MUSIC

By the time of moderation, music majors will be expected to have successfully completed two semesters of music theory courses and two semesters of music history courses. Please consult your adviser about this.

College and Community Ensembles

Each ensemble is for one credit except where indicated. It is possible to participate in more than one ensemble and receive additional credit accordingly.

Scholarships for private music lessons will be held on Wednesday, September 5^th in Blum Hall, beginning at 6:30 pm. Sign-ups for auditions times will be in the Music Office.

CRN	90290	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 104
Title	Ensemble: Orchestra
Professor	Joan Tower
Schedule	Mon 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm OLIN

This is a year-long course. Students earn 2 credits per semester, and an additional two credits for registering in private lessons which are strongly encouraged. Auditions will be held on September 12th from 4:00 to 6:00 in Blum Hall for new members. A sign-up sheet will be posted in Blum at the beginning of the semester. Please be prepared to play two pieces-one slower and lyrical, and one faster.

CRN	90291	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 105
Title	Bard College Community Chorus
Professor	James Bagwell
Schedule	Tu 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm .

Music to be announced.

CRN	90292	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 106
Title	Bard Community Chamber Music
Professor	Luis Garcia-Renart
Schedule	TBA .

The program will select students, alumni, faculty and community performers to present chamber music recitals on and off campus. The program will aim for diversity, both in instrumentation (including voice) as well as in repertoire. Weekly coaching will be given by faculty, and rehearsals between coachings will be expected.

CRN	90293	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108B
Title	Ensemble: Contemporary
Professor	Joan Tower
Schedule	Mon 4:00 pm -6:00 pm Blum Hall

Depending on registration students will form their own ensembles (2-5 players) to play a work from the 20^th century repertoire.

CRN	90294	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108C
Title	Ensemble: Chamber / Wind
Professor	Patricia Spencer
Schedule	Tu 5:00 pm -6:45 pm Blum 117 Lab: Fr 3:00 pm -5:00 pm Blum 117

CRN	90295	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108D
Title	Ensemble: Vocal
Professor	James Bagwell
Schedule	Mon 5:00 pm -6:45 pm Bard Hall Tu 5:00 pm -7:15 pm Bard Hall

2 credits. This ensemble is for serious singers only, and by audition to be held September 3^rd and 4^th.

CRN	90296	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108F
Title	Ensemble:Jazz
Professor	Thurman Barker
Schedule	Tu 4:00 pm -6:00 pm Blum Hall

CRN	90297	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108G
Title	Ensemble: Chamber Colorado String Quartet
Professor	Luis Garcia Renart
Schedule	TBA

CRN	90298	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108H
Title	Ensemble: Balinese Gamelan
Professor	TBA
Schedule	Tu 7:00 pm -9:00 pm OLIN 305

CRN	90299	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108I
Title	Ensemble: Live Electronic Performance
Professor	Richard Teitelbaum
Schedule	Tu 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Blum Hall

CRN	90300	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 108J
Title	Ensemble: Percussion
Professor	Thurman Barker
Schedule	Mon 1:30 pm -3:50 pm Blum Hall

CRN	90301	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 133
Title	Fundamentals I / Ear Training I
Professor	James Bagwell / Luis Garcia-Renart
Schedule	Mon Wed Fr 9:00 am - 10:00 am Blum Hall Tu Th 9:00 am - 10:20 am Blum Hall

This course will build up skills (from scratch) in reading music and building up and recognizing basic chords *such as triads and seventh chords. The course will consist of both lectures and ear training labs.

CRN	90302	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 171
Title	Jazz Harmony I
Professor	Thurman Barker / John Esposito
Schedule	Wed 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm Blum Hall Fr 11:30 am - 12:50 pm Blum 117

This course introduces chord voicing for the II, V, I progression on the 12 bar blues form. Students are encouraged to create melodies over progressions in different keys. Composers and pianists like Jelly Roll Morton and Earl Hines will be studied. Fats Waller, Art Tatum are the subjects for discussion plus piano styles and their music.

CRN	90303	Distribution	A
Course No.	MUS 207
Title	Nineteenth Century Italian Opera before Verdi
Professor	Frederick Hammond
Schedule	Tu Th 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 104

An examination of the works of Gioacchino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini covering the years 1810-1844, a glorious but imperfectly-known period of Italian opera. We will study such works as Barber of Seville, The Lady of the Lake, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Norma as musical creations, in relation to their literary sources and contemporary taste, and in terms of scenography and staging.

