Please note: The information displayed here is current as of Monday, March 1, 2021, but the official Course Catalog should be used for all official planning.
Musicology
MUCO 100: Introduction to Music Literature
Lectures and guided listening for the non-music major, introducing musical materials, basic musical concepts, and a variety of styles and types of music. Consideration of the place of music in society, past and present. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major. Units: 6.
MUCO 110: Topics in Musicology for the Non-Major
An exploration of a musicological topic that is more narrowly focused than or lies outside the scope of the Introduction to Music Literature course. May be repeated when topic is different. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major.Topic for Fall 2020: Sounding London: Identity, Space, and Place
Internationally recognized as a cosmopolitan center of artistic activity due to its history and diversity, London offers unsurpassed opportunities to hear live music. For this course, students will attend a wide range of musical events, from traditional concerts to innovative - and perhaps even surprising - performances. Discussion will focus on how factors such as identity, space, and place affect the way we experience music.
Units: 6.
MUCO 120: Introduction to Jazz History
An exploration of the musical development and cultural impact of jazz from its origins to the present for students not majoring in music. Lectures, films, and readings provide historical details. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major. Units: 6.
MUCO 131: The Grand Tour: Musical Taste and Manners in Europe 1600-1750
A study of music in the Baroque period, its social and historical context and relationship to other arts. The course explores the depth and variety of 17th and 18th century musical life and follows a broad range of interests to suit both music majors and non-specialists. Museum visits and weekly concerts, with accompanying lectures; demonstrations by performers active in the field of historical performance practice; and readings on form, style, and the lives of composers. The course is general in scope, and no prior musical knowledge is expected. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major. Not open to students who have previously recieved, or need to receive credit for MUCO 431.Offered at the London Centre. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre.
MUCO 133: Perspectives on Genius: The life and musical impact of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, arguably one of the most famous composers of all time, is a compelling and fascinating figure in classical music. He occupies a central position as the architect of musical Romanticism and his influence continues today. In additions to studying his music from the perspective of his own time, we will discuss his extraordinary creative personality and the reception of his music by subsequent composers and listeners. A number of concerts and outside visits will be organized, and students will be encoursaged to attend relevant performances in London, for which they will be prepared in class. The course will be general in scope, and no prior musical knowledge will be expected. The course does not satisfy requirements for any music major. Not open to students who have received or need to receive credit for MUCO 433. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre
MUCO 135: The British Musical Renaissance: Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Britten
An introduction to British music in the first three-quarters of the 20th century. In addition to studying major works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Britten, students will explore the social and political currents as they impinged on musical life in Britain. A number of concerts and outside visits will be organized, and students will be encouraged to attend relevant performances in London, for which they will be prepared in class. The course will be general in scope, and no prior musical knowledge will be expected. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major. Not open to students who have previously received, or need to receive credit for MUCO 435. Offered at the London Centre. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre.
MUCO 160: Advance of the American Musical
A study of this uniquely American theatrical form as it develops in response to our culture throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Ability to read music helpful, but not required. Units: 6.
Also listed as Theatre Arts 425
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor
MUCO 180: Introduction to World Music & Culture
This course offers the opportunity to explore music and music cultures in a variety of ways and to increase your understanding of and appreciation for musics from around the world. We will discuss what music means to different people, how this relates to issues of ethnic, national, and gender identity, and how music traditions are changing due to forces of globalization. We will also discuss current ethnomusicological and anthropological theories that can help explain and analyze different contexts and understandings of music and why music is so important in human life. Students will apply these ideas in conducting their own musical ethnographic projects. Units: 6.
