Selected Topics in Music Theory (335-0-2)

Topic

Two 1st Movements: Brahms

Instructors

Richard Ashley
847/491-5720
r-ashley@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: W 10-11 and by appt.
Professor, music theory and cognition program. Research and publications in music cognition focusing on expressive performance, musical communication, and long-term memory for music. President, Society for Music Perception and Cognition. Member, editorial board, Music Perception. Recipient of two Fulbright grants for research in the Netherlands and grants from National Endowment for the Humanities and U.S. Department of Education. Recipient, Bienen School of Music Exemplar in Teaching Award. Also teaches in the cognitive science program.

Meeting Info

RCMA Lower Level 113: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

This class will engage form and harmony in two works by Brahms: the first movements of the Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15, and the Double Concerto, Op. 102. Op. 15 was the first-performed of Brahm's compositions using orchestra, and Op. 102 was his last composition using orchestra; they thereby provide a window into his treatment of the concerto genre from endpoints in his career. Analysis of these movements will consider their large scale structure in relationship to the many ways in which concerto "form" was realized by 19th century composers, as well as dealing with more local matters of harmony, motivic process, rhythm, and texture/orchestration.

This class will serve in place of the Nineteenth-Century Analysis class typically offered in the Fall quarter.

Registration Requirements

Successful completion of sophomore theory is a prerequisite for the class.

Learning Objectives

Basic schemas of concerto genre in the late 18th- through the late 19th centuries.
Harmonic-analytic methods appropriate to late 19th century music.
Motivic process and Brahms' methods in this regard.
Methods for analyzing orchestration and texture in Romantic music.

Teaching Method

Lecture/discussion

Evaluation Method

Daily homework, midterm and final analytic project on a topic of your choice dealing with these movements.

Class Materials (Required)

A full score of each work, edition of your choice. There need be no cost associated with this.