Music Resources - DANC-GT 2043 - Spring 2012 Syllabus
Revised January 22, 2012
Instructor: Allen Fogelsanger, adjunct faculty
E-mail: alf431 [at] nyu [dot] edu
Department of Dance, Institute of Performing Arts
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Course Objectives
The goal of the course is to improve the student's understanding of music in practical ways that will help in building a successful career as a dancer and choreographer.
The course will continue the study of the elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony and timbre) begun in DANC-GT 2042, as well as provide fundamental training in analyzing musical form in pieces ranging from small-scale folk and popular tunes to large-scale orchestral works. This will involve practice in listening, score-reading, performing, composing, choreographing, analytical writing, and oral presentation.
The course uses Aaron Copland's book What to Listen for in Music, but it is organized around engagement with a series of musical works. These pieces may be characterized as leading through two threads of ideas. The first builds on the emphasis on rhythm in DANC-GT 2042 by following a sequence of percussion scores, providing examples of mixed meter and polyrhythm and introducing timbre as a musical element. The second thread leads through more traditional works and their classical formal structures. Adjustments in both threads may be made as the course progresses.
Course Requirements
The major projects of the term will be:
- Performance of a movement of John Cage's Quartet for percussion.
- Composition of short musical works
- Analyses of musical pieces.
- A five-minute in-class presentation of a one-minute piece
- A five-to-eight page paper analyzing two four-minute pieces
- A choreography to a three-minute piece of music with a five-to-eight page paper analyzing the work and how the dance fits it.
- A listening journal of term-long on-line listening in a wide variety of styles.
Additionally there will be work in class and smaller projects.
Grading Percentages
- 20% for class work, quizzes, and participation
- 50% for papers and projects
- 30% for the final examination
Academic Integrity
Each student in this course is expected to abide by the New York University Policy on Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the student's own work.
Class Attendance and Participation
Participation means being prepared by having read or listened to the assigned materials and engaging in conversation (if not debate) with other students and the instructor. It means having a movement assignment or project ready to show the class.
Only two absences of any kind are allowed (excused or unexcused). Any absence above two will result in a reduction of the final grade. Only in extreme situations will there be exceptions to this policy. Two latenesses will constitute one absence.
Timetable
The timetable for projects and lectures remains flexible and is set week by week, depending on the needs of the class. The pace of the class and the particular assignments remain dependent on how fast the class learns and what would expedite learning of the material. In general the pop analysis will be completed early in the term, the classical analysis will be due later in the term and the listening journal will be due at the last class of the term.
- Meeting Place and Time: classroom 5M
- Mondays and Thursdays 5:05-6:25
The course will always be attacking many subjects at once--in any class meeting a number of works will be examined--so of necessity students will need to multi-task. Taking notes is essential because there is no single text to which to refer.
Materials
I. Textbook
- What to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland
- $7.95, first reading assignment to be done by Monday, January 30
- Amazon link
- Barnes and Noble link
- Reserve 2 hour loan, NYU Bobst Reserve Collection, MT6 .C784 1999
II. Thread on percussion and timbre
- Clapping Music by Steve Reich
- Quartet for percussion by John Cage
- Ionization by Edgard Varèse
- Etude aux chemins de fer by Pierre Schaeffer
- Music by Thom Willems, for One Flat Thing Reproduced by William Forsythe
III. Thread on structure and forms
- Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach
- For Children by Béla Bartók
Material Girl
by Madonna
Single Ladies
by Beyoncé
Countdown
by Beyoncé
small explosions that are yours to keep
by Mitchell Akiyama
- Études pour piano, premier livre, by György Ligeti
- Die Kunst der Fuge by Johann Sebastian Bach
- Sonata No. 11 for piano in A Major, K. 331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 by Ludwig van Beethoven
- Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven
- The Four Temperaments by Paul Hindemith
- Concerto Grosso No. 1 for two violins, harpsichord, prepared piano and string orchestra, by Alfred Schnittke
SOME ITEMS ON THE SCHEDULE
- Monday, January 23: First Day of Classes
- Friday, January 27, 8 PM: Past/Forward 2012
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, $25/$15.
- Monday, February 20: Presidents Day
- Thursday-Saturday, February 23-25, 8 PM: MFA Concert I
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Thursday-Saturday, March 1-3, 8 PM: Second Avenue Dance Company
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Thursday-Friday, March 8-9, 8 PM: Showing IV
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Monday, March 12-Saturday, March 17: Spring Recess
- Wednesday-Monday, March 28-April 2, 8 PM: Major Dance Concert
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Saturday, April 14, 8 PM & Sunday, April 15, 6 PM: 2012 Distinguished Dance Faculty Concert: Reconstructions and Repertory
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, $10/$5.
- Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28, 8 PM: Choreographers, Composers & Designers
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Wednesday-Saturday, May 2-5, 8 PM: Showing V
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Monday, May 7: Last Day of Classes
- Wedneday-Sunday, May 9-13, 7:30 PM: MFA Concert II
111 Second Avenue, Fifth Floor Theater.
- Wednesday-Tuesday, May 9-15: Final Exams
- Monday, May 14, 3:35 PM