MUCO 191: Directed Study in Musicology
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 195: Internship in Musicology
An experience-based project in music developed in consultation with a designated supervisor and a conservatory faculty member, comprising a work component and an academic component. The academic component of the internship, carried out under the supervision of the faculty member, may include readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty member, and a written report or other culminating project appropriate to the discipline. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 210: Topics in Musicology for the Non-Major
This course will enable non-music majors to engage with the discipline of music history. May be repeated when topic is different. Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major.Topic for Fall 2020: Music and the Great War
World War I killed millions and destroyed empires while demonstrating the gruesome potential of modern, mechanized warfare. We will look at the roles music played during the Great War and explore ways the conflict affected the creation and performance of music of all types, from the concert hall and the home front to the trenches. By looking back through the lens of the 21st century, we will consider how the music was originally created and experienced and how musical meaning and perception can change due to differing contexts and perspectives.
Topic for Fall 2020: The Rise of Rock and Roll
Growing out of the need for the young generation to have a voice separate from the influence of their parents, Rock-and-Roll will be studied from its genesis in the mid-50s, combining influences from R&B, Country, and Pop, through the variety of sub-genres in the 60s to the punk and disco movements in the 70s that attempted to return R/R to its simpler origins and functions. Movers and shakers who shaped the growth and acceptance of R/R as a popular artistic culture as well as the multitude of social, political, and racial challenges that influenced popular music will be the basis of discussions in class. Prerequisite sophomore standing.
Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
MUCO 211: Introduction to Musicologies I
This course is the first in a two-term sequence that takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music, drawing upon fields such as ethnomusicology, music history, popular music studies, sound studies, cultural studies, music hermeneutics, gender studies, critical race theory, post-colonial studies, historiography and performance studies. We will explore musical styles, practices, functions, meanings and values in cross-cultural and transhistorical contexts. We will develop--and think critically about--the power of engaging actively, intensively and creatively with questions, ideas and sources. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUTH 251 or consent of instructor
MUCO 212: Introduction to Musicologies II
This course is the second in a two-term sequence that takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music, drawing upon fields such as ethnomusicology, music history, popular music studies, sound studies, cultural studies, music hermeneutics, gender studies, critical race theory, post-colonial studies, historiography and performance studies. We will explore musical styles, practices, functions, meanings and values in cross-cultural and transhistorical contexts. We will develop--and think critically about--the power of engaging actively, intensively and creatively with questions, ideas and sources. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 211
MUCO 221: Music and Gender
This course will explore the relationship between music and gender in the Western world from the Middle Ages to the present. Considering classical and popular music, including music videos and film, as well as writings about gender and music, we will explore music's role as a reflection of, reaction to, and active participant in gender construction. Units: 6.
Also listed as Gender Studies 222
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
MUCO 223: Music & Mystical Experience
What is mystical experience? And how does music evoke, induce, or otherwise bring us into relation with it? These questions motivate a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, and diachronic exploration of the ways in which human beings experience the numinous through music. In the spirit of its title, the course also introduces specific contemplative practices in order to cultivate qualities of mind conducive to contemplative engagement with music and sound. Not open to students who have received, or need to receive, credit for MUCO 423. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
MUCO 225: Music in the Monastery
This course examines intersections of music and art in pre- and early-modern monasteries. Students will gain facility analyzing visual and musical traditions as we explore themes such as the cosmos and community, gender, and the Christian body politic. Students will learn about varied disciplinary approaches to chant and polyphony, architecture and sculpture, the politics of enclosure, and practices of faith and spirituality, among other topics. Units: 6.
Also listed as Art History 225
Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing
MUCO 232: Signifying Identity: The Semiotics of Embodying Musical Genre Affiliations
The exploration of how people embody and display their identities as they relate to musical genres. From Doc Martens to zoot suits, body mod to makeup, we will learn about the semiotics of musical genre affiliations, paying attention to how embodied expressions of affiliation intersect with different aspects of identities such as ethnicity, queerness, or race. Class includes discussions, projects, and speakers. Units: 6.