CRN	90304	Distribution	B
Course No.	MUS 211
Title	Jazz in Literature I
Professor	Thurman Barker
Schedule	Mon Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am Blum 117

Cross-listed: AADS

This course presents some of the short stories and poems by Rudolph Fisher, Langston Hughes, Ann Petry, and Julio Cortazar. The text used in this section is "Hot and Cool" by Marcela Briton and the "Harlem Renaissance Reader", edited by David Lewis.

CRN	90305	Distribution	A/C
Course No.	MUS 228
Title	Renaissance Counterpoint
Professor	Kyle Gann
Schedule	Tu Fr 10:00 am - 11:20 am Blum 117

In the good old days, when J. S. Bach was young, the study of music composition was the study of counterpoint. It was still true a century later when Beethoven studied with Haydn, and just as true another 140 years later when Conlon Nancarrow studied with Roger Sessions. A knowledge of counterpoint imparts fluidity to a composer's music; one can often tell composers who haven't studied counterpoint, because they write in self-contained blocks and frequently say, "I don't know what to do next." The exacting discipline of 16^th century counterpoint teaches a composer to see musical problems in terms of multiple possible solutions, and helps the student internalize Schoenberg's dictum that "the eraser is the important end of the pencil." Even for those who don't compose, counterpoint reveals, strand by strand, the DNA that made the great art of European classical music take the shape it did. This course will pursue good old species counterpoint following Knud Jeppesen's classic text, Counterpoint, yet based not so much on smooth Palestrina style as on the more forceful works of Josquin Desprez. A liberal, analytical sprinkling of 16^th century motets and mass movements by Josquin, di Lasso, Willaert, and others will keep our eyes and ears focused on the sumptuously perfect art that counterpoint made possible.

Prerequisite: ability to read music and familiarity with intervals.

CRN	90459	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 241
Title	The History and Literature of Electronic and Computer Music
Professor	Richard Teitelbaum
Schedule	Wed 1:30 pm - 3:50 pm BLUM 101

Beginning with a brief survey of the earliest electronic instruments such as the Theremin and Ondes Martenot, this course examines the post-war development of the French School of Musique Concrete, German Elektronische Musik and American Tape Music, among others. Computer Music from early sound synthesis experiments at Bell Labs and elsewhere; Live Electronic Music from Cage and Tudor's pioneering work to recent and current PC-based interactive "live" computer music; and multi-media works from '60's "classics" to the present. Music studied will be drawn from the works of Varese, Schaeffer, Henry, Stockhausen, Cage, Leuning, Ussachevsky, Babbitt, Arel, Davidovsky, Boretz, Berio, Nono, Boulez, Pousseur, Xanakis, Martirano, Young, Reich, Oliveros, Subotnik, Musica Elettronica Viva (Rzewski, Curran, Teitelbaum) Takemitsu, Josugi, Takahashi, Amacher, Sonic Arts Union ( Mumma, Ashley, Lucier, Behrman) Matthews, Risset, Tenney, Laurie Spiegel, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, George Lewis, Laetitia Sonami and other recent and current developments, including the Ambient, Illbient and DJ scenes. Assignments will include extensive listenings, reading, research and analysis, as well as possible recreations of "classical" pieces from the repertoire and original compositional and performance projects inspired by these studies. The class is a continuation/complement to Music 240 and is strongly recommended as a preparation for all electronic music studio courses.

CRN	90424	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 248
Title	Ear Training III
Professor	James Bagwell
Schedule	Tu Wed Th Fr 10:30 am - 11:30 am Blum Hall

Ear Training III will serve as a continuation of Fundamentals II ear training. Work will include rhythmic, harmonic and melodic dictation; 2, 3 and 4 part dictation skills will be developed. Special focus will be given to practical sight-reading abilities. Evaluation will be based on periodic quizzes, both individual and group.

Prerequisite: Fundamentals II or consent of instructor.

CRN	90546	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 255
Title	Analysis of the Classics of Modernism
Professor	Kyle Gann
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm BLUM 117

Cross-listed: Integrated Arts

The half-century from 1910 to 1960 saw an explosion of dissonance, complexity, and apparent musical chaos. And yet, beneath the surface it was also an era of unprecedented intricacy of structure and musical systematization. The liberation of dissonance and dissolution of melody left composers insecure, and they often compensated by creating systems of tremendous rigor not always apparent to the listener. This course will analyze in depth several works that changed the way we think about composing, and which pioneered the growth of an atonal musical language. Explore the cinematographic intercutting of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps; the ironic Bach appropriations of Ives's Three Places in New England; the elegant mathematical proportioning of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste; the delicate symmetries of Webern's Symphonie Op. 21; the total organization of Stockhausen's Gruppen; and the compelling multi tempo climaxes of Nancarrow's Study No. 36. Intended for music majors, but other strongly motivated students are welcome. Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Music or the equivalent (ability to analyze tonal harmony).

