Music
143 Elm, 432.2985
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Chair
Patrick McCreless
Director of Graduate Studies
James Hepokoski (143 Elm, 432.2991, james.hepokoski@yale.edu)
Professors
Allen Forte, Michael Friedmann (Adjunct), James Hepokoski, Patrick McCreless,
Robert Morgan, Leon Plantinga, Ellen Rosand, Craig Wright
Associate Professor
Richard Lalli (Adjunct)
Assistant Professors
Kathryn Alexander, David Clampitt, John Halle, Robert Holzer, Kristina Muxfeldt,
Michael Veal
Lecturers
Eric Drott, Matthew Suttor
Fields of Study
Fields include music theory and music history. (Students interested in performance or composition should apply to the Yale School of Music.)
Special Admissions Requirements
Previous training in music theory or music history is required. Samples of the applicant's previous work including extended papers, compositions, advanced exercises, and analyses must be submitted. The GRE General Test is required by the Graduate School. Applicants whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Two years of course work, comprising sixteen courses, are normally required. Students in the theory of music program must pass examinations in two foreign languages: German and normally French, Latin, or Italian. For students in the history of music, German and two other languages are required. Language examinations, partly with dictionary and partly without, are administered at the beginning of each term. A Practicum Exam (ear training, keyboard, and basic theory and analysis) is given to all entering students and must be passed before admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. must occur before the end of the third year of study. It is granted if the student has received a grade of Honors in two full-year courses or in four term courses, has passed the language, practicum, and qualifying examinations, and has submitted an acceptable dissertation prospectus. The departmental qualifying examination is given near the beginning of the third year and all language requirements must be satisfied by that time. Students attend a weekly prospectus/dissertation seminar during the third year of study. Before the end of that year, the student must submit a dissertation prospectus for faculty approval.
Combined Ph.D. Program: Music and Renaissance Studies
The Department of Music also offers, in conjunction
with the Renaissance Studies Program, a combined Ph.D. in
Music and Renaissance Studies. For further details, see Renaissance
Studies.
Master's Degrees
M.Phil. See Graduate
School requirements.
M.A. (en route to the Ph.D.). Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program qualify for the M.A. degree upon the successful completion of eight courses, at least six of which are seminars given in the department, along with the passing of an examination in one foreign language. Of the six departmental seminars, at least two grades must be Honors; the remaining six grades must average High Pass.
Master's Degree Program. The department offers admission to a small number of students in a terminal M.A. program. Candidates must pass eight term courses achieving an average of High Pass and at least one Honors, complete a special project, and pass an examination in one foreign language.
Program materials are available upon request to the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Music, Yale University, PO Box 208310, New Haven CT 06520-8310.
Courses
MUSI 701a, Theory and Aesthetics: Antiquity and Medieval. Craig Wright. Wednesday 10-12
MUSI 705b, Theory and Aesthetics: The Nineteenth Century. Leon Plantinga. Thursday 1.30-3.30
MUSI 801b, Chant and Liturgy. Craig Wright. Monday 1.30-3.30
An introduction to the chant and liturgy of the Western Latin church from the Middle Ages to the Council of Trent. The course gives the student a firm understanding of the structure of the medieval liturgy that can be applied to the study of the sacred music of all periods.
MUSI 807a, The Italian Madrigal: Criticism and Historiography. Ellen Rosand. Wednesday 1.30-3.30
As an unusually circumscribed genre that has attracted attention as such from the earliest days of musicological inquiry, the Italian madrigal provides not only a rich and varied repertoire of poetic and musical styles but also an ideal framework for viewing the development of musicology as a discipline. In the course of examining the varying relationships between poetry and music displayed in madrigals from different periods and geographical areas (Florence, Rome, Venice), the seminar will consider the ways in which the understanding of the genre has changed over the course of the twentieth century.
MUSI 815a, Christian Mysticism from Augustine to John of the Cross: Theories of Ascent through Scripture, Music, and Practice. Margot Fassler. Monday 3.30-5.20
Exploration of major theories of mystical ascent to God, from the early church through the later Middle Ages. A different writer is assigned each week, with considerations of: scriptural precedents, music as metaphor for the mystical union, the roles of public prayer and sacramental action, various modes of constructing "ascent machines." Enrollment limited to fifteen. Permission of instructor required. Also MDVL 551a.
MUSI 816a, Approaches to Pierrot lunaire. Robert Holzer. Monday 1.30-3
A wide-ranging historical and critical examination of Arnold Schoenberg's 1912 work. Issues to be considered include: Pierrot in nineteenth-century theater, verse, and music; Albert Giraud's cycle of poems and their translation by Erich Hartleben; musical settings prior to Schoenberg; the commissioning and composition of the work; atonality and expressionism; parody; reception and influence.
MUSI 850b, Sonata Theory. James Hepokoski. Tuesday 1.30-3.30
A genre-based approach to analyzing sonata form and the multimovement sonata, c. 1770-1800. Hierarchies of compositional options and principles of deviation. Intersections with other analytical methodologies in current usage. Issues in sonata hermeneutics.
MUSI 876b, Social and Reception Histories of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Music. Kristina Muxfeldt. Wednesday 1.30-3.30
A consideration of studies emphasizing the social and reception histories of individual works and their composers. Our focus is on "close readings," whose explanatory power has been enhanced by these perspectives and the analytical directions that they make possible.
MUSI 901a, Tonal Analysis I. Robert Morgan. Tuesday 1.30-3.30
MUSI 901b, Tonal Analysis II. Allen Forte. Tuesday 9-11
MUSI 903au, Advanced Studies in Analysis and Composition. Patrick McCreless.
Tues/Thurs 11.30-12.45
Advanced studies in the theory, analysis, and composition of the music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
MUSI 910b, Rhetoric, Structure, Gesture. Patrick McCreless. Wednesday 10-12
The course uses notions of rhetoric and gesture as metaphors that inflect our understanding of musical structure. The focus of the course is less on historical theories of musical rhetoric-although these are considered-than on using the rhetorical and gestural as analytical tools. Repertoire to be covered ranges from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.
MUSI 915a, Music, Multimedia, Technology, and Research. Kathryn Alexander. Friday 10-12
A study of the creative interaction between music, multimedia, and technology and the research, performance, and pedagogical impact of that focus. The seminar examines hardware and software and their integration, overviews authoring languages, and considers hypertext and hypermedia issues in software design, development, and use.
MUSI 998a, Prospectus Workshop. Robert Morgan. Monday 4-5.30
MUSI 999b, Dissertation Colloquium. James Hepokoski. Monday 4-5.30
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