Also listed as Anthropology 332, Linguistics 232
Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing
MUCO 390: Tutorial in Studies Musicology
Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 391: Directed Study in Musicology
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 395: Internship in Music History
An experience-based project in music developed in consultation with a designated supervisor and a conservatory faculty member, comprising a work component and an academic component. The academic component of the internship, carried out under the supervision of the faculty member, may include readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty member, and a written report or other culminating project appropriate to the discipline. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 399: Independent Study in Musicology
Students considering an honors project should register for independent study for one or more terms. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 411: Aesthetics of Music
A study of what can reasonably be said or written about music, critically examining many of the typical late Western assumptions often made of it, e.g., that music is an art, that it involves the production of works, that it is expressive, and that it is a universal language. This study will also assess the extent that music is a social activity informed by cultural context and will consider music from a broad variety of styles and cultures. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or consent of instructor
MUCO 421: Music and Gender
This course will explore the relationship between music and gender in the Western world from the Middle Ages to the present. Considering classical and popular music, including music videos and film, as well as writings about gender and music, we will explore music's role as a reflection of, reaction to, and active participant in gender construction. Units: 6.
Also listed as Gender Studies 421
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 422: Borrowed Music in the Movies
When a film uses a pre-existing piece of music (popular or classical), meanings multiply, both within and outside the film itself. This course will explore these meanings, focusing on the fluid and reciprocal relationship between film and the music it borrows. Units: 6.
Also listed as Film Studies 422
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 423: Music and Mystical Experience
What is mystical experience? And how does music evoke, induce, or otherwise bring us into relation with it? These questions motivate a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, and diachronic exploration of the ways in which human beings experience the numinous through music. Readings from contemporary and historical sources in eastern and western philosophy, psychology, and the history and theory of music provide intellectual and aesthetic contexts in which to engage with a variety of musical practices and traditions. In the spirit of its title, the course also requires a commitment to specific contemplative practices—not bound to any particular belief system—that are introduced in an effort to cultivate qualities of mind conducive to contemplative engagement with a work of music or the experience of sound. Not open to students who have received credit, or need to receive credit, for MUCO 223. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 431: The Grand Tour: Musical Tastes and Manners in Europe 1600-1750
A study of music in the Baroque period, its social and historical context and relationship to other arts. The course explores the depth and variety of 17th and 18th century musical life and follows a broad range of interests to suit both music majors and non-specialists. Museum visits and weekly concerts, with accompanying lectures; demonstrations by performers active in the field of historical performance practice; and readings on form, style, and the lives of composers. This course is a seminar involving independent research. Not open to students who have previously received credit for MUCO 131. Offered at the London Centre. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre. MUCO 201 and 202
MUCO 433: Perspectives on Genius: The life and musical impact of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, arguably one of the most famous composers of all time, is a compelling and fascinating figure in classical music. He occupies a central position as the architect of musical Romanticism and his influence continues today. In additions to studying his music from the perspective of his own time, we will discuss his extraordinary creative personality and the reception of his music by subsequent composers and listeners. A number of concerts and outside visits will be organized, and students will be encoursaged to attend relevant performances in London, for which they will be prepared in class. This course is a seminar involving independent research. Not open to students who have received credit for MUCO 133. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 202; must be attending the Lawrence London Centre
MUCO 435: The British Musical Renaissance: Elgar, Vaughn Williams, and Britten
An introduction to British music in the first three-quarters of the 20th century. In addition to studying major works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Britten, students will explore the social and political currents as they impinged on musical life in Britain. A number of concerts and outside visits will be organized, and students will be encouraged to attend relevant performances in London, for which they will be prepared in class. This course is a seminar involving independent research. Not open to students who have previously received credit for MUCO 135. Offered at the London Centre. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 202
MUCO 440: Topics in Musicology: Life and Works
A study of a composer’s career, emphasizing the relationship between composer and society. Topics in this series vary from year to year. May be repeated when topic is different. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 441: Debussy: Contextual Perspectives
In this course we will explore the music, attitudes, and life of Claude Debussy in interaction with multiple cultural forces. We will explore the interpretive potential of resonances between Debussy’s music and the political, social, and artistic world of Paris at the turn of the twentieth century; conceptions and constructions of cultural identities; questions, challenges, and possibilities related to biography and primary source materials; possibilities related to practices of listening, analysis, and performance; and the power of writing. We will consider some of the ways that the value and meaning of Debussy’s music have been categorized and theorized during his life and after, as well as some of the ways that these discourses might affect conceptions of and relationships with this music, blocking and revealing possibilities. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 450: Topics in Musicology: Genre History
An examination of the historical development of a single genre, stressing the effects of societal changes. Topics in this series vary from year to year. May be repeated when topic is different.Topic for Fall 2020: A History of Music Revivals
This course will examine when, where, how and why musicians have revived musical works and practices from the period roughly encompassing 800-1750 AD. In addition to studying early musicking moments and movements, students will explore issues of performance practice and presentation by performing early musical works of their own choosing.
