Music Courses 2007-2008
MUS 509a-b, 609a-b, 709a-b
Art Song Coaching for Singers
Individual private coaching in the art song repertoire, in preparation for required recitals. Students are coached on such elements of musical style as phrasing, rubato, and articulation, and in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish diction. Students are expected to bring their recital accompaniments to coaching sessions as their recital times approach. Ted Taylor/Judith Malafronte.
MUS 515a,b; 615a,b; 715a,b; 815a,b
Improvisation at the Organ
Development of improvisatory skills at the keyboard. Jeffrey Brillhart.
MUS 519a-b, 619a-b, 719a-b, 819a-b
Colloquium
Participation in seminars led by faculty and guest lecturers on topics concerning theology, music, worship, and related arts. Required of all Institute of Sacred Music students. (P/F)
MUS 531a-b, 631a-b, 731a-b
Repertory Chorus
A reading chorus open by audition and conducted by graduate choral conducting students. The chorus reads, studies, and sings a wide sampling of choral literature. Marguerite L. Brooks/Simon Carrington.
MUS 532a-b, 632a-b, 732a-b
Conducting Repertory Chorus
Students in the graduate choral conducting program work with the Repertory Chorus, preparing and conducting a portion of a public concert each term. Open only to choral conducting majors. Marguerite L. Brooks/Simon Carrington.
MUS 535a-b, 635a-b, 735a-b
Recital Chorus
A chorus open by audition and conducted by graduate choral conducting students. It serves as the choral ensemble for four to five degree recitals per year. Marguerite L. Brooks.
MUS 536a-b, 636a-b, 736a-b
Conducting Recital Chorus
Second- and third-year students in the graduate choral conducting program work with the Recital Chorus, preparing and conducting their degree recitals. Open to choral conducting majors only. Marguerite L. Brooks.
MUS 537b
Collaborative Piano-Voice
A course designed for pianists focusing on the skills required for vocal accompanying and coaching. The standard song and operatic repertoire is emphasized. Sight-reading, techniques of transposition, figured bass, and effective reduction of operatic materials for the recreation of orchestral sounds at the piano are included in the curriculum. Ted Taylor.
MUS 539a
The Motet in the 16th and 17th Centuries
The motet was the most important vocal genre in the 15th and 16th centuries. Composers like Josquin Desprez, Orlando di Lasso, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina led the genre to its peak. In the 17th century, however, the genre underwent a transition. Modern genres like concerto, monody, and solo song employed, on the one hand, techniques that were developed in the motet (like counterpoint), yet on the other hand, they claimed the place of the motet as the leading vocal genre in church music. The course will outline the history of the motet in the crucial time between its peak in the 16th century (starting with Josquin) and its transition (or one might even say dissolution) into other genres in the 17th century (until Bach). The course will combine a general overview with an in-depth-study of selected composers of the time. Besides this analytical approach, we will also look at the religious context of this music historical change of paradigm, as the transition from polyphonic music in the 16th century to soloistic genres in the 17th century went along with a change in piety around the turn of the century. Markus Rathey.
MUS 540a-b, 640a-b, 740a-b, 840a-b, 940 a-b
Individual Instruction in the Major
Individual instruction of one hour per week throughout the academic year, for majors in performance, conducting, and composition. Faculty.
MUS 544a-b, 644a-b, 744a-b, 944a-b
Seminar in the Departmental Major
An examination of a wide range of problems relating to the area of the major. Specific requirements may differ by department.. Faculty.
MUS 546a-b, 646a-b, 746a-b
Yale Camerata
Open to all members of the University community by audition, the Yale Camerata presents several performances throughout the year that explore choral literature from all musical periods. Members of the ensemble should have previous choral experience and be willing to devote time to the preparation of music commensurate with the Camerata’s vigorous rehearsal and concert schedule. Marguerite L. Brooks.
