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Syllabus
Class Sessions: Friday 1-2:40
Office Phone: 726-8218
E-mail: jrubin1@d.umn.edu
Useful text (library reference section):
Stiller, Andrew. Handbook of Instrumentation (Music Ref MT70.S78 1985)
Composition Assignments:
Composition projects will consist of original work to be assigned over the course of the semester. You will be asked to present your work for critical examination by the class and myself in a masterclass/forum situation a number of times over the course of the semester. When it is your turn to present your material you must be prepared as follows:
• Send the instructor an email with a correctly formatted MIDI (or Finale) file of your composition (at whatever state of completion it is at the time) 2 hours prior to the class meeting. MIDI files will then be used in conjunction with music software in-class (such as Digital Performer, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Finale, etc.) to play the score with appropriate instrumentation. Alternatively, you can choose to create an AIFF or MP3 file yourself if you desire and bring in a CD-RW or other media so that it can be performed for the class. If you choose this option, you will also need to bring scores (see below).
• The class will need scores to properly examine your work if you choose not to present your composition electronically. Therefore, I will need an engraved hard copy of the score 2 hours prior to the class meeting. If you do not give me the score by that time, you are responsible to bring five hard copies of the engraved score to class. Handwritten scores will not be acceptable.
Grading:
The final grade will be based on the quality and ingenuity of the completed composition project (50%) and the progress shown during the course of the semester at weekly presentations of your work (20%). Organization, clarity of thought, and consistency are all primary factors. Correct notation, completeness of assignments, and respect of due dates also factor into the grading. At the conclusion of the semester, you will submit a portfolio of all the assignments. The student's individual progress within the degree program will determine the level of expectation for the work. The written journal will account for 20% of the grade, and your in-class participation as part of the masterclass format the remaining 10%. During the course of the semester, a journal sample may be handed in for assessment and a report on progress will be made. I will work with you on your ability to write on music; a grade will only be assigned upon the completion of the journal at the end of the semester.
Listening List:
Proper presentation of the journal must conform to the following:
• Each entry must be on a separate page, prepared by a word processor, double spaced, times or times new roman 12 point font.
• MU 2105 students must complete all entries according to Journal Style B (see separate form).
• MU 3105 students must complete five entries according to Journal Style A and five according to Style B (see separate forms).
• MU 4105 students must complete all entries according to Journal Style A (see separate form).
Office Hours:
I will be in my office for any questions concerning the class, assignments, etc., as posted on my door (subject to change without notice).
Instructor Responsibilities:
My aim is not to dictate to you but rather to help you focus and develop your materials better and suggest techniques that will help clarify and deepen your writing. I will also direct you towards the study of certain monuments of composition which will enhance your ability to observe how master composers have used these techniques and how you can integrate these ideas into your own writing.
Portfolio:
The portfolio consists of a folder containing the final versions of all of your compositional work during the semester as well as the journal entries and a copy of your in-class analyses.
Attendance:
It is mandatory for each student to attend every class. Failure to do so will result in a lowered grade. For an absence to be excused (see Excused Absence Policy in Policies/Procedures in the UMD Catalogue), the student must provide valid documentation to the professor. In an emergency, I can be contacted through e-mail, the music office, or my office telephone.
Diversity:
During the course of study, the student will be introduced to the use of musical forms and instruments outside the Occidental tradition and how they can be applied appropriately.
Semester Assignment (Fall 2006):
Semester Assignment (Fall 2007):
Compose three movements for cello and guitar. Compose a brief orchestra movement (see handout).
· MU 2105 Each mvmt. should be between 2 and 3 minutes long (total 6-9 minutes).
· MU 3105 Each mvmt. should be between 3 and 4 minutes long (total 9-12 minutes).
· MU 4105 Each mvmt. should be between 4 and 5 minutes long (total 12-15 minutes).
Final Portfolio Due: Wed., December 19, 12 PM
Journal Style Guide
Proper Preparation of the Listening Journal
(Style A)The tasks involved with journal writing cover a wide range of skills that you will develop during the course of increased and concentrated listening. All composers to be studied will be assigned to you off an approved Listening List. Entries must be prepared on a word processor and bound at the end of the semester as a portfolio for grading. Each piece should be given at least two complete hearings.
Journals : each entry must contain the following information:
• A brief statement as to how the given piece fits into the history of music (what School is the composer coming from, what styles and/or composers can be recognized as influences, other information relevant to placing the work into its historical context).