Topic for Fall 2020: Music and Disability
In this course we will pursue the multifaceted relationship between music and conceptions, constructions, and experiences of disability. Grounded in the field of Disability Studies, our exploration will involve performers, composers, and hearers; multiple musical genres, traditions, and practices; and issues of meaning, value, and difference. We will consider music’s power to reflect and configure bodies, attitudes, and ideas—to limit, but also to provide access to extraordinary possibilities.
Topic for Winter 2021: Cultural Histories of Sound Recordings
In this course we will examine the relationships of technologies of recorded sound to practices of composing, performing, preserving, archiving, consuming, and listening to music. Topics include: early ethnographic recording projects; the early history of the record industry; the use of historical recordings in musicological research and performance studies; magnetic tape as a medium of composition; easy listening and background music; multitrack recording and other techniques of studio recording; the cultural history of the long-playing record; the preservation and archiving of tape music compositions; mixtapes and mashups; sampling; and turntablism.
Topic for Spring 2021: Music and Memory
An exploration of the diverse ways that musical creation, practice, and reception are bound up with memory. We will examine music and ideas from the Middle Ages to the present, focusing on the ways music can function as, be affected by, create, invoke, and interrogate memory.
Topic for Spring 2021: Authenticity and Artifice in Popular Music
In this course we will explore topics related to authenticity and artifice in past and present genres of popular music in the U.S. and around the world, focusing on sound recordings and audiovisual media such as music videos and filmed concerts. We will examine concepts and constructions of sincerity, originality, fidelity, and superficiality in folk, blues, country, singer-songwriter, rock, disco, punk, metal, grunge, hip hop, electronica, and indie pop. Course is writing intensive.
Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 451: History of the String Quartet
Composers have used the string quartet genre to express some of their most profound and daring musical thoughts since the late 18th century and up to the present day. Through readings and analysis, students will explore how this repertoire and its audiences have been shaped by sociological and aesthetic forces. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 452: History of the Wind Band
This course will be an examination of the history and development of the wind band as an artistic medium, focusing on repertoire and instrumentation development and cultural influences. The growth of the modern concert wind ensemble will be studied as a part of the evolution beginning with Gabrieli and proceeding through classical, romantic, and contemporary musical trends. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 453: Opera and Betrayal
This course will examine different modes of betrayal (for example, at the plot, music, or production level) within opera from the 17th century to the present and explore possible meanings conveyed by operas relative to specific societal contexts and ideals, past and present. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 455: Jazz History
A study of the contributions of select jazz artists through analysis of recordings, historical films, solo transcriptions, scores, and readings from texts. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 460: Topics in Musicology: Cultural Moments
A study of a particular time and place, examining the relationship between social institutions, intellectual ideas, and music products. Topics in this series vary from year to year. May be repeated with consent of instructor.Topic for Fall 2020: Transnational Popular Musics of Latin America
In this course we will explore scholarship on the transnational circulation of Latin American popular musics such as cumbia, salsa, norteño, and reggaeton. Focusing on commercial sound recordings, we will consider the many ways that mass mediation and migration have shaped and transformed the styles, meanings, functions and authenticities of these and other transnational Latin American genres. Topic for Spring 2021: Music and Power Under the Sun King
This course explores the relationship between music (ballet, opera, court dance, instrumental music, and sacred music) and power during the reign of Louis XIV. Primary and secondary readings will also treat other intersections of French culture and power in art, architecture, literature and modes of decorum.
Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202
MUCO 470: Topics in Ethnomusicology - Regions
An examination of music of a particular geographic region or diasporic group. Topics and prerequisites may vary from year to year. May be repeated when topic is different.Topic for Fall 2019: Music of India
We will explore aspects of North and South Indian classical musics and dance in this course, and touch on folk and popular musics as well. Students will become familiar with Indian tuning systems, rhythmic patterns, formal structures, and performance practices. We will examine music’s role in society in India as well as among diasporic populations, and investigate music’s connections to other areas of artistic, social, spiritual, and political life.
Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or consent of instructor
MUCO 471: Performing Arts of Bali
This course explores the intersections of Balinese music, dance, drama, and ritural. Discussions will include how globalization, tourism, and economic and religious tensions affect the arts and performer’s lives. Students will have hands-on experience learning to play Balinese gamelan instruments. Units: 6.
Also listed as Ethnic Studies 471, Global Studies 471
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or consent of instructor.
MUCO 490: Topics in Ethnomusicology - Issues
An examination of a particular issue in ethnomusicological study. Topics and prerequisites may vary from year to year. May be repeated for credit when topic is different. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or consent of instructor.
MUCO 492: Music and Globalization
How do forces of globalization affect musicians and music-making? How do people use music to make sense of their transnational and cross-border lives and identities? What happens to the meanings in music when it travels across borders and boundaries, is performed by new musicians in different contexts, and is heard by new listeners? What happens to local or ritual meanings when it becomes commodified and commercialized? Do international copyright laws adequately protect composers and musicians when their music travels, and what about when such laws are at odds with local notions of creation and ownership? This course explores answers to these questions through case studies on a variety of musical genres and places around the world. Units: 6.
Also listed as Global Studies 492
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or GLST 100
MUCO 493: Music and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
This course examines the relationship between the constructions of gender identities and music performance and practice, and looks at history and development of approaches, theories, and studies regarding this relationship. Each week contains theoretical readings from gender studies, women’s studies, or feminist scholarship as well as ethnomusicological case studies from a variety of locations around the world. Units: 6.
Also listed as Gender Studies 493
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or GEST 100 or GLST 100 or consent of instructor.
MUCO 494: Music and the Environment
In many societies around the world, people use music to connect with nature, specific places, and surrounding environments. This course will explore music performance practices and repertoire that expresses or enacts these connections. Case studies will include songlines and Australian Aboriginal land claims, North American protest songs, and the intimate relationships between music and nature of the BaAka people in central Africa and among the Kakuli people in Papua, among others. Units: 6.
Also listed as Environmental Studies 494
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or ENST 127 or consent of instructor
MUCO 495: Methods, Theories, and Debates in Ethnomusicology
This course will cover the history of the field of ethnomusicology, key debates, influential scholars, and significant case studies. Important concepts will include fieldwork methods, organology (the study of musical instruments), tuning systems, transcription, and issues in applied ethnomusicology. This course will be particularly helpful to students considering graduate work in ethnomusicology. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: MUCO 212 or MUCO 202 or ANTH 110 or consent of instructor
MUCO 590: Tutorial in Studies Musicology
Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 591: Directed Study in Musicology
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 595: Internship in Musicology
An experience-based project in music developed in consultation with a designated supervisor and a conservatory faculty member, comprising a work component and an academic component. The academic component of the internship, carried out under the supervision of the faculty member, may include readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty member, and a written report or other culminating project appropriate to the discipline. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 599: Independent Study in Musicology
Students considering an honors project should register for independent study for one or more terms. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 690: Tutorial in Studies Musicology
Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 691: Directed Study in Musicology
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required
MUCO 695: Internship in Musicology
An experience-based project in music developed in consultation with a designated supervisor and a conservatory faculty member, comprising a work component and an academic component. The academic component of the internship, carried out under the supervision of the faculty member, may include readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty member, and a written report or other culminating project appropriate to the discipline. Units: 1 TO 98.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required