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Music Courses 2008-2009
(as of July 28, 2008)
The letter “a” following the course number denotes the fall term; the letter “b” denotes the spring term.
MUS 506a, 606a, 706a, Music Diction for Singers: Latin. James Taylor
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 514a, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, composed for the Christmas season 1734/35, is an exceptional piece in Bach’s œuvre. It consists of six independent cantatas for the feast days between Christmas and Epiphany, which together form a large scaled oratorio, telling the story of Christ’s birth, the praise of the angels, and the adoration of the magi. Biblical narrative alternates with pious reflection, weaving an intricate fabric of theological and musical references. However, much of the musical material Bach used in his oratorio was originally composed for other (secular) occasions and in late 1734 transformed into a work of sacred art. The course will compare the different versions of the movements and their way from the secular into the sacred realm. A second focus will be on the theological context of the Christmas Oratorio. What are the major religious influences? What is the theological understanding of Christmas and the incarnation? How do the cantatas of the oratorio relate to cantatas composed by Bach and his contemporaries in other years? Markus Rathey
MUS 515a,b, 615a,b, 715a,b, 815a,b, Improvisation at the Organ.Development of improvisatory skills at the keyboard. Jeffrey Brillhart
MUS 518b, Face of Death: Worship, Music, Art Two quotes delineate the intellectual space this course seeks to claim. The first quote comes from the words that traditionally accompany the imposition of ashes in the Ash Wednesday Liturgy: “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.” The second quote comes from a recent New York Times book review: “[T]here is something about American culture that doesn’t want to accept death as a fitting end to life.” In between these two fundamental positions – on the one hand, the stark confrontation with death, and the other the labored avoidance of human mortality -- this seminar proposes for intellectual inquiry the rich traditions that worship, music, and the visual arts have created and continue to offer in the face of death. Our focus in this seminar will be on the Christian faith tradition. With this course, we seek to offer an innovative approach to team-teaching at ISM and thus to strengthen the interdisciplinary vision of the ISM curriculum. Teresa Berger, Markus Rathey
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) Martin Jean
MUS 523b, Liturgical Keyboard Skills.
The course will give the students a deeper understanding of accompanying, on either organ or piano, the many musical styles encountered in worship. Classes involve students playing assigned music for the faculty and class members, as all sing. Improvisatory skills in hymn accompaniment (both organ and piano) are also explored and developed, in both traditional and gospel styles. Walden Moore, Mark Miller
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 540a–b, 640a–b, 740a–b, 840a–b, 940a–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 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 586a, Baroque Music and the Baroque World – A Survey The period of music history between the early years of the 17th century and the middle of the 18th century was a time of important stylistic changes and developments: the emergence of the opera, the sacred concerto, and later in the 17th century the development of the cantata. It was also a time of deep changes in piety and religion: while the friction between the Protestant and Catholic camps became more and more violent, authors of the early 17th century “rediscovered” texts by medieval mystics, and the pietistic movement of the later 17th century emphasized the personal relationship between the believer and God. The musical and religious developments of the baroque period are intrinsically intertwined. While the music opens new paths of religious expression, the religious changes of the time inspire the musical development as well. This course will give an overview of the music in the baroque in a number of case studies, covering both sacred and secular music of Europe and the Americas. A new history of the music of the baroque (see bibliography) will serve as a textbook. The readings will be complemented in class by a deeper analysis of selected works and by a study of the religious background of the compositions analyzed. Markus Rathey
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 learn to read from early-seventeenth-century prints, analyze verse structure, and consider performance practices. A staged production of this repertoire (memorized) includes 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, 695b, 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 605a, From Byrd to Billings: Roots of Anglo-American Sacred Music. The seminar will be an exploration of the two basic Anglican traditions of church music that fundamentally influenced the origins and development of American church music. On the one hand, there was the cathedral tradition, rooted in the choral polyphony of the Tudor period, that established the anthem as the primary genre of English church music. Although the full impact of this tradition was not felt in America until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it nevertheless provided the model for the more modest compositions of the other Anglican music tradition. This was the parish church tradition, with its roots in sixteenth-century metrical psalmody, that gave rise to singing-schools, singing masters, and a plethora of tune-books, that became the backbone of emerging American church music as epitomized in the compositions of William Billings and his contemporaries. Robin Leaver
MUS 664b, The Symphony and the Sacred.
The course will describe the development of the metaphysical interpretation of music in the 19th century, and it will show how composers in the late 18th century (like J. Haydn and J. M. Kraus), in the first half of the 19th century (like Beethoven and Mendelssohn), and composers in the late 19th century have used quotations and allusions to create a "religious mood" in their symphonies. Markus Rathey
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