Courses
A survey of music in the Western classical tradition from antiquity to the late 17th century.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores must have completed PY.260.115[C] AND PY.260.216[C] in order to enroll in this course.
Corequisite(s): Students cannot take more than one Music History at the same time.
Area: P, Y
A survey of music in the Western classical tradition from the early 18th century to the late 19th century.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores must have completed PY.260.115[C] AND PY.260.216[C] in order to enroll in this course.
Corequisite(s): Students cannot take more than one Music History at the same time.
Area: P, Y
A survey of music in the Western classical tradition from the early 20th century to the present day.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores must have completed PY.260.115[C] AND PY.260.216[C] in order to enroll in this course.
Corequisite(s): Students cannot take more than one Music History at the same time.
Area: P, Y
Prerequisite(s): Students must have completed Core 1 and Core 2.
Area: P, Y
Area: P, Y
A review course covering classical antiquity to the 21st century. Students must earn a passing grade in this course before enrolling in graduate seminars in Musicology. Open to graduate students only. Offered in the summer and fall.
How will innovations of the past open future pathways for performers and composers? This course probes the results and unexpected resonances of transformative technologies such as electrically amplified sound, magnetic tape, digital audio, and social media. Readings and seminar discussion topics include how the microphone transformed singing; the origins and role of artificial reverberation; phonomanipulation and tape editing; drum machines and sampling; the resurgence of analog devices (record players, modular synthesizers, vintage guitar pedals, etc.); and streaming audio. Technology continues to shape how music is recorded, performed, and released into the world, so we will explore many genres and exemplars including multi-microphone perspectives of Beethoven symphonies; early field recordings; musique concrète; popular and ambient music; lowercase sound; and generative music rooted in Artificial Intelligence.
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.;Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 of the following courses. History of Music 1, History of Music 2, History of Music 3, Music Histories in a Global Context.
Area: P, Y
A study of the expression, reception, and function of music in and from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. Includes both popular and art musical traditions and how they intersect with social identities.
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.;Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of the following courses: History of Music 1, History of Music 2, History of Music 3, or Music Histories in a Global Context.
This course will examine the colonialist underpinnings of ethnomusicology and its persistent effects on current understandings of music in a global context. We will analyze foundational texts in the field, along with newer works that attempt to undo the colonialist legacy upon which the discipline is built.
Area: P, Y
This course is designed as a series of highlights. We will explore a wide range of musical works and cultural topics related to George Gershwin’s life and career. Questions to be posed over the course of the semester will include: Who were Gershwin’s colleagues and collaborators? How did Gershwin’s music interact with the racial terrain of American culture during the Jim Crow era? And does it continue to engage with issues of race today? How has Gershwin’s legacy been shaped by American political and business interests? Did technology play a role in the shaping of his “American” sound? If yes, then how did technology influence Gershwin’s creative identity? Students will be asked to lead discussions about Gershwin's compositions, so success is dependent upon setting aside blocks of time on a regular basis to complete the various listening and reading assignments. Written assignments will include creating annotated playlists related to various facets of Gershwin’s career and a final research paper/long-form essay that relates to material discussed in class.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course examines voice contests across time. While contests such as American Idol have received widespread attention, these competitions must be understood in terms of a much broader trend towards the proliferation of music prizes, both within and outside the classical music tradition. Our course examines the deep history of the current obsession with voice contests, with examples drawn from the Ancient Greece to the current day. Together we will ask: what sustains the power of prizes? What has driven their incredible proliferation since the outset of the twentieth century, when the Nobel, Pulitzer and modern-day Olympic prizes were first awarded? How does prize culture motor the classical- and popular-music industries? And how should musicians best maneuver themselves within modern-day economics of prestige? While the focus of our course is on vocal contests, this course will be of relevance to all those with an interest in how musical value is created—and tastes shaped—by prize-giving institutions.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
The critical literature addressing the music and aesthetic orientations of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) encompasses multiple frames of reference: ritual, discontinuity, octatonicism, neoclassicism, serialism, Russianness, and more. This seminar will sample prominent approaches in scholarship on Stravinsky, tracing several debates and examining representative works.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
