Dr. Dan Lipori's Website: Music 372 Music History I

Music 372. Music History to 1600

Music 372-01. Music History: Pre-History to 1600

Daniel Lipori, Instructor
Fall 2008 Quarter
MW 9-9:50 AM, Music Room 117

1. OFFICE HOURS: TBA

Office Phone: 963-1242
Email: liporid@cwu.edu
Web Page: http://www.cwu.edu/~liporid

Also whenever my office door is open, feel free to come in if you have any questions or problems concerning this course.

2. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:

Music 372 is an introductory survey of the European art music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Class time will be spent discussing historical background on the composers and musical styles of these periods. There will be several listening and score assignments to accompany the lectures. Reading assignments will be given daily to accompany the lectures.

A student earning a grade of C or higher will be able to:

1. identify the different types of music available during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, either by music score or listening example. This will be assessed by correctly identifying music score and listening examples on class exams.

2. demonstrate knowledge of the different musical forms and genres of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, how they evolved, and their relationship within the culture and society of the time. This will be assessed by the written portion of the class exams as well as by analytical and compositional assignments.

3. demonstrate knowledge of the primary composers of the Medieval and Renaissance periods. This will be assessed by being able to identify musical compositions of various composers as well as demonstrating knowledge of important biographical information on each.

4. write in a scholarly manner about various styles of music. This will be assessed by short papers showing a strong command of the material. Theses papers will be graded not only for their content, but also for their proper format and structure.

3. TEXTS AND RESERVE ITEMS:

a. Required Texts:

Seaton, Douglass. Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Burkholder, J. Peter, and Claude V. Palisca, eds. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1. New York: Norton, 2006.

Burkholder, J. Peter, and Claude V. Palisca, eds. Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1. New York: Norton, 2006.

b. Reserve Items (To be held in Music Library):

Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music Volume 1 (Recordings also available and on my Blackboard site)
(Also available for purchase)

Weiss, Piero and Taruskin, Richard, eds. Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. New York: Schirmer, 1984.

4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

a. Daily assignments:

(1) Assigned Readings from primary text and other sources as needed.
(2) Listening selections.
(3) Score study of items.

b. Evaluation:

(1) Medieval Exam 100 points.
(2) Assignment 1 25 points.
(3) Assignment 2 50 points.
(4) Assignment 3 50 points.
(5) Assignment 4 25 points.
(6) Final Exam (mainly Ren. with some Med.) 150 points.(1) Medieval Exam 100 points.

c. Grading:

400 total points possible
365-400 points = A
360-364 points = A-
355-359 points = B+
325-354 points = B
320-324 points = B-
315-319 points = C+
285-314 points = C
280-284 points = C-
275-279 points = D+
240-274 points = D
0-239 points = F

d. Absences:

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly encouraged. If you know prior to a class meeting that you will be absent, please let me know beforehand so we are not waiting for someone to start a lecture. You are responsible for obtaining all materials covered during missed classes.

Verbal Changes to assignments, due dates, etc. given in class will always take precedence over what is written in the syllabus.

e. Late Assignments:

Personally, I feel that there is no good reason for turning an assignment in after the scheduled due date, other then your death. But, if something else should come up, here are my policies. An assignment is considered late if it is turned in after 12pm for a morning class or after 5pm for an afternoon class the day the assignment is due. Assignments will be lowered one letter grade for each class day late. A weekend will count for at least two days late. No assignments will be accepted after the scheduled final exam for the class. If you email an assignment to me and I can not open it with the programs I have on my computer, then it will be considered late until a readable copy is obtained, even if the original email was sent before the due date.

5. ASSIGNMENTS:

You will have two assignments pertaining to each period of music studied. Assignment 1 will be a chant transcription and Assignment 4 will be a word painting project. More specific details concerning Assignments 2 and 3 are given later in this syllabus. Of course with all assignments, you are welcome to turn them in before the due date or I am happy to look over an assignment a day or two before it is turned in to make sure you are on the right track.

6. PROPOSED CLASS SCHEDULE:

Week 1: 9/24

Introduction
Chant of the Medieval Church (pp. 23-47)

Week 2: 9/29, 10/1

Chant of the Medieval Church cont. (pp. 23-47) (Listening #’s 3, 5)
Medieval Secular Music (pp. 49-63) (Listening #’s 8, 10)

Week 3: 10/6, 10/8

Development of Polyphony (pp. 65-83)
(Listening #’s 14c, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21a, 22)

Week 4: 10/13, 10/15

Mon. 10/13 Assignment 1 Due

Music in the Fourteenth Century (85-100)
(Listening #’s 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)

Week 5: 10/20, 10/22

Mon. 10/20 Assignment 2 Due

Catch Up/Review

Wed. 10/22 Medieval Exam

Week 6: 10/27, 10/29

The Rise of the Renaissance (pp. 103-15) (WT pp. 81-83) (Listening #’s 32, 36b)

