Center: 
Vienna
Program(s): 
Discipline(s): 
Music
Course code: 
MS 402A
Terms offered: 
Spring
Credits: 
4
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
IES Abroad Faculty
Description: 

Cultural analysis of composers’ settings and stylistic analysis of compositions of the Classical and Romantic eras and the 20th century. Topics include sonata form, Romanticism, dodecaphony, the development of such vocal and instrumental genres as the symphony, opera and lied and the works of such central composers as Beethoven, Wagner, and Schoenberg.

(This course, MS 402A, is taught offered for 4 credits. It is taught in conjunction with the 3-credit course MS 402, but requires an additional paper and occasional extended meeting times.)

Prerequisites: 

Music major or equivalent skills in analysis and listening

Learning outcomes: 

By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of musical developments of the Classical, Baroque, and 20th Century periods, and be able to place these developments within a wider historical, cultural, and aesthetic context.

Method of presentation: 

Lectures and discussions

Required work and form of assessment: 

Reading, writing, and listening assignments for each lecture are listed below. CDs of the required listening and copies of the required readings are on reserve in the library. There will be a midterm and a final exam as well as two listening quizzes; students will also have to complete a term paper. The course is graded as follows:

  • class participation, Study Guide - 20%
  • listening quizzes (2 x 10%) - 20%
  • midterm exam - 20%
  • term paper - 20%
  • final exam - 20%

The term paper must be 10-15 pages long and focus on a specific topic related to music in European culture after 1750 and appropriate to the objectives of the course. The paper must be a detailed study of whatever topic is selected, it must have a single main point and a convincing argument, and it must represent the student's own independent work and thinking, reflecting both thorough research and original interpretation. Work on the term paper will be supervised by the instructor and students should consult with him often. Students will also be organized into peer review groups that will read and respond to each other's paper proposals and earlier drafts.

content: 

The following is a list of class meetings by week giving topics, major works, readings, and listening assignments. For full reference on the readings, see the Required Readings list below.

Week 1: Course Introduction
European Music and Society, 1750-1800
Eighteenth-Century Opera: Comic, Serious, Reform

Reading: HWM 416-23, 438-40, 472-85, 485-500
Listening: NAWM 93, 94, 96

Week 2: Early Classical Music; Symphony
Haydn
Mozart

Reading: HWM 506-21, 525-46, 546-65
Listening: NAWM 101, 104, 106, 107

Week 3: Beethoven

Reading: Listening:
HWM 567-594
NAWM 108-110

Week 4: Romanticism: German Lieder and Song Cycles
Piano Music: Poetry and Virtuosity

Reading: HWM 595-630
Listening: NAWM 111-113, 116-119

Week 5: Symphony and Symphonic Poem to the mid-1800s
Italian and French Opera

Reading: HWM 631-45, 657-58, 659-72, 683-89
Listening: NAWM 121, 125, 127

Week 6: German Romantic Opera
The Wagnerian Music Drama
The Search for National Identity

Reading: HWM 673-75, 690-98, 679-83, 698-711, 741-47
Listening: NAWM 126, 128

Week 7: The French Tradition
Brahms and Late Romanticism

Reading: HWM 737-41, 780-86, 714-36
Listening: NAWM 138, 132

Week 8: Strauss, Mahler, and the Turn of the Century
Schoenberg: Expressionism and Atonality

Reading: HWM 770-80, 786-800, 757-64, 801-10
Listening: NAWM 133, 141, 143

Week 9: The Second Viennese School and Dodecaphony
Music Between the World Wars

Reading: HWM 810-19, 819-37, 865-80
Listening: NAWM 142, 144, 145, 147, 154

Week 10: American Music in the 20th Century
Jazz and Pop Music
Composers, Performers, and Technology

Reading: HWM 747-55, 836-43, 883-91, 844-64, 893-908, 916-35
Listening: NAWM 148, 157, 152, 159, 163, 164
The Beatles, “A Day in the Life”

Required readings: 

Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald J. Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. (HWM)

Burkholder, J. Peter and Claude V. Palisca. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Vol. II. 5th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. (NAWM)

Burkholder, J. Peter and Jennifer L. King. Student & Listening Guide for a History of Western Music. New York: Norton, 2006.

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Weiss, Piero and Richard Taruskin. Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. New York: Schirmer, 1984.

Brief Biography of Instructor: 

John Moraitis earned a Ph.D in Musicology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teaching experience includes courses in Music History, Music Theory, Music Appreciation, and Piano at the University of Georgia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as private harpsichord lessons and master classes on Baroque performance practice. Current research areas include twentieth-century Modernism and Baroque performance practice. He has been teaching at IES Vienna since 2004.

Contact Hours: 
55 classroom contact hours plus individual consultation with instructor