In April 1904, Richard Strauss undertook a whirlwind tour of the United States in which he was heralded as the “lion of the musical hour.” Four years later in January 1908, Gustav Mahler made his own American debut, inaugurating a spectacular but troubled relationship with both the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. Their receptions could not have been more different. In this course we use Strauss and Mahler as a lens through which to understand both German and American art at the Fin de Siècle. We will discuss American concert culture, performance practice, and the phenomenon of the celebrity concert tour. We will explore the works that Strauss and Mahler wrote and premiered in this period and their increasingly divergent careers. Finally, we will investigate how Americans, grappling with European art, tried to define their own.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
In the words of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “The will to power for black Americans was the will to write; and the predominant mode that this writing would assume was the shaping of a black self in words.” What did the shaping of the black self in words mean for those whose primary mode of expression was musical and improvisational? In their autobiographies and memoirs, jazz musicians’ discursive self-invention would appear to be born of materials and processes akin to those of jazz itself: full of polyrhythms, spontaneous riffing, call and response, and turnarounds. This course examines the autobiographies and memoirs of central figures, such as Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. We will ask what relationship these texts bear to musical performances and personas: compositionally, aesthetically, and as represented by other media. For example, do they perpetuate or rather stand in opposition to various jazz mythologies such as the musicians’ intuitive genius or sensationalized drug use? What roles do these myths serve? If together jazz autobiographies can be said to constitute a genre, might these sophisticated textual performances comprise a counter-narrative to official histories of jazz and speak a different kind of truth to power? Note: Lara Pellegrinelli is a new adjunct faculty member who is also teaching for Zane Forshee in the Breakthrough Curriculum this spring. It appears that she does not yet have a JHED ID. Patrick Wallen DOES have her contract details (both from Zane and from me). Please let me know what else I may need to do in order to get her into the system and get her course scheduled.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course explores the construction of the idea of “experimental” music since around 1950. We will consider the work of numerous individuals, groups, and movements including John Cage and the New York School, the Chicago-based AACM, the Darmstadt circle, the Lower East Side loft jazz scene, Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra, and Fluxus. Through the study of recordings (commercial and archival), scores, artists’ writings, and scholarly literature, we will develop historical and aesthetic understanding of the varied practices that helped create the notion of musical experimentalism. Finally, we will study more recent experimental work including that being done in Baltimore at venues such as the Red Room and at festivals such as High Zero.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course considers the repertoire of nineteenth-century German art song through a focused study of the works of four major figures: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Wolf. We will address theories of text in music, evolving notions of the song “cycle,” analytical approaches to the lied, and the place of the lied within the social sphere. We will devote particular attention to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, and Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Area: P, Y
Creators of musical works have been continually drawn towards the idea of the “other,” wanting to represent on the stage characters that they perceive as culturally different or outside the norms of their own society. This course focuses on musical works for the stage that contain representations of the “other,” examining how text, music, and staging all work in different ways to exoticize certain characters. Works discussed will include Rameau’s Les Indes galantes (1735), Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (1791), Bizet’s Carmen (1875), Sullivan’s The Mikado (1885), and Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957), as well as more recent adaptations of these works such as Carmen Jones (1943), Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001), and the upcoming new West Side Story film (2021). We will address the historical contexts of these works, not to excuse them for their stereotyping practices, but to learn the social, economic, and aesthetic contexts that contributed to their original receptions. In addition, we will examine our own responses to these pieces and discuss the ethics of performing these works today.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Music flourished in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558-1603. Composers thrived in all genres: secular and sacred, instrumental and vocal. Centuries later, the legendary monarch inspired opera composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, and Britten to create musical works dramatizing the renaissance queen’s life. This course reviews the masterpieces of English renaissance and also examines the rich operatic works depicting the royal heroine. Topics to be addressed will include nineteenth century continental reception of English history and twentieth century revivals of the Elizabethan lore.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Music that Changed America offers a political history of the United States through a musical lens. It explores the many ways that music, perhaps more than any other art form, has given voice to those who might otherwise have gone unheard. Learning about the music that has influenced American politics, for good and for bad, can teach us about our past. But even more importantly, discovering music’s power to activate change can help us listen more attentively to the present world around us.
