Class Sessions

This page presents the materials for each class session. This includes:

  • A list of works to be studied and discussed
  • Class agenda
  • Description of in-class "warm-up" activities, if any
  • Reading, listening, and homework assignments, to be completed before class

About Recordings

Specific recorded versions of the assigned works are not listed here, except for a few free online videos. MIT students enrolled in the class had access to online listening for most works, through MIT Libraries subscriptions to Naxos Music Library and Alexander Street. Any recordings to which you have ready access, via libraries or other resources, will be fine.

For works in the Auner Anthology, the textbook publisher W. W. Norton has created a playlist for Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries with links to representative recordings in WorldCat (library search), Amazon, iTunes, and the Naxos Music Library.

Readings

[Auner] = Buy at Amazon Auner, Joseph. Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. ISBN: 9780393929201. (Also available in eBook format, ISBN: 9780393904604)

[Anthology] = Buy at Amazon ———. Anthology for Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. ISBN: 9780393920215.

[Strunk] = Buy at Amazon Strunk, Oliver. Source Readings in Music History. W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. ISBN: 9780393037524.

Most assignments also begin with a brief biographical reading on a composer, from Grove® Music Online [a subscription-based service that is not provided for OCW users].

CLASS # TOPICS WORK STUDIED CLASS NOTES READINGS ASSIGNMENTS
1 Late-Romanticism and the Dawn of Modernism

[Anthology]

Mahler, Gustav. Symphony No. 3, Movement 4.

Supplemental

Mahler, Gustav. Das Lied von der Erde.

----. Symphony No. 5.

Strauss, Richard. Salome.

Class 1 agenda and warm-up (PDF)    
2 Impressionism, Mystic Synesthesia, and Orchestral Exuberance

[Anthology]

Debussy, Claude. "Pagodes" from Estampes.

Supplemental

Debussy, Claude. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and La mer.

Scriabin, Alexander. Prometheus.

Class 2 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 16–34. Class 2 assignment (PDF)
3 Expressionism and Atonality

[Anthology]

Schoenberg, Arnold. "Mondestrunken" from Pierrot lunaire.

Berg, Alban. Wozzeck, Act III, transition and scene 3.

Supplemental

Schoenberg, Arnold. Verklärte Nacht.

Berg, Alban. Lyric Suite.

Class 3 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 35–38 and 45–54.

[Strunk] Schoenberg, Arnold. "Two Letters to Ferrucio Busoni." Reading #170, pp. 1283–9.

Class 3 assignment (PDF)
4 Symphonic Innovations

[Anthology]

Ives, Charles. Symphony No. 4, Movement 1.

Supplemental

Ives, Charles. "Decoration Day" from New England Holidays.

Sibelius, Jean. Symphony No. 5, Movement 1.

Class 4 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 56–64.

[Strunk] Ives, Charles. "Music and its Future." Reading #178, pp. 1335–9.

Class 4 assignment (PDF)
5 Stravinsky's Russian Ballets

[Anthology]

Stravinsky, Igor. Le sacre du printemps, Part I, Introduction.

Supplemental

Stravinksy, Igor. Firebird

----. Petrushka.

Class 5 agenda (PDF) [Auner] pp. 64–67 and 70–76. Class 5 assignment (PDF)
6 Weimar Modernism

[Anthology]

Weill, Kurt. Der Lindberghflug, "Introduction of the Pilot."

Supplemental

Weill, Kurt. Threepenny Opera.

Hindemith, Paul. Symphony: Mathis der Maler.

Class 6 agenda (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 82–92.

[Strunk] Weill, Kurt. "Shifts in Musical Production." Reading #186, pp. 1393–5.

Buy at Amazon Hinton, Stephen. "Neue Sachlichkeit, Surrealism, and Gebrauchsmusik." In A New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill. Yale University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780300046168.