CRN	90408	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 257
Title	Production / Reproduction
Professor	Bob Bielecki
Schedule	Tu 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm Blum 101 Lab: Mon 7:00 pm 10:00 pm Blum Hall

Cross-listed: Integrated Arts

This course will focus on the theory and practice of sound recording. Students will learn the use of recording equipment including digital tape recorders, mixing consoles, signal processing devices, and microphones. A/B listening tests will be used to compare types of microphones, microphone placement and many different recording techniques. ProTools software will be available for digital editing and mastering to CD. Assigned projects will include both multitrack and direct to stereo recordings of studio and concert performances. Enrollment is limited.

CRN	90306	Distribution	A
Course No.	MUS 260
Title	String Quartets of Beethoven
Professor	Colorado String Quartet
Schedule	Tu 4:00 pm -6:00 pm OLIN 104

The Colorado String Quartet will examine the personal and creative life of this great composer through the medium of his sixteen string quartets. The works will be placed in a historical and political context. Beethoven's relationship with the writers and philosophers of the time, including Goethe, Schiller and Kant, will be examined through his creative development. During the semester the Colorado Quartet will perform selections from the sixteen Beethoven string quartets. No prerequisites, but the ability to read music is a plus. There will be listening and writing assignments.

CRN	90308	Distribution	A/C
Course No.	MUS 314
Title	Literature and Language of Music
Professor	Kyle Gann
Schedule	Wed Fr 1:30 pm -2:50 pm OLIN 104

This course will present a survey of selected musical works composed from 1600 to the present. Works will be placed in a broad historical context with specific focus on stylistic and compositional traits. In addition, musical terminology, composers and historical and theoretical methodology will be introduced and described in relationship to the repertoire. Students will be evaluated on the basis of a series of short essays and two listening exams. As we will be using scores in our discussions, basic skills in music reading are expected. This course is primarily designed for music majors including sophomores.

CRN	90309	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 331
Title	Jazz: The Freedom Principle I
Professor	Thurman Barker
Schedule	Wed 1:30 pm -3:50 pm Blum 117

Cross-listed: AADS, American Studies, MES

A jazz study of the cross-pollination between Post-Bop in the late fifties and Free Jazz. The course, which employs a cultural approach, is also designed to look at the social climate surrounding the music to examine its effects on the music from 1958 to the mid-sixties. Emphasis will be on artists and composers such as Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, and Horace Silver. Illustrated with recordings, films, and videos.

CRN	90460	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS 337
Title	World Music Seminar
Professor	Richard Teitelbaum
Schedule	TBA

This seminar will combine studies of traditional world musics (emphasizing the classical music of India, Indonesia, China, Korea and Japan) with an examination of the 20^th century Western music that they have influenced. These latter include the California School of Cowell, Harrison and Cage, the minimalists La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, Europeans such as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti and others. The work of Western-trained Asian composers who have reintroduced traditional Asian materials into their work such as Chou Wen-chung, Toru Takemitsu, Yuji Takahashi and Tan Dun will be studied as well. Finally, the most recent developments in inter-cultural hybridization by younger composer/improvisers (Jin Hi Kim, Miya Masaoka, Ikue Mori, Fred Ho, etc) will be studied in the context of a developing integrated world music culture that promises to be a major musical trend in the 21^st century. Students will be encouraged to carry our research projects as well as to experiment with inter-cultural compositions and performances of their own. Enrollment limited.

CRN	90310	Distribution	A
Course No.	MUS 340
Title	The Life and Work of Igor Stravinsky
Professor	Frederick Hammond
Schedule	Tu 1:30 pm -3:50 pm OLIN 104

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) is regarded by many as the greatest composer of the twentieth century, but performances of his works are generally limited to a handful of masterpieces. In this seminar we will examine the full arc of Stravinsky's career, from his earliest works, written under the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov, to his last creations employing the serial techniques of Schoenberg and Webern: orchestral, chamber, vocal and choral works, ballets, opera. We will also consider the controversies about Straninsky's style and sources in the work of scholars such as Richard Taruskin. A general course for students of twentieth-century art and culture: no specialized knowledge of music required.

