Listening

Amazon Partnership and Music Samples

This page presents the assigned listening for each class.

Music Samples

Samples of many tracks are available on Amazon.com. Click on a music title and scroll down to "Listen to Samples."

LEC # TOPICS LISTENING
1 Welcome - Ritual Reading of the Syllabus - Overview  
Unit One: The Big Picture
2 What is "Music"? What is a "Score"? How are they Related?

Cook: "Music: An Imaginary Object"
Buy at Amazon Gounod, Charles, after J. S. Bach. "Ave Maria." Alessandro Moreschi. Moreschi - The Last Castrato. Pearl, 1993.

Traditional. "Yanguan Pass song." (Yanguan San Die.) Li Xiangting. Video.

Buy at Amazon Chopin, Frederic. "Prelude in e minor, op. 28, no. 4." Martha Argerich. Chopin: 26 Préludes. Deutsche Grammophon, 1991.

Buy at Amazon Ligeti, György. "San Francisco Polyphony." Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Howarth. Ligeti: Musica Ricercata; String quartet No. 1. Bis, 1994.

Buy at Amazon Williams, Ralph Vaughan. "The Lark Ascending." Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Previn, Griffiths. Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2; The Lark Ascending. Telarc, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Wagner, Richard. "Prelude to Das Rheingold." Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Levine. Wagner: Das Rheingold. Polygram Records, 1990.
3 Form and Proportion; Large-scale Rhythm and Phrase Rhythm (Special Guest: Jewlia Eisenberg, Composer-performer) The Vestibules. "The grunge song." (MP3)

Buy at Amazon Gil, Gilberto, and Caetano Veloso. "Panis et circenses." Os Mutantes. Everything Is Possible: The Best of Os Mutantes. Luaka Bop, 2005.

Buy at Amazon Chen, Chien-Yin. "Cloud walking." Min Xiao-Fen (pipa) et al. Purr. Tzadik Composer Series, 2003.

Buy at Amazon Oswald, John. "Pocket." (Based on Count Basie, "Corner Pocket.") Plunderphonics 69/96. Seeland Records, 2001.

Buy at Amazon Reis, Nando. "Ao meu redor." Marisa Monte. A Great Noise. Blue Note Records, 1997.

Eisenberg, Jewlia. The Tunnel, Bread and Circuses, Expulsion and Dream of Me.
4 Speed, Volume, and Register

Quiz 1
Buy at Amazon Legong Gamelan. "Sekar jepun." The Music of Bali, Volume 2: Tirta Sari - Legong Gamelan. Celestial Harmonies, 1997.

Buy at Amazon King Crimson. "Dinosaur." THRAK. Virgin Records, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Rainer, Lillian. "Taos courting flute song." Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women. Smithsonian Folkways, 1995.

Buy at Amazon Birtwistle, Harrison. "Carmen arcadiae mechanicae perpetuum." London Sinfonietta, Howarth. Birtwistle: Secret Theatre; Silbury Air. Etcetera, 1994.

Robison, Brian. "Cats' cradle."
5 Timbre Buy at Amazon Traditional. "La Raspa." Juan Garcia Esquivel. The Sights and Sounds of Esquivel. Bar/None Records, 2005.

Buy at Amazon Berio, Luciano. "Sequenza III." Cathy Berberian. Berio: Circles; Sequenzas 1, 3 & 5. Wergo, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Cowell, Henry. "Aeolian harp." Anthony de Mare. Wizards and Wildmen. CRI, 2000.

Buy at Amazon ———. "The banshee." Anthony de Mare. Wizards and Wildmen. CRI, 2000.

Buy at Amazon Ligeti, György. "Continuum." Elisabeth Chojnacka. György Ligeti Edition 6. Sony, 1997.
6 Texture and Articulation Buy at Amazon Shaheen, Simon. "Taqasim on violin." Turath: Masterworks of the Middle East. Times Square Records, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Tekbilek, Faruk. "Taqasim on nay." Turath: Masterworks of the Middle East. Times Square Records, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Ives, Charles. "The Unanswered Question." Orchestra of St. Lukes, Adams. American Elegies. Nonesuch, 1997.

Buy at Amazon Adams, John. "Century rolls: III. Hail Bop." Cleveland Orchestra, Ax, von Dohnanyi. Century Rolls. Nonesuch, 2001.

Buy at Amazon Ziporyn, Evan. "Four Impersonations: Thum nyatiti." This Is Not A Clarinet. Cantaloupe, 2001.

Buy at Amazon Comunidad Aymara de Leqaya. "Sata Kallta." Creation's Journey: Native American Music. Smithsonian Folkways, 1994.
Unit Two: Rhythm
7 Symmetric Meter Buy at Amazon Miki, Minoru. "Hanayagi (The greening)." Keiko Nosaka. Minoru Miki Selected Works II. Camerata, 1995.

Buy at Amazon Gamelan Gong Kebyar. "Swa buana paksa." Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar, vol. 1. Vital (City Hall), 1996.

Buy at Amazon Reich, Steve. "Pulses', 'Section VI,' and 'Section VIII.' Music for 18 Musicians. Nonesuch, 1998.
8 Accent and Syncopation

Quiz 2
Buy at Amazon Parliament. "Give up the funk (Tear the roof off the sucker.)" 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Parliament. Mercury / Universal, 2000.