Class 6 assignment (PDF)
7 Neo-Classicism

[Anthology]

Stravinsky, Igor. Symphonie de psaumes, Movement 2.

Supplemental

Stravinsky, Igor. Pulcinella.

Satie, Erik. Parade.

Prokofiev, Sergei. Symphony No. 1 "Classical."

Class 7 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

Handout on set theory: intervals and atonality (PDF) (Courtesy of Michael Cuthbert. Used with permission.)

[Auner] pp. 103–17. Class 7 assignment (PDF)
8 The Influence of Jazz

[Anthology]

Ravel, Maurice. Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra, Movement 1.

Supplemental

Gershwin, George. Rhapsody in Blue.

Milhaud, Darius. La création du monde.

Class 8 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 95, 99–101, and 118–23.

Buy at Amazon Weiss, Piero, and Richard Taruskin. "The Assimilation of Jazz (Gershwin, Ravel)." Reading 145 in Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. 2nd edition. Schirmer, 2007, pp. 406–8. ISBN: 9780534585990.

Class 8 assignment (PDF)
9 The Twelve-Tone System

[Anthology]

Schoenberg, Arnold. Piano Piece, Op. 33a.

Webern, Anton. Symphony, Op. 21, Movement 2.

Supplemental

Webern, Anton. Orchestration of J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue.

Berg, Alban. Violin Concerto.

Class 9 agenda (PDF) [Auner] pp. 124–41. Class 9 assignment (PDF)
10 Bartók: The Formal and the Folk

[Anthology]

Bartók, Béla. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Movement 1.

Supplemental

Bartók, Bela. Duke Bluebeard's Castle.

----. String Quartet No. 4.

Class 10 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 67–70 and 142–6. Class 10 assignment (PDF)
11 American and British Landscapes

[Anthology]

Copland, Aaron. "Billy the Kid Suite" and "Street in a Frontier Town."

Supplemental

Copland, Aaron. Appalachian Spring.

Williams, Ralph Vaughan. Symphony No. 3 "Pastoral."

Class 11 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 148–9 and 153–61. Class 11 assignment (PDF)
12 Nationalism as Style; Style as Nationalism

[Anthology]

William, Grant Still. Africa, Movement 2.

Supplemental

Villa-Lobos, Heitor. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7, "Tocata."

McPhee, Colin. Tabuh-Tabuhan, "Ostinatos."

Janáček, Leoš. Káťa Kabanová, "No, no, no one, yet my heart was beating."

Class 12 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 149–52 and 161–6.

[Strunk] Still, William Grant. Excerpt from "Horizons Unlimited." Reading #195, pp. 1421-3.

Class 12 assignment (PDF)

Paper 1 due

13 Reactions to Destruction

[Anthology]

Britten, Benjamin. . War Requiem. "Requiem aeternam."

Supplemental

Britten, Benjamin. Peter Grimes.

Strauss, Richard. Vier letzte Lieder.

Class 13 agenda (PDF) [Auner] pp. 170–81. Class 13 assignment (PDF)
14 In the Soviet Union

[Anthology]

Shostakovich, Dmitri. String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110, Movement 3.

Supplemental

Shostakovich, Dmitri. Symphony No. 5

----. Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Prokofiev, Sergei. Romeo and Juliet.

Class 14 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 181–9.

[Strunk] Pravda's 1936 review of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk: "Chaos Instead of Music." Reading #188, pp. 1397–9.

Class 14 assignment (PDF)
15 Systematic Strategies

[Anthology]

Boulez, Pierre. Le marteau sans maître, Movement 5.

Supplemental

Messiaen, Olivier. Quatuor pour la fin du temps.

Babbitt, Milton. Semi-Simple Variations.

Class 15 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 190–99.

[Strunk] Babbitt, Milton. "Who Cares if You Listen?" Reading #174, pp. 1305–11.

[Strunk] Boulez, Pierre. "Tendencies in Recent Music." Reading #180, pp. 1346–52.