Area: P, Y
Music and film have always shared an intimate relationship. From its inception, film has been injected with pre-existing music, including chant, traditional Western composers from Beethoven to Bartók, and more contemporary artists from the Beatles to Beyonce. This music has influenced American and international film industries alike, shaping the look and sound of film. Through close viewings—and listenings—of film, we will investigate the meaning(s) these musical works can acquire as they are re-used and re-purposed. Similarly, we will explore how, through film, pre-existing music can live on, change, and reify the past through contexts beyond the concert consumption with which we may be more familiar. During this course, we will hone your skills as an academic writer by learning to critically evaluate and craft arguments about the roles of music/sound in film. Some of the topics covered include: canonical works from the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of 20th-century avant garde music in horror, representations of jazz, chant and other medieval genres, anachronistic uses, and popular song. Your work will include studying film clips and full-length films; readings; short writing responses (100-200 words); four short papers focused on close readings of scenes or other supplied prompts (1000-1500 words); and a midterm project. Paired with writing workshops and peer review exercises, you will develop the skills necessary to contribute to the greater academic community, write clearly and logically for your intended audience, and formulate original, persuasive arguments.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
What do cultural histories of listening tell us about the value we have ascribed to music at various points in time? And how have the invention of media from the musical score to the MP3 altered how we conceive of music as sound? “Sound Studies” is not a course in which we learn about the acoustic properties of noises or pitches (however interesting such matters may be) but rather a historical course, in which we consider how we can enrich our histories of music when we situate music within broader histories of sound. Our seminars, for instance, consider historical moments when we have listened to sound for truth (as when confessions were first recorded) or other forms of concrete information (as when sound was first communicated across phone lines) and examines how these practices did—and sometimes did not—shape ideas about how we should compose, circulate and consume music. Our case studies will be drawn from the medieval era to the current day.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course will examine the bio-cultural evolution of music in light of recent interdisciplinary research on the social bases of human cognitive evolution, and explore its implications for current debates in musicology, ethnomusicology, psychology of music, and human cognitive evolution.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course addresses retellings of the Orpheus myth from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607) to Mitchell’s Hadestown (2010) and Aucoin’s Eurydice (2020). We consider why this myth is so compelling to composers and librettists and explore the complexities involved in adapting the same subject for new audiences.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
This class provides a detailed overview of prevalent performance conventions in the Baroque era as revealed by primary sources, as well as some insight into why these matters are important and what drives the early music movement. Required of all Historical Performance MM students.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Area: P, Y
Music defines our media experiences. Musical themes can likewise go beyond their original audiovisual framework to operate as musical-cultural texts. This online, asynchronous course uses music as a tool to investigate musical branding and the creation of meaning in the media we consume every day. Through close viewings - and listenings - of films, television episodes, video games, commercials, and other media, this course will explore the meaning(s) these media construct and acquire as both they and their music are re-used and re-purposed in multimedia franchises that expand their content into myriads of installments and platforms.
Area: P, Y
This course addresses a variety of examples of music in multimedia works of art and popular culture—with supporting texts from the fields of musicology, art history, and philosophy—to consider the interactions between music and visual media from painting to cinema and television, and from contemporary opera design to the video game. Open to graduate students only.
Area: P, Y
Paradoxically accessible and esoteric, Maurice Ravel’s music resides in the canonical repertoire of practically every conservatory student. Yet Ravel’s relationship to his own musical training was fraught both as a pianist and composer. This course examines the life and works of the French composer whose legacy permeates the practice rooms of Peabody. Beyond a survey of his compositional output, this seminar will examine the era that produced Ravel. France at the turn of the century, Ravel’s studies at the Paris Conservatory, and his relationship with his musical contemporaries will all be topics of discussion. All musicians are welcome to take this class.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Popular music(s)—while they often share certain practices of production and distribution—are made, performed, and enjoyed around the world in a wide variety of languages, genres, and contexts. They are also closely tied to a range of social practices, political projects, and economic concerns as varied as the contexts in which these styles are produced and consumed. In this course, we will examine the production, consumption, and circulation of popular musics in multiple national and transnational contexts. We will discuss ways in which a global perspective might complicate common Western understandings of popular music aesthetics, categorization, and participation. Finally, through a series of case studies, we will seek to understand both the breadth of practice in popular musics and how these musics and the values embedded in them may both support and disrupt global patterns of influence, exchange, and domination.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
This class provides a survey of prevalent performance conventions in the nineteenth century as revealed by primary sources, as well as some insight into why these matters are important and what constitutes the so-called Historically Informed Performance (HIP) perspective.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
How do the innovations of women making electronic music complicate notions of listening, music history, and the nature of music? Instead of conceptualizing gender and technology as discrete, oppositional, and universally open, this seminar explores electronic music through the lens of feminist critical frameworks and musical analyses in tandem with models of listening – notably Deep Listening as promulgated by Pauline Oliveros and Hildegard Westerkamp's approach to "conscious listening." Inspired and guided by Tara Rodgers' seminal anthology of interviews, Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound, we discuss the work, struggles, triumphs, and techniques of pioneers including Daphne Oram, Pauline Oliveros, Wendy Carlos, Ruth Anderson, and Adrian Piper. We will also examine contemporary innovators and cyberfeminist speculative futures. Along with readings and seminar discussion, course activities include research presentations, listening sessions, brief performances, and composition projects.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
This course introduces research from the roles of consuming and then creating materials with a focus on how research is created, disseminated, and accessed. Scholars analyze and produce a variety research outputs relevant for music researchers and performing professionals. Students engage with secondary and archival research materials, discuss how to publish and disseminate their own research, and explore how information is organized to optimize the use of academic library resources now and post-graduation. Open to MM and undergraduate Musicology minor students only. Fall and spring.
