Analysis and Music Theory 1890-1950
Code
711021003
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Ciências Musicais
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Isabel Pires
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
a) To develop technical and conceptual skills on Musical Analysis from music in the transition period of the tonal system to the diverse compositional systems on the first half of the 20th century;
b) To know the main aesthetic currents of music-theoretical thought in the period studied as well as representative compositional techniques and composers;
c) To contextualize in historical, sociological and aesthetical points of view, the musical phenomena, thinking specifically about the emerging techniques that came to change the musical scene in this period;
d) To develop skills on Musical Analysis practice adapted to the musical paradigms of the period studied, as well as to develop capabilities of auditory analysis of works, through a deep study of specific composers and representative works of the period.
Prerequisites
None
Subject matter
1. The music from the 1st half of the 20th century will be object of a detailed approach, by the study of the main musical trends, composers and compositional techniques, with particular emphasis on impressionism, expressionism, neo-classicism and neo-modalism.
2. Detailed analytical study, through practice, of the techniques and aesthetics of a selected number of musical works representative of the main trends of this period. Relevant aspects of the transition between the tonal paradigm and the various technical and aesthetic approaches that emerged during the 1st half of the 20th century will be addressed. Special attention will be given to composers of the 2nd Viennese School, Debussy, Bartók, Stravinsky, Varèse, among others, by means of detailed analysis of excerpts of some works. The music of other relevant composers, from the 1st half of the 20th century, will be approached by analytic, contextual, theoretical and aesthetical study.
Bibliography
AAVV (2001). Analyse et Création Musicales. Paris: LHarmattan.
Berry, W. (1976). Structural Functions in Music. New York: Dover Publications.
Deliège, I. & Wiggins, G. A. (Eds.) (2006). Musical Creativity: Multidisciplinary Research in Theory and Practice. New York: Psychology Press
Lester, J. (1989). Analytic Approaches to Twentieth-Century Music. New York: Norton.
Morgan, R. P. (1991). Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Williams, J. K. (1997). Theories and Analyses of Twentieth-Century Music. San Diego CA: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Whitall, A. (1999). Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Teaching method
Teaching method: 60% practical sessions, 40% theoretical. The course will combine theoretical exposition, discussion of musical examples and musical analysis practice as well as auditory analysis practice.
Evaluation method
Active participation at sessions, practical work and discussion (10%). A paper on musical analysis (30%). A final assessment (60%).