• An analysis of a particular compositional parameter observed throughout the work. As the semester progresses, I will instruct you what this entails since the object of the journal is to develop your aural analytical skills and scores will not be provided. Each entry must be at least 150 words and no more than 250.
• Comparative analysis (relating a work to a body of literature) is as well encouraged, however this is not the primary goal of the assignment.
Proper Preparation of the Listening Journal
(Style B)The tasks involved with journal writing cover a wide range of skills that you will develop during the course of increased and concentrated listening. All composers to be studied will be assigned to you off an approved Listening List . Entries must be prepared on a word processor and bound at the end of the semester as a portfolio for grading. Each piece should be given at least two complete hearings.
Each journal entry must be on a separate sheet, and contain the following information in 200 - 300 words:
• Name of Composer
• Name of Composition
• Instrumentation
• What are your feelings about the piece after each hearing (list hearing 1 and 2 separately)? Speak about the expressive content and dramatic/non-dramatic form.
• Talk about a specific compositional or orchestration idea that you think you can use in a work of your own. In other words, as a composer, you should develop the skill to come away from a piece by someone else, regardless of style or your fondness for the piece, with some ideas that you can integrate into your own music. Speaking to this issue is a key to your maturation as a learned composer.
Music Composition
Listening List for Fall 2007
(Naxos Website).
8.224007 NORGARD: Works for Cello
Quaerendo invenieits for Cello and Guitar "Variations in Search of a Theme" (tracks 5-7)
BCD9162 FLAHERTY: Cello Trio / Timeflies / Time to Travel
Timeflies (tracks 2-4)
8.558152-53 TAVENER: John Tavener - A Portrait (MCCLEERY)
To a Child Dancing in the Wind: I. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
BCD9167 LIPTAK: Broken Cries / Ancient Songs / Forlane
Broken Cries
BIS-CD-66 RAUTAVAARA: Chamber Music
Serenades of the Unicorn
8.225070 AURIC: Lola Montez / Notre-Dame de Paris / Farandole
Notre-Dame de Paris: Esmeralda Dances (tracks 6-10)
ABC4767627 SCULTHORPE: Quamby
Cello Dreaming
CAP21413 WIREN: String Quartet No. 2 / Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Cello / Little Serenade
Little Serenade, Op. 39 (tracks 8-13)
ABCD157 PIAZZOLLA: Chamber Works
Histoire du tango (tracks 5-8)
8.557661-63 BERIO: Sequenzas I-XIV (Complete)
Sequenza XI (on disc 2)
Listening List for your Further Education and Exploration
Samuel Barber
Ernest Bloch
Benjamin Britten
Alan Dudley Bush
Aaron Copland
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Alberto Ginastera
Alan Hovhaness
Aram Khachaturian
Darius Milhaud
Carl Nielsen
Robert Simpson
Sergei Slonimskii
Ronald Stevenson
Michael Tippett
Heitor Villa-lobos
Bela Bartók
Ferrucio Busoni
Maurice Duruflé
Lou Harrison
Paul Hindemith
Vagn Holmboe
Leos Janacek
Vardapet Komitas
Nicolai Medtner
Allan Pettersson
Sergei Prokofieff
Alexander Scriabin
Dmitri Shostakovich
Kaikhosru Sorabji
Georgi Sviridov
Karol Szymanowski
Olly Wilson
Lev Abeliovich
Daniel Asia
Alban Berg
Pierre Boulez
Luigi Dallapiccola
Hugo Distler
Hans Werner Henze
Johann Nepomuk David
Ernst Krenek
Olivier Messiaen
Henri Pousseur
Arnold Schoenberg
Roger Sessions
Igor Stravinsky
Toru Takemitsu
Anton Webern
Matthijs Vermeulen
John Adams
George Antheil
John Cage
John Eaton
Philip Glass
Georges Gurdjieff
Charles Ives
Rued Langgaard
Alvin Lucier
Conlon Nancarrow
Andrzej Panufnik
Arvo Pärt
Harry Partch
Steve Reich
Terry Riley
Frederic Rzewski
Erik Satie
Havergal Brian
Elliott Carter
Peter Maxwell Davies
Morton Feldman
Michael Finnissy
Karl Hartmann
Gyorgi Ligeti
Witold Lutoslawski
Denver Oldham
Krzysztof Penderecki
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Giacinto Scesli
Salvatore Sciarrino
Nikos Skalkottas
Edgard Varese
Iannis Xenakis
Ronn Yedidia
.
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