The disciplines of ethnomusicology and musicology regularly employ a valuable set of intellectual tools for understanding, discussing, contextualizing, and performing music. What value do scholarly insights such as these have outside of the academy and how might they be put to work? “Applied” ethnomusicology and “public” musicology use the scholarly insights of the two fields in service of a range of practical or entrepreneurial projects and writing that addresses a broad audience. In this course, we will discuss a variety of such projects, as well as some of the ethical and practical concerns that arise when scholars engage with their publics. We will practice multiple styles of writing useful to public-facing scholarship, including grant proposals, program notes, and think pieces. Through both discussion and hands-on experience, we will explore the division between strictly academic and public-facing or applied research, questioning the utility and limits of this boundary.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course
Over the last century, the child as performer has played a central—if often unacknowledged—role in the Western cultural imagination. Occupying a third space between “real” children and adults, the child star has functioned as a surface upon which (adult) audiences can project their fears and fantasies about the future, the past, innocence, sexuality, talent, and human nature. This course examines the work that child stars perform for Western society at large, pulling apart the various ways that this enduring and meaningful area of performance acquires cultural, economic, and political significance. We’ll focus on the careers of young classical music virtuosi, television and film stars, and the Disney-promoted singers of the last few decades; our readings will draw from labor history, race and gender studies, and theories of children’s literature. We will ask the following questions: Why is child stardom generally limited to the performing arts (rather than the visual arts, literature, or musical composition)? Why are contemporary child stars always accompanied by a tragic narrative of “lost” childhood, even as their exceptional status is translated into the kind of wealth and recognition that many adults dream of? And what are the ethical issues in promoting, consuming, and sometimes exploiting children’s talent?
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Area: P, Y
How did Ludwig van Beethoven compose? Modern-day musicians are extraordinarily fortunate that Beethoven saved his work in various stages of completion. Through his surviving autographs and sketches, we have the ability to trace his early ideas to their eventual fruition. The simple becomes sophisticated; the seemingly vapid can be enlivened or abandoned altogether. Perhaps as inspiring as the grandeur of these compositions in their final form is Beethoven’s industry and sheer diligence so clearly evident in the sources. This seminar provides performers an opportunity to examine and analyze Beethoven’s compositional process and exposes them to practical research tools. This course also delves into evolving musicological trends by accessing digital archives located throughout the world. A visit to the Library of Congress in Washington DC will be scheduled. All musicians are welcome.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
While the emphasis is on contemporary Western models, the history and technology of precursors and non-Western instruments will be addressed. It is hoped that students will develop a thorough knowledge of the history, technology and performance of their own instruments, as well as an appreciation and some familiarity with all ancient and modern musical instruments. To gain an understanding of the workings of musical instruments, projects will include the construction of instruments from simple ones—constructed from easy recipes and materials readily found around the house— to some requiring more sophisticated formulas and parts. Some of our classes may be held in the Mechanical Engineering Department’s Laboratory Space at Wyman Park.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
As early as the mid-1920s opera was widely criticized for purportedly being out-of-joint with modernity, irrevocably stuffy, and elitist. By mid-century few composers associated with avant- garde movements were interested in the form. Since the early 1970s, however, there has been a kind of operatic renaissance involving a diverse pool of composers, writers, and artists (although the critiques never stopped). This course surveys an array of the more experimental operas written since 1970 by composers with roots in numerous traditions including serialism, free jazz, fluxus, performance art, and minimalism. We will seek out causes for the operatic turn while exploring how composers, writers, directors, and visual artists have adapted opera to reflect contemporary concerns. Each class will focus on a single work with associated texts by the relevant artists as well as readings drawn from musicology, art history, philosophy, media theory, sociology, linguistics, psychology, and theater studies. In addition to our weekly meetings we will have opportunities to visit composers, opera companies and institutes, venues, and festivals. Composers/librettists/directors covered in the course will include: Igor Stravinsky and W. H. Auden (the sole pre-1970 example); Carla Bley and Paul Haines; Meredith Monk; Gyorgi Ligeti; Robert Wilson and Philip Glass; Karlheinz Stockhausen; Robert Ashley; Anthony Davis and Thulani Davis; Laurie Anderson; Luigi Nono; Anthony Braxton; Heiner Goebbels; Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek; and Michel van der Aa.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Area: P, Y
