explored.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

The study of music in film, emphasizing the emergence of the idea of montage, the question of diegetic and non-diegetic presentations, and the problems of rhythm and meter in both visual and acoustic domains.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course examines the wide-ranging use of fugue in music from the high baroque to the mid-20th century. The class focuses on the techniques and designs themselves, and how those techniques and designs relate to both the larger works studied and the broader musical styles of the times.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

In this course, students will develop an idiomatic understanding of writing and arranging for choirs. A variety of analytical techniques specifically suited for choral repertoire will be utilized, including analysis of text, texture, and counterpoint, in addition to melodic and harmonic analysis. Repertoire will be drawn from compositions ranging from the Renaissance to the present day in order to familiarize students with the idioms and techniques known to modern choral singers, including: works for a cappella chorus; chorus with, keyboard, chamber ensemble and/or orchestra; and other specific choral ensemble types.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

This course explores and develops aural analytical skills used in the composition, performance, and hearing of contemporary classical music. Students examine 20th- and 21st-century compositional approaches through the lenses of listener perception and performance techniques, developing applied understandings of and fluency in these musical practices.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Designed for Music Theory Pedagogy students, the project will examine a specific aspect of music theory teaching. Students work under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Open to graduate students only. May not be used for seminar credit.

A detailed analysis of the preludes and fugues in Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

A detailed analysis of the preludes and fugues in Book 2 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

This course explores orchestration developments in repertoire for the modern concert wind band. We will focus on developing an understanding the works of several key contributors to the repertoire and engage in stylistic reductions and model orchestration projects.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet music theory seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course. Undergraduates must be Composition or Computer Music majors.;Open to Composition, Computer Music, and Theory minor Undergraduate students; must first complete PY.710.212[C] or PY.710.214[C].

Distribution Area: P, Y