Fall 2017

Art for Musicians / Music for Artists (3 credits)

Music for Artists is an interdisciplinary course offering a thorough survey of the most important artistic currents and trends of the 20th century as they were almost simultaneously developed and expressed throughout a variety of art-forms, (fine art, music, literature, sculpture). By examining key 20th century musical works in juxtaposition with their ‘corresponding’ movements in other disciplines this course will broaden and consolidate your understanding of contemporary music and the arts with a particular focus  on  the  rethinking  of  your  work  in  relation  to  the  most  important  theoretico-philosophical concepts at play discussed in class.

Unravelling New Music (2 credits)

Unravelling New Music puts some pioneering works of the 20th century under the microscope in order to examine the changing compositional techniques and strategies in the music and at the same time introduce some key analytical tools for the unravelling of these works’ structures and their meaning. Particular emphasis will be given on analytical methods such as semiotic analysis, motivic theory and pitch class set theory, as well as on the different analytical interpretations that musical works allow for, with emphasis on the interchangeability of musical structures and their ‘fields of play’.

Techniques of Improvisation / Improvisation Ensemble (3 credits)

This course aims to expand creativity and spontaneity in music making, by examining the historical context in which improvisation developed in the last century by referring to the key ideas of 20th century practice and our times. The most important underlying concepts, from completely free improvisation to improvisation restricted by aesthetic or purely musical parameters are not only introduced but also put in practice, both on an individual and a collective basis through participation in workshops and the Improvisation Ensemble.

Composition Studies (3 credits)

Composition Studies focuses on creating two musical woks for small combinations of instruments, by examining a number of similar contemporary music works by established composers as models. Touching upon issues such as pitch content, rhythm, form and structure and general aesthetics, particular attention will be given on exploring each student’s aesthetic preferences in relation to his/her choices of musical materials and creative strategies, as well as to the possibilities inherent in the selected choices of instrumental forces.

Introducing Electronic Music (2 credits)

Introducing  Electronic  Music  provides  an  introduction  to  the  most  important  movements  and tendencies in sonic art, by highlighting a range of different compositional philosophies in the genre, from music concrete, to environmental listening to the work of   K. Stockhausen and Xenakis. Knowledge of these theories will then be used to inform the creation of one electronic music work by students, which will involve software such as Pro Tools and the program’s electronic music recording facilities.

Contemporary Music Theatre (2 credits)

The course will look at different aspects of contemporary music theatre ranging from modern opera to mime opera and physical and experimental theatre. By taking her own works, including the mime opera
‘MiE’ as well as an operatic collaboration with physical theatre designer Roswitha Gerlitz, as a starting point,  composer  Catherine  Kontz  will  lecture  on  the  visual  and  musical  facets  of  this  growing
contemporary cross-media  art-form with references to K. H. Stockhausen,  M. Kagel, Robert Wilson/Philip Glass and Robert Lepage amongst others.

Four composers, four aesthetics (2 credits)

The aim of the course is to explore briefly the aesthetics of 4 contemporary composers: Elliott Carter, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, and Pascal Dusapin. These composers have a distinct approach to composition but share a common preoccupation with the organization of pitch in the last 30 years, through the use of pitch-class sets, harmonic fields, fixed chords, or modes. All these techniques will be discussed in the following pieces: Carter´s Anaphora and 90+, Berio´s Points on the Curve to find, Boulez’s Dérive, and Dusapin´s So full of shapes is fancy.