Buy at Amazon Stravinsky, Igor. "Augurs of spring," and "Dances of the young girls," from "The Rite of Spring." Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ozawa. Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, etc. RCA, 1999.
9 Polyrhythm and Polymeter Buy at Amazon Child, Peter. "In the heart of our mountains," and "Sandino was everywhere," from "Estrella." Cantata Singers and Ensemble. Peter Child: Estrella, String Quartet No. 2. New World Records, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Adams, John. "Short ride in a fast machine." Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Alsop. John Adams: Shaker Loops; The Wound-Dresser; Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Naxos, 2004.

Buy at Amazon Chiweshe, Stella Rambisai. "Kassahwa." Shungu. Piranha, 1997.

Buy at Amazon Jobim, Antonio Carlos. "Surfboard." Roberto Menescal. Surfboard. Umvd Import, 2004.

Buy at Amazon Nancarrow, Conlon. "Study no. 3a for player piano." Studies for Player Piano. Wergo, 2000.

Buy at Amazon Ligeti, György. Etudes, I/6, "Automne à Varsovie." Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano. Sony, 1997.
10 Asymmetric Meter Buy at Amazon Bartók, Béla. "Mikrokosmos no. 133: Syncopation (3)." György Sándor. Bela Bartok: Mikrokosmos. Sony, 1993.

Buy at Amazon King Crimson. "Larks' tongues in aspic, parts one and two." Larks Tongues in Aspic. E. G., 2000.

Buy at Amazon McLaughlin, John. "Birds of fire." Mahavishnu Orchestra. Birds of Fire. Sony, 2000.
11 Alternatives to Meter Buy at Amazon Nancarrow, Conlon. "Study no. 21 [Canon X]." Studies for Player Piano. Wergo, 2000.

Buy at Amazon Glass, Philip. "Spaceship." (Act IV, Scene 3.) Einstein on the Beach. Sony, 1990.

Buy at Amazon Messiaen, Olivier. "Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets." Stoltzman, Kavafian, Sherry, Serkin. Quartet for the End of Time. RCA, 1989.

Buy at Amazon Marshall, Ingram. "Fog tropes." Orchestra of St. Lukes, Adams. American Elegies. Nonesuch, 1991.
Unit Three: Melody and Harmony
12 Consonance and Dissonance Buy at Amazon Schütz, Heinrich. "Die mit tränen säen." Concerto Palatino. Schütz: Psalmen Davids. Harmonia Mundi, 1998.

Buy at Amazon Ligeti, György. "Lux aeterna" London Sinfonietta Voices. Ligeti Edition 2: A Cappella Choral Works. Sony, 1997.
13 Intervals and Harmony

Quiz 3
 
14 Melodic Construction and Transformation Buy at Amazon Johnson, Blind Willie. "Dark was the night, cold was the ground." The Complete Blind Willie Johnson. Sony, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Monk, Thelonious. "Well You Needn't." The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings. Riverside, 2006.

Buy at Amazon Nelson, Willie. "Crazy." Patsy Cline. Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. MCA, 2003.
15 Contrapuntal Relationships Buy at Amazon The Beatles. "I am the Walrus." Magical Mystery Tour. Capitol, 1990.

Buy at Amazon They Might Be Giants. "Purple toupee." Lincoln. Restless Records, 1993.
16 Drone, Ostinato, Chaconne and Passacaglia Buy at Amazon Traditional (Japan). "Goshoraku." Kyoto Imperial Court Music Orchestra. Gagaku: Imperial Court Music of Japan. Lyrichord, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Purcell, Henry. "When I am laid in earth." (Dido's lament.) Anne Sofie von Otter, et al. The Yellow Guide: Opera. Deutsche Grammophon, 1998.

Buy at Amazon Piazzolla, Astor. "Hora cero." New Tango Sex-Tet. The Lausanne Concert. Milan Records, 2006.
17 Contrasting Harmonic Areas

Quiz 4
 
18 Deadline For Final Projects  
Unit Four: Onward and Beyond
19 Sampling, Quotation, Paraphrase, and Allusion

Read-through of Large-ensemble Compositions
Example 1

Source: Buy at Amazon Mahler, Gustav. "III. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung." Mahler: Symphony No. 2. Deutsche Grammophon, 1990.

Derived: Buy at Amazon Berio, Luciano. "Sinfonia III: In ruhig fliessender Bewegung." Goteborgs Symfoniker, Eotvos, Enoksson. Berio: Sinfonia / Ekphrasis. Deutsche Grammophon, 2005.

Example 2

Source: Buy at Amazon Beethoven. "Symphony no. 7, IV. Allegro con brio." Beethoven: Symphonien Nos. 5 & 7. Deutsche Grammophon, 1993.

Derived: Buy at Amazon Oswald, John. "Devil Gun Won't Behave," and "7th." Plunderphonics 69/96. Seeland Records, 2001.
20 Polystylism

Rehearsal of Large-ensemble Compositions
Buy at Amazon Schnittke, Alfred. "String Quartet No. 3: I. Andante." Kronos Quartet. Schnittke: Complete String Quartets. Nonesuch, 1998.

Buy at Amazon Zorn, John. "Cat o' Nine Tails." Mondrian Quartet. Cartoon S&M. Tzadiz, 2000.

Buy at Amazon Zappa, Frank. "Tinsel Town rebellion." (Warning: explicit lyrics.) Tinsel Town Rebellion. Rykodisc, 1995.
21 What (and How) do Sounds Mean?  
21 Dress Rehearsal of Large-ensemble Compositions

Quiz 5
 
22-24 Performances Of Final Projects

Post-concert Discussion of Performances
 
25 Report on Your Final Project  
  Final Examination