In this seminar we'll explore the lives and music of twelve female or minority composers with special attention to reception history, and the challenges of expanding the classical canon. Artistic “Canons” are complex, nebulous, and inherently fraught structures, in which cultural establishments reflect and propagate their values. In this course, we will investigate the histories of these canons, and the rationales for the inclusions and, most importantly, exclusions. Our individual case studies are linked by this broader historiographical narrative.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Prerequisite(s): Graduates students must have successfully passed their placement exam or equivalent review course.;Undergraduates must complete 2 out of the 4 following courses in order to enroll. History of Music 1,2,or 3 and/or Music Histories in a Global Context
Area: P, Y
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students must have passed their placement exam or successfully completed their review course.;Undergraduates must complete 2 out of the 4 following courses in order to enroll. History of Music 1,2,or 3 and/or Music Histories in a Global Context
Area: P, Y
The symphony occupies a prominent place within the history of Western classical music in the “long” nineteenth century. At once a canvas for daring innovations in style and form and a genre strongly allied with notions of “tradition,” the nineteenth-century symphony brings together a complex set of issues that illuminate the broader history of music and musical culture of the past 200 years. This course introduces the iconic works of the symphonic tradition, with a focus on music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler. As we aim to discover what made this music so remarkable in its time and why so many people still care about it today, we will consider each symphony both as a timeless work of art and as a particular moment in cultural history. Close attention will be given to the techniques of structural listening, and our work will be deeply rooted within the historical, philosophical, and political contexts of the time.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
A scholarly work written under the supervision of a member of the musicology faculty. Required for the Master’s degree in Musicology. Fall and spring.
Wagner stands as one of the most famous and controversial exemplars of German musical romanticism. A revolutionary, a composer, a dramaturg, a critic, and––by some metrics––a philosopher, Wagner is an unavoidable voice in the story of opera. In this course we evaluate Wagner's life, works, and historical context. We evaluate patterns of criticism of reception, all with an aim of honing our skills as readers and writers.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
A survey of American Music, from colonial times to the middle of the 20th century. There will be a considerable emphasis on relating musical expressions to changing social/historical conditions. We will examine the roles played by technological developments and the rise of the music business shortly after the American Revolution. Our country’s varied musical styles invite serious study of all modes of performance and dissemination, not just “classical” composition and performance. Active participation in discussion is a requirement of this seminar, as is writing a research paper on a topic of the student’s choice.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
Music in Maryland: from British Colonization through the mid-20th Century: Founded in 1634, Maryland's diverse geography, economy, and settlement begat a rich music history. This course traces music of the great tobacco plantations of the Chesapeake Bay, with their co-mingled African and British music, through the growth of Baltimore into a center of publishing, concerts, opera, church music, instrument-building and teaching. We will examine the roles played by technological developments and the rise of the music business shortly after the American Revolution, also considering developments in sound recording and broadcast radio. Going well beyond `classical` trends, we will also examine rich popular and folk traditions, such as parlor songs and `Sacred Harp` hymnody. Active participation in discussion is a requirement of this seminar, also required are several writing assignments and an in-class presentation on a topic of the student’s choice.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need to have successfully completed 2 out of 3 following courses in order to register: PY.610.321[C], PY.610.322[C], PY.610.323[C].;Graduate students must meet musicology seminar proficiency requirements in order to enroll in this course.
Area: P, Y
An introduction to methods of research through independent written projects in music history. Required of all musicology majors.
An introduction to methods of research through independent written projects in music history. Required of all musicology majors. Fall and spring.
A study of an original musical topic, approved by the DMA Committee, culminating in the completion and defense of a scholarly work written under supervision of the student’s academic advisor. Graded on a S/U basis.
A study of a specific musical topic, approved by the DMA Committee and suitable as the basis for a lecture-recital, culminating in a written paper and a public lecture-recital. Fall and spring. Graded on a S/U basis.
For graduate students working with a faculty member to complete a dissertation or a lecture-recital essay. Registration required each semester following completion of coursework in order to maintain active status in the program.
For graduate students working to complete a dissertation or a lecture-recital essay. Registration is required each semester following completion of coursework in order to maintain active status in the program. Fall and spring.
An introduction to doctoral-level academic study at Peabody. Emphasis is on critical thinking, argument from sources, and written and oral presentations. The course features presentations from invited speakers. Open to DMA and MM Musicology students only. Lectures are open to the general public.
Area: P, Y
An introduction to doctoral-level academic study at Peabody. Emphasis is on critical thinking, argument from sources, and written and oral presentations. The course features presentations from invited speakers. Open to DMA and MM Musicology students only. Lectures are open to the general public.
Area: P, Y