MUSI131-13S1 (C) Semester One 2013

Europe's Musical Heritage

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 18 February 2013
End Date: Sunday, 23 June 2013
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 3 March 2013
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 19 May 2013

Description

Provides a chronological overview of music history from at least the Renaissance to the present day, emphasising key genres, styles and composers. This course will develop the ability to recognise and contextualise a wide variety of works aurally and from score.

This course provides an overview of Western art music from the Renaissance to the mid-20th century via a study primarily of musical genres, and to develop understanding and recognition of some of the principal characteristics of those genres.

During the course we look at musical genres in historical context and in roughly chronological order, with occasional focus on some key composers associated with them.  At the end of each term there is a test in which students need to be able to identify recorded musical extracts and answer questions relating to them.

In the second week of the course there is a library-based tutorial at which the first assessment item will be handed out.  It is vital that students attend this lecture to be placed in a tutorial group.  Please contact the course co-lecturer if you miss the library tutorial.

The course will use extracts from the current edition of the Norton Anthology of Western Music, both scores and recorded extracts.  Access to the relevant materials will be discussed in class, and you will be provided with a list of works used.

Topics covered include:

Week 1 Secular and Sacred music in the Renaissance
Week 2 The beginnings of opera; Italian and French opera in the 17th century;  LIBRARY SKILLS and TEST
Week 3 The High Baroque:  sonata, concerto, opera and cantata
Week 4 The Galant style
Week 5 Opera reform and late eighteenth-century opera
Week 6 Instrumental music in the late eighteenth century; TEST 1

Week 7 Romanticism;  The Lied and Miniature
Week 9 Large forms in the 19th century: Programme music; Wagnerian music drama and Italian opera
Week 10 Fin-de-siecle: Primitivism, Expressionism, Symbolism
Week 11 Modernism and Neoclassicism
Week 12 Music between the wars:  the popular and classical traditions; TEST 2


Note on score-reading  
Lectures assume familiarity with basic music theory and notation, and the ability to follow and study a score is a definite advantage.  If you are interested in taking this course and do not have a background in music theory, please feel free to contact the course lecturer for advice.

Workload
This course covers a considerable amount of material in a short time.  It is important that students listen to and study the set works continuously during the course.  Last-minute cramming is not advised.

Restrictions

MUSI102, MUSI103, MUSI123, MUSI206

Course Coordinator

Jonathan Le Cocq

Lecturer

Francis Yapp

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Library Test 25 Feb 2013 10%
In-class Test 1 28 Mar 2013 25%
In-class Test 2 30 May 2013 25%
Essay (1500-1800 words) 22 Apr 2013 25%
Concerts attendance/programme note 20 May 2013 15%


LIBRARY TEST
Students are required to attend a library training session at the start of the course which focuses on studying music.  In the course of this you will be given a test to complete independently to demonstrate familiarity with music resources in the library.

IN-CLASS TESTS
Each test involves aural recognition of a range extracts (each played twice) in terms of genre, period, and characteristic stylistic traits, and more general questions related to the genre/style they exemplify.  Examples will be drawn from works studied in that semester (ie, test 2 will only cover works studied in semester 2).  There will be an unassessed mock test in Term 1 to indicate what is expected.  Tests take place during the usual lecture times/venue for the course in the penultimate week of Semester 1, and the last week of Semester 2 as follows:

Please ensure that you arrive on time for these sessions.  It is important that they are not disrupted, and latecomers might not be admitted to the room and will miss the test.

WRITTEN WORK
There are two written assignments each related to the work covered in each half of the semester based on the stylistic analysis covered in class and on students’ own research.

Textbooks / Resources

A list of works studied in this course, which includes those which might appear in the two tests, will be given out in lectures.  All extracts will be drawn from the 6th edition of the Norton Anthology of Western Music (3 vols.), with accompanying CDs. Copies of this anthology/CDs are available for reference or short loan from the School of Music Resource Library, and the Central Library.  Copies may also be ordered through the University bookshop.  You are encouraged but not required to purchase a copy of this anthology, which will also be useful music history courses at 200 and 300 level.
Students might need to purchase a short, inexpensive course handbook containing supplementary material.
For additional background reading we recommend any edition of "A History of Western Music' by D.J. Grout and/or Claude Palisca.

Notes

IMPORTANT NOTE:
This course covers a great deal of material in a short time.  It is vital that students listen to and study the set works continuously during the course.  Last-minute cramming is not an option.  The course also involves studying scores.  Familiarity with music notation is important.

Additional Course Outline Information

Assessment and grading system

The following shows how to translate grades to numerical scores:

A+  90–100;    A   85–89;    A-  80–84;    B+   75–79;    B 70–74;    B-   65–69;     C+  60–64;     C  55–59;     C- 50–54;     D  40–49;   E  0–39
In a course at 100- or 200-level examiners may grant restricted credit (R) which will be equivalent to a pass for all purposes except as a prerequisite.

Late submission of work

All coursework must be submitted by the due date by being handed in at the School office, with the name of the marking tutor (Jonathan Le Cocq) and course details clearly indicated on a cover sheet.  Assignments are dated by the School Administrator on submission.

Assignments submitted up to one week late without prior approval will be graded, but will only be eligible for a maximum grade of C (bare pass).  Assignments submitted more than one week late will not be marked.

Requests for extensions must be made in advance to the marking tutor.  Extensions will only be granted in serious circumstances such as illness or bereavement, and will in all cases require supporting documentation such as a medical note.  Heavy workload and bunching of assignments will not be treated as adequate grounds for an extension.

Always keep a spare copy of your assignment as you are expected to be able to resubmit any assignment that becomes lost.

Where to submit and collect work

All essay and assignment material must be firmly secured (stapled, or bound in a folder), and contain on the front page or cover the following information:  Student name, Course number, Lecturer.   Unless the class is instructed to the contrary, the assignment should be posted in the appropriate box at the School of Music counter by the due date.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $647.00

International fee $3,325.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Music .

All MUSI131 Occurrences

  • MUSI131-13S1 (C) Semester One 2013