UMUC-Europe Syllabus

(Fulfills the historical perspective requirement.) An introduction to the elements of music, the art of active listening, and major styles of Western music. Focus is on the Classical tradition: selected masterworks, their composers and cultural context, and hallmarks of the styles they represent. Works are studied through reading, discussion, and active listening to recordings and, where feasible, live performances. No musical training is required. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: HUMN 130, MUSC 130, or MUSC 131.

Course Goals/Objectives:

Students who successfully complete MUSC 130 will demonstrate their ability to: * Discuss elements of music including pitch, rhythm, meter, melody, harmony, dynamics, and texture; and recognize their role in listening examples. * Name, describe, and recognize by their sounds the instrument families of the orchestra and selected individual instruments. * Outline common forms and procedures in musical structure, and discern them in listening examples. * Discuss how style and expression in music changed through history, reflecting the attitudes and concerns of its listeners and creators as well as the social, political, and cultural climate of the times. * Recognize and discuss music of the major style periods of Western classical music, as represented by selected compositions and composers. * Apply their learning to evaluating new musical experiences, including live performances where practical. (Live concert attendance is strongly preferred. Where not possible, recordings, preferably live video recordings, may be substituted by the instructor.)

Course Introduction:

The growth of electronic media over the past century has put a far wider range of music at our fingertips now than ever before. And we listen to it in many different ways. Our bodies tap and dance; our emotions relax or soar; our thoughts focus on love or team spirit or worship; our imagination explores music's colors and patterns and flow. Over the centuries, artists have exploited all these dimensions of music, combining sound and structure, emotion and meaning in ways that give immediate pleasure but also reward repeated and thoughtful listening. In MUSC 130 we will practice listening perceptively to music and judging what we hear. We will learn about the qualities of musical sound and explore how musicians use them expressively. We will learn to follow musical form as it unfolds. We will examine musical style from a historical perspective, observing how Bach's ensembles made music much like jazz combos, how music of the Ottoman Empire influenced Mozart, how the French Revolution allowed Beethoven to revolutionize the social standing of the composer, how World War I and recordings utterly changed the sound of new music. You do not need to read music, play an instrument, or have a classical-music background to take MUSC 130. This course will use listening to the music itself, discussion of what is heard, lectures, and other presentations and experiences to help you along the road to perceptive listening.

Grading Information and Criteria:

[Editable model grade scale (and grading weights/criteria if developed) will be provided] Instructor may also add faculty policies on late assignments, attendance, and extra credit. The course grade will be computed on the following scale: A: 90% or above B: 80% up to 90% C: 70% up to 80% D: 60% up to 70% F: below 60% It will be based on the following factors: Class Participation: 10% Projects and Assignments: 25% Quizzes or Tests: 40% Final Exam: 25%

Other Information:

Any other information the instructor wishes to add. This might include: * General expectations of students, such as hours per week students should expect to devote to the class * Turnaround time for faculty to respond to email and return papers * Unique class procedures or activities (such as cooperative learning exercises, panel presentations, case study methods, class journals or learning logs) * Supplemental objectives (such as development of skills like teamwork, writing, oral presentation; integration of knowledge on focus topics) * Optional activities such as study groups

Project Descriptions:

Possible assignments: * Research paper * In-class demonstration of instrument or voice * Oral report: musical elements at work in a favorite recording (may be used as an alternative to demonstrating an instrument) * Reaction reports to live performances * Collaborative master calendar of area performances (may be used to list performances eligible for reaction reports) * Newspaper-style concert review * "Dream" concert program with program notes (as summary project or for specific period/genre/style) * Introductory memo: my musical background

Academic Policies:

Cases of plagiarism are handled consistent with current UMUC guidelines. See the UMUC policies at the following URL: http://www.umuc.edu/policy/

Course Schedule:

Topics are listed here generally follow the order of presentation in The Enjoyment of Music. Introduction, nature of music, music fundamentals Uses of music, musical sound, musical structure, instruments, performers and performance. Enjoyment chapters 1-10 Early music and ideas about music Classical antiquity, the Medieval period, the Renaissance. Topics may include: music and ethos, music and numbers, music and the cosmos, chant, polyphony, mass, motet, chanson and madrigal. Composers may include: Pope Gregory I, Machaut, Josquin, Palestrina, Monteverdi, others. Enjoyment Chapters 11-16 The Baroque period Baroque culture, Baroque style, Baroque forms and genres. Topics may include: patronage, music and affect, key and tonality, monody and polyphony, continuo, concerto, suite, fugue, recitative, aria, opera, oratorio, cantata. Composers may include: Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, others. Enjoyment chapters 17-18, 19-26 The Classic period Classicism, Classic style, Classic forms and genres. Topics may include: the Enlightenment, theme and development, sonata cycle, symphony, chamber music, sonata, comic opera, operatic ensemble. Composers may include: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, others. Enjoyment chapters 27-28, 29-38 The Romantic period Romanticism, Romantic style, Romantic forms and genres. Composers may include: Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, the Schumanns, Liszt, Brahms, Mahler, Verdi, Wagner, Chaikovsky, Strauss, others. Topics may include: the artist and society, music and revolution, music and literature, the mass market, music and industrialization, nationalism, virtuosity, chromaticism, the art song, piano music, program music, symphonic poem, opera and music drama, grandiose music. Enjoyment chapters 39-58 The Twentieth Century Twentieth-century culture, fragmentation of style, twentieth-century music. Topics may include: individuality, avant-garde vs. common practice, impressionism, expressionism, primitivism, atonality, serialism, neoclassicism, inderterminism, minimalism, cross-cultural influences, new sounds, technology. Composers may include Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Bartok, Copland, Messiaen Stockhausen, Boulez, Babbitt, Cage, Crumb, Glass, others. Enjoyment chapters 59-65, 69-72 Vernacular Music in the U.S.A. American contributions. Jazz and its heritage. Musical theatre. American popular music. Topics may include: jazz and its roots; popular song and musical theatre; rhythm & blues, rock, and their offshoots; country, gospel, other currents. Enjoyment chapters 66-68.