Class 15 assignment (PDF)
16 Music and Avant-Garde Performance/Art

[Anthology]

Oliveros, Pauline. Traveling Companions.

Supplemental

Cage, John. Notations

----. Imaginary Landscape No. 5.

Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Aus den sieben Tagen.

Ono, Yoko. Grapefruit.

Class 16 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 199–210.

[Strunk] Cage, John. "Experimental Music." Reading #173, pp. 1301–5.

[Strunk] Cardew, Cornelius. Excerpt from "A Scratch Orchestra: Draft Constitution." Reading #192, pp. 1409–11.

Class 16 assignment (PDF)

Paper 1 revision due

17 Machines and Technologies

[Anthology]

Davidovsky, Mario. Synchronisms No. 6 for Piano and Tape.

Saariaho, Kaija. Noanoa.

Supplemental

Russolo, Luigi. Risveglio di una Città.

Antheil, George. Ballet mécanique, Roll One.

Varèse, Edgard. Hyperprism

----. Poème électronique.

Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Gesang der Jünglinge.

Class 17 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 212–32.

[Strunk] Russolo, Luigi. "The Art of Noises." Reading #170, pp. 1328–33.

[Strunk] Varèse, Edgard. "The Liberation of Sound." Reading #179, pp. 1339–46.

[Strunk] Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Excerpt from "The Concept of Unity in Electronic Music." Reading #182, pp. 1366–71.

Class 17 assignment (PDF)
18 New Textures and Spectral Music

[Anthology]

Ligeti, György. Continuum.

Supplemental

Ligeti, György. Atmosphères.

Nancarrow, Conlon. Study 3.

Grisey, Gérard. Partiels.

Murail, Tristan. Vues aériennes.

Class 18 agenda (PDF) [Auner] pp. 234–52. Class 18 assignment (PDF)
19 Complication, Again

[Anthology]

Carter, Elliott. String Quartet No. 5, first four sections.

Supplemental

Lachenmann, Helmut. "…zwei Gefühle…"

Ferneyhough, Brian. Flurries.

Class 19 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 251–55. Class 19 assignment (PDF)
20 Post-Modernism

[Anthology]

Crumb, George. Vox balaenae

Supplemental

Crumb, George. Ancient Voices of Children.

Berio, Luciano. Sinfonia.

Class 20 agenda (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 257–73.

[Strunk] Ziporyn, Evan. "Who Listens if You Care?" Reading #175, pp. 1312–8.

Class 20 assignment (PDF)
21 Music from "The East"

[Anthology]

Yi, Chen. Ba Ban.

Supplemental

Takemitsu, Toru. November Steps.

Class 21 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 274–6.

Class 21 assignment (PDF)

Paper 2: Ready for peer review of abstract and outlines

22

Minimalism and its Aftermath

Guest speaker: Evan Ziporyn

[Anthology]

Reich, Steve. Violin Phase.

Supplemental

Reich, Steve. Different Trains.

Riley, Terry. In C.

Class 22 agenda and warm-up (PDF)

[Auner] pp. 278–93.

Buy at Amazon Reich, Steve. "Music as a Gradual Process." In Writings on Music, 1965–2000. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780195111712. [Preview with Google Books]

Bernard, Jonathan W. "The Minimalist Aesthetic in the Plastic Arts and in Music." Perspectives of New Music 31 no. 1 (Winter 1993): 86–132.

Class 22 assignment (PDF)
23 Great(?) American Opera

[Anthology]

Adams, John. Doctor Atomic, Act I, scene 3: Batter my heart.

Supplemental

Adams, John. Nixon in China.

Glass, Philip. Einstein on the Beach.

Class 23 agenda and warm-up (PDF) [Auner] pp. 293–305. Class 23 assignment (PDF)
24 Guest speaker: Joseph Auner (Tufts University and author of our textbook)        
25 Short presentations on Paper 2       Paper 2 due