MUSIC WORKSHOPS

CRN	90311	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS WKSH A
Title	Workshop: Composition
Professor	Joan Tower
Schedule	Tu 1:30 pm -3:50 pm Blum Hall

This class will compose music that will be written down and passed to players to be rehearsed and taped. Every step of the process is assisted (particularly at the notational level) and discussed. Players in the class, as well as professional players from outside, will later join in to help bring each piece to life in sound. In addition, other twentieth-century works are played and discussed and occasional visits to performances of new music in New York are made. Individual meetings are arranged on a regular basis.

CRN	90312	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS WKSH B
Title	Workshop: Performance Class
Professor	Luis Garcia-Renart
Schedule	Th 1:30 pm -3:50 pm Blum Hall

This class is conceived as a unifying workshop for performing musicians within the department. Please meet with the instructor prior to or during registration. (Private lessons can be taken for credit by registering for this course.)

CRN	90313	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS WKSH E
Title	Workshop: Songwriting
Professor	Greg Armbruster
Schedule	Th 4:00 pm -6:20 pm OLIN 104

All songwriters, as well as poets, lyricists, singers, instrumentalists, and composers are invited to create and share their original work in this safe forum for collaboration, performance, feedback, discussion, and analysis. The goal is to help participants express more clearly their musical intentions in song form. Lyrics, setting, clarity, musical scene, melody, accompaniment, accompaniment and voice as duet, notation, editing, rewriting, and the collaborative process are examined. Collaborative projects among class participants are organized and writing assignments focus on skill building. Participants present their work with or without self-accompaniment or in collaboration with others. Guests may attend class in order to help participants present their music. Although previously written work may be presented, the focus is primarily on work in progress or work composed during the semester, with the specific goal of writing ten new songs. An open performance is given at the last class meeting.

CRN	90314	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS WKSH G
Title	Workshop: Vocal & Voice Repertoire for Singers and Pianists
Professor	Arthur Burrows
Schedule	Mon 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Blum Hall

In this singing class we explore the art songs of America, England, France and Germany, including some opera arias and ensembles depending on the make-up of the class. At the same time we learn the necessary technique to perform them successfully. Each class will be divided into two parts. The first will deal with vocal technique, and the second with technical issues that arise from individual performance. Requirements: the ability to match pitches, and an adequate vocal range. Pianists will be assigned individual singers to work with and coached in the various musical styles.

CRN	90315	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS WKSH H
Title	Workshop: Classical Guitar
Professor	Luis Garcia-Renart
Schedule	Wed 4:30 pm -6:30 pm Blum Hall

Once a week a two-hour seminar will be offered to everyone to talk about specific technical and interpretation principals of the classical guitar, as well as to listen and to discuss the repertoire. This seminar is to be taken in conjunction with weekly private lessons offered by guitarist Greg Dinger. There will be a fee for the private instructor to be paid at the beginning of the semester. All levels of playing are accepted. Beginners to advanced players welcome.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Special Projects are designed for music majors only to pursue individual or group projects with a particular professor.

CRN	90316	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ B
Title	Special Projects
Professor	James Bagwell
Schedule	by arrangement.

CRN	90318	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ R
Title	Special Projects
Professor	Luis Garcia-Renart
Schedule	by arrangement

CRN	90319	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ T
Title	Special Projects
Professor	Richard Teitelbaum
Schedule	by arrangement

 

CRN	90320	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ U
Title	Special Projects
Professor	Kyle Gann
Schedule	by arrangement

CRN	90321	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ V
Title	Special Projects
Professor	Joan Tower
Schedule	by arrangement

CRN	90322	Distribution	F
Course No.	MUS PROJ Z
Title	Special Projects
Professor	Thurman Barker
Schedule	by arrangement

Private Music Lessons

All matriculated Bard students may be eligible to receive academic credit and scholarships for private instrumental or voice lessons. The choice of teachers is to be worked out on a case by case basis by the student and the Music Department. The teacher and student arrange payments and schedule.

Requirements for academic credit:

1. Registered, matriculated Bard College student
2. Assignment of grade, based on performance in a departmental concert or audition by Evaluating Panel at the end of each semester.
3. Participation in a music course that provides the student a larger forum of music making. A waiver of this requirement is possible in certain circumstances and is subject to Music Department review.