MUS 552b
Monteverdi's Sacred Music
Claudio Monteverdi was one of the “fathers” of opera. However, besides his major contributions to the history of this secular genre, he also composed a considerable number of sacred works: his Vespers from 1610, several masses, and many sacred concertos for ensembles of different sizes. A study of these compositions shows that Monteverdi the opera composer also had a strong sense for “musical drama” when it came to his sacred works. The course will study Monteverdi’s religious compositions in the context of his works in general (especially the operas) and their relation to the emergence of the sacred concerto in the first half of the 17th century. Both Monteverdi’s operas and his sacred music focus on an intensive presentation and interpretation of the text. Thus, the course will also study the texts used by Monteverdi and explore the religious and theological context of his compositions. Markus Rathey.
MUS 556b
Mendelssohn’s Oratorios
When Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducted Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1827, the first performance of the piece after the composer’s death in 1750, he not only started a Bach revival in Europe (and beyond) but also became particularly interested in the oratorio genre. In the following years he composed two major oratorios, Paul and Elijah, and made plans for further large scale vocal-instrumental compositions. A study of Mendelssohn’s oratorios reveals several interesting influences: Bach (of course), but also Handel and the European oratorio tradition as shaped by Haydn’s late pieces. Mendelssohn combines these influences and comes to significantly different solutions in his two oratorios. The course will focus on the two major oratorios and analyze the traditions that shaped them, their relationship to other religious and secular works by Mendelssohn, and the impact they had on the composition oratorios in the later 19th century. Markus Rathey.
MUS 571a-b, 671a-b, 771a-b
Yale Schola Cantorum
Specialist chamber choir for the development of advanced ensemble skills and expertise in demanding solo roles in music from before 1750 and from the last 100 years. Enrollment limited to, and required of, voice majors in the early music, song, and chamber ensemble program. Simon Carrington.
MUS 594a-b
Vocal Chamber Music
The class is conducted as a seminar, with a high level of individual participation each week. Grades are based on participation in and preparation for class, the final project, and performances. Attendance is mandatory. The fall term is devoted to Books VI, VII, and VIII of Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi. Students will learn to read from early seventeenth-century prints, analyze verse structure and consider performance practices. A staged production of this repertoire (memorized) will include many forms of movement and dance, requiring occasional weekend sessions and extra rehearsals during the production week. Students are expected to learn quickly and must be prepared to tackle a sizeable amount of repertoire. James Taylor.
MUS 595a-b
Performance Practice for Singers
This course is designed for singers and others interested in exploring the major issues of historically informed performance of music before 1800. .Judith Malafronte.
MUS 617a
Music and Theology: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin
The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century was a “media event.” The invention of letterpress printing, the partisanship of famous artists like Dürer and Cranach, and, not least, the support of musicians and composers were responsible for the spreading of the ideas of the Reformation. But while Luther attached great importance to music, Zwingli and Calvin were much more skeptical. Music—especially sacred music—was not only an opportunity for Reformation, it was also a problem, because it was tightly connected with Catholic liturgical and aesthetic traditions. The Reformation had to think about the place music could have in worship and about the function of music in secular life. But first, a theological authorization had to be found, because the authorization of music by any kind of tradition was no longer possible. The course shows how music was viewed by the reformers and which theological decisions formed the basis for their view. We also look at the effect of these theological matters on musical practice: on liturgical singing and on composers and their compositions. Markus Rathey.
MUS 655b
Music in the Western Christian Tradition
Major watersheds in the history of the Western Christian tradition are explored through repertories of sacred music that embody them or that have inspired or evolved out of religious or liturgical changes. The course proceeds chronologically through a series of case studies and topics. Focus will be upon repertories of congregational song as well as on composers who developed sacred music for people to sing and play in church, at home, or in public places; and who created complex or technically difficult music that incorporates or relies upon congregational song to make its meaning. Margot E. Fassler.
MUSI 843b
Music and Identity in the USA
An examination of the new scholarship on music and identity in the context of a survey of American repertories, mostly popular, congregational, and communal. Student work will focus on primary source materials for the study of American music and culture, especially as found in the Beinecke and other Yale and New Haven collections, including the Historical Sound Archive, the Collection of Musical Instruments, and various film archives. This course is offered by the Department of Music in the GraduateSchool of Arts and Sciences. Margot E. Fassler.
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