Symphonic Music syllabus



Performing Arts 111

Music and Romanticism

Fall 2011

Instructor: Dr. Martin Rokeach Office Phone: 631-4682

Office: Syufy 220 mrokeach@stmarys-ca.edu

Office Hours: T/Th 1:00-2:00, W 11-noon & by Appt. Textbook: none

Course Objectives

By the end of this semester you will:

• be familiar with music by most of the great composers of the 18-19th centuries, with particular focus on the nineteenth. The music will primarily be orchestral but, to draw a more complete picture, will also include opera, brief piano pieces and short songs.

• follow by ear classical music’s most common structure, sonata form

• perceive the form and follow the phrases (far beyond passive listening) to access a work’s core content, i.e. its ‘meaning.’

• be able to articulate what you hear in writing with appropriate vocabulary.

• understand the broad economic and cultural forces that shaped music’s evolution during the 19th century and how it conveyed the values of its time.

• understand how the elements of romanticism are conveyed not only in music but painting, ballet, literature and poetry.

• acquire an enriched understanding of European history through its music.

Your attendance is required at the following concerts:

• The San Francisco Opera

One of the most beloved of operas, Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, directed by Nicolo Luisotti.

Tues., Nov. 22 at, 8 p.m; San Francisco Opera House

YOUR CHOICE OF ANY THREE:

• The SMC Glee Club & Chamber Singers, directed by Julie Ford, Sun. Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. or Monday Nov. 28 at 8 p.m.; SMC Chapel $5 Suggested Donation for SMC students

• The SMC Chamber Musicians, directed by Martin Rokeach, Lino Rivera and Dawn Foster-Dodson, featuring classical repertoire performed by student musicians; Tues. Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. or Wed. Dec. 7, 1 p.m.; SMC Chapel FREE

• The SMC Jazz Band, directed by John Maltester; Thur. Nov. 17 at 8 p.m., Friday Nov. 18 at

5 p.m.; Soda Center $5 SMC students

Absence from any of the required concerts will be severely detrimental to your final grade.

Grading

Quizzes (usually given weekly-lowest one will be dropped) and short written assignments 30%

Romanticism paper 15%

Midterm exam 25%

Final exam (cumulative) 25%

Quality participation 5%

For Extra-Credit

Guest Artist Joe Orrach’s “In My Corner”

Thursday Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. (LeFevre Theatre) $5 SMC STUDENTS

• Tuesday, Oct. 25 8:00 p.m. Composers, Inc., concert of chamber music by living American composers; Old 1st Church in San Francisco (at Van Ness and Sacramento). Student Outreach Admission $5.00 (you may bring a guest for the same price).

Special Guest

• Virtuoso pianist and SMC faculty member Lino Rivera will perform and demonstrate some of the dazzling keyboard innovations of Franz Liszt. Date TBA

On Your In-Class Notes

Without a textbook students certainly must take notes in class. What material needs to be remembered for the final exam and what material does not? Think of the exam as one essay: “Trace the development of symphonic music from the Baroque through Romantic eras. Discuss the major trends and stylistic features of each era, and how they reflect cultural values of their respective time. Reinforce all your points with specific musical examples.” Whenever this subject is being addressed (which will be most of the time) you should take notes. When you’re hearing an interesting anecdote about a composer or composition, you need not take notes.

Homework consists mainly of listening to great music, not as background, but with your full attention. There will also be brief reading assignments and watching videos.

Three Ways to Find the Recordings

I. Saint Mary’s subscribes to “Naxos Music Library”and almost all the music this semester can be found on your computer. To get there, follow these steps:

1. Go to SMC home page, then click on:

2. Academics

3. Library

4. Databases

5. in search window type “Naxos”

6. Naxos Music Library

7. In the keyword search window type composer and title

8. Many choices of the same work may appear, don’t worry about which specific recording.

9. Click the appropriate movements and then “Play Selections.”

II. CD recordings are on reserve at the circulation desk on the main floor of the library. You can listen in the library, or they can be checked out for four hours.

III. You can (legally) download or buy your own recordings, a great way to build your classical music library.

Semester Schedule (subject to change)

Aug. 30 - Sept. 1

The Baroque Period: Music for His Majesty

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (“Winter”)

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4

Sept. 6-8

The Classical Period: Order in the Court

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23

Mozart: Symphony No. 29

Haydn: Symphony No. 99

Sept. 13-27

The Revolutionary: Beethoven

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (the “Eroica Symphony”)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (the “Pastoral” Symphony”)

Rossini: Overture to “The Barber of Seville”

Sept. 29 - Oct. 4

The Passionate, the Heroic, the Macabre: Music of the Romantic Era

Schubert: The Erlking

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique [movements 4-5 only]

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

Oct. 6

Thinking Small

Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Very brief piano pieces and songs

Beethoven: Bagatelle, Op. 119, No. 3

Schubert: Musical Moment, Op. 94 No. 5; Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel

Mendelssohn: Song Without Words, Op. 102, No. 5

Chopin: Preludes No. 3 and No. 7, Op. 28

Schumann: Forest Scenes, “Hunter on the Lookout”

Brahms: Intermezzo in A, Op. 119 and Lullabye

Midterm exam review

Oct. 11

Midterm Exam

Oct. 13

Nineteenth Century Rock Stars: Liszt and Paganini

Exact pieces TBA

Oct. 18-25

Brahms: The Conservative Progressive

Brahms: Symphony No. 4

Oct. 27-Nov.-8

Nationalism: My Soul and My Country’s Soul are Linked

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture

Sibelius: Finlandia

Smetana: The Moldau

Dvorak: Symphony No 9 (the “New World Symphony”)

Nov. 10-17

Thinking Big: The Entire World in a Symphony

Mahler: Symphony No. 2

Nov. 22

A Night at the Opera

Puccini: Turandot

Nov. 24

Happy Thanksgiving

Nov. 29

Catch-up

Dec. 1

Thinking Big: The Operas of Richard Wagner

Die Walkyrie on DVD; we’ll talk about the opera in class and then see it in the evening. Marty provides pizza. You may also see it on your own.

Dec. 6

Thinking Big: the Tone Poems of Richard Strauss

Dec. 8

Final Exam Review

Tues. Dec. 13: 11:30-1:30 FINAL EXAM

Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, that take into account the context of the course and its essential elements, for individuals with qualifying disabilities, are extended through the office of Student Disability Services. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Services Coordinator at (925) 631-4164 to set up a confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional information regarding the services available may be found at the following address on the Saint May’s website:

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