Page 181 of Boston College 2006-2007 University Catalog by Boston College University

ing from the music of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertory. The second portion will consist of the analyses of works by twentiethcentury American, European and Japanese composers. Thomas Oboe Lee MU 215 Jazz Harmony, Improvisation, and Arranging (Fall: 3) Prerequisite: MU 110 Theory Course. Students should have basic keyboard skills, but it is not essential. This course will concentrate on the study of chord structures, chord substitutions, chord scales and improvisation as they have been codified by contemporary jazz musicians. The technical innovations in the music of Sonny Rollins, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Miles Davis will be analyzed and discussed. Special attention will be placed on arranging and composition, including the following: the piano lead sheet, writing for horns in a jazz ensemble, re-harmonizing of standards, composing original melodies on chord structures of tunes by Berlin, Kern, Gershwin, rhythm changes, and the blues. Thomas Oboe Lee MU 227 Keyboard Music (Fall: 3) Genre Course This course will show how composer/performers have explored and exploited the expressive possibilities inherent in three keyboard instruments (harpsichord, clavichord and piano music for organ is not included). Students should come away with an understanding of the main differences in the construction and sonic possibilities of these three instruments, the change of musical styles and forms over a four hundred year period (from the Baroque through today), and specific knowledge of the masterpieces of keyboard music by some of the great keyboard composer/performers. Some previous acquaintance with the keyboard is recommended but not required. Sandra Hebert MU 270 Beethoven (Spring: 3) Composers An introduction to Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), tracing his intellectual development within the culture and society of the Rhenish Enlightenment, his musical enrichment of the High Classicism of Mozart and Haydn (among others), and the heroic style of his best known works, to his feelings and expressions of musical and social isolation in his last years, and his problematic identity with the burgeoning romantic movement in Germany. Emphasis will be on the music itself, concentrating on compositions from three genres: piano sonata, string quartet, and symphony. Also covered will be the concerto, his opera Fidelio, and the Missa Solemnis. Jeremiah McGrann MU 275 Johannes Brahms (Fall: 3) Composers A second Beethoven, the last Romantic, a hidden source of Modernism all these labels have been attached to Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). This course will look at the music of Brahms in light of various issues that defined the latter half of the nineteenth century and that continue to influence the way we listen to his music today. We will consider ideas such as historicism, nationalism, and conservative versus progressive approaches to musical traditions. We will sample works in almost all of the genres for which Brahms wrote: symphonies, concertos, piano and chamber music, solo and choral songs. Matthew Gelbart MU 301 Introduction to World Music (Fall/Spring: 3) Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement Cultural Diversity This course provides an introduction to selected musical traditions from around the world, in their cultural contexts. Our main goals are to study the connections between music and other cultural features and institutions, to become familiar with the features of major musical styles from the cultures studied, and with basic concepts in ethnomusicology and comparative musicology. Case studies include Native North and South American; West, Central and Southern African; Arabic, Persian, Hindusthani, Karnatak, Javanese, and Japanese musics. Musical training and background are not required, and are not presumed. Ann Morrison Spinney MU 312 Counterpoint I (Spring: 3) Prerequisite: MU 110 Theory Course In this course we will study the fundamentals of two and three-part polyphonic styles. Using the principles of species counterpoint, we will acquire a dependable contrapuntal technique to write short compositions first in two parts and eventually in three. Assignments will include short works in free imitation, strict canon and invertible counterpoint. Our studies will include a brief survey of the historical origins of Western polyphony, and analysis of contrapuntal compositions of the Baroque period. Ralf Gawlick MU 315 Seminar in Composition (Spring: 3) Prerequisite: MU 211 or MU 215 Theory Course The course will be conducted in two parts. One: class will meet once a month. Works in both tonal and twentieth-century idioms will be discussed and used as models for student compositions. Two: each student will meet once a week with the instructor for a private studio composition lesson. The student will complete, by the end of the semester, three original compositions: theme and variations, a movement for string quartet, and a song cycle for voice and piano. The purchase of Finale, music software, created by Coda Music Technology, Mac or PC version, is required for this course. Thomas Oboe Lee MU 320 Music and America (Spring: 3) Offered Biennially Cross-Cultural Course A survey of the musical heritage of the United States in the broadest historical and stylistic terms possible: from before the Puritans past punk. Included are religious and secular music as well as popular and elite genres, such as Native American pow-wow music, Puritan hymnody and colonial singing schools, minstrelsy and parlor music, the rise of nationalism and its rejection in art music, music in the theater and in films, jazz and gospel, popular music as social enforcer and as social critic. Important figures include William Billings, Stephen Foster, Charles Ives, Louis Armstrong, Aaron Copland, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix. Jeremiah McGrann MU 321 Rhythm and Blues in American Music (Fall: 3) Cross Listed with BK 266 Cross-Cultural Course This course examines the elements of rhythm and blues in the Afro-American sense, and traces the influence of these elements on American popular and classical music from the early 1900s to the pres- ARTS AND SCIENCES The Boston College Catalog 2006-2007 181

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