Week 7: 11/3, 11/5

The High Renaissance (pp. 117-37) (Listening #’s 37, 38, 39, 40, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54)

Week 8: 11/10, 11/12

The High Renaissance cont. (pp. 117-37) (Listening #’s 37, 38, 39, 40, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54)
Instrumental Music of Renaissance (pp. 139-48) (Listening #’s 58, 59, 60a, 61)

Week 9: 11/17, 11/19

Mon. 11/17 Assignment 3 Due

Word Painting
The Reformation (pp. 151-60) (WT 100-07; 135-43) (Listening #’s 42b, 44, 45, 46a)

Week 9.5: 11/24

The Close of the Sixteenth Century (pp. 163-73) (Listening #’s 56, 62)

Week 10: 12/1, 12/3

Renaissance Ornamentation
Catch Up/Discussion

Wed. 12/3 Assignment 4 Due

Thurs. 12/11 Final Exam (8-10am)

Assignment 2

Due on or before Monday Oct. 20

Choose one option and prepare a report on the topic of your choice. The length will vary depending on the option but if the option you choose is purely text, it should be between 3-5 pages in length of double spaced type. Be sure to indicate which option you have chosen in the heading of your paper. Additional options may be added.

Option One

Gregorian Chant

Find a recording of chant that is not on our cd set.

After introducing your choice, answer the following questions in your report:

1. How does the example on your chosen recording compare to the examples of chant that we listened to and discussed in class? Consider features such as: musical sound, language, intended and actual use, and performance setting.
2. What characteristics would you argue must be present for something to be regarded as chant?
3. Why is chant so well suited for liturgical use?
4. What arguments would you offer for chanting a text versus speaking or singing it?
5. Why might listeners find chant attractive out of a liturgical context?

Option Two

Medieval Secular Song

Listen to and analyze a Medieval secular song and a current popular dance song. Identify resemblances and differences between these songs. Comparison should include the subjects and poetic imagery in the lyrics, musical forms, and ways in which a popular song in either period is suitable for dancing.

Option Three

Isorhythm

Write (in modern notation) a talea of durations of notes and rests, making up from five to eight measures. Then compose a melodic pattern or select a passage of chant with a number of notes different from the number of notes in the talea. Combine the color and talea to create an isorhythmic line of music. The complete piece should be a minimum of sixteen bars of music in 4/4 time or an equivalent length. Above this, choose a sacred text and compose a melody above the isorhythmic line. Make sure the resulting harmonies follow more of a Medieval style, using primarily fourths and fifths. The text setting should be primarily syllabic.

Option Four

Rondeau

Write a song in rondeau form. In composing the text, remember that the first line of the refrain (A) and the first two lines of the verse (a, a) will have different words but the same rhythmic structure. The first refrain line (A) must be usable between the first two lines of the verse (i.e.,...aAa...); one way to do this is to open the poem with a phrase of address. The second refrain line (B) and the third verse line (b) must have the same rhythmic structure and different words, and each should conclude in a thought. In constructing the music, only two phrases need to be composed, the second (B and b) ending with a complete cadence. The complete piece should be a minimum of eight bars for each section of music in 4/4 time or an equivalent length. the text setting should be primarliy syllabic. You only need to compose a melody line; no other accompanying lines are needed.

Assignment 3

Due on or before Monday November 17

Option One

Parody Mass

Create a parody Mass based on a secular piece. You may wish to rearrange the music a great deal or simply to work the Mass movements text into the notes as they stand. Care should be taken with declamation and punctuation. Set TWO texts of the Mass ordinary in primarily a homophonic fashion. Use standard rules for resolving dissonances as taught in freshman/sophomore theory. I would expect a minimum of twelve bars for each movement in a 4/4 time or an equivalent length. Each movement will have different music. The text setting should be primarily syllabic.

Option Two

Development of the Motet

List the style characteristics of the 14th century cantus firmus based motet and the 16th century motet. Discuss how the change of style reflects changes in values and ideas in European culture and art.

Option Three

Worship Services

Attend a service in the Lutheran and/or a Calvinist (Presbyterian, Reformed, etc.) church. Report on what elements of worship the regular services in these churches share with the Roman Catholic Mass and which items are characteristic of Protestant traditions. Also discuss the music itself, noting whether chorales or psalms are sung. If the choir sings and anthem, note both its place in the liturgy and its musical style.

Option Four

Dufay’s Nuper Rosarum flores

Read the article “Brunelleschi’s Dome and Dufay’s Motet” (Musical Quarterly 59 (1973): 92-105) and discuss in detail the similarities between the architecture of Brunelleschi’s cathedral and the musical sections of Dufay’s motet. (I have copies of the score and a recording is available on the Blackboard site.)