Music

The Department of Music (link is external)encourages students to explore music according to their individual needs, interests, and aspirations. Students may pursue work in composition, music history, theory, analysis and interpretation, non-Western music, music technology, performance, and improvisation. Courses offered through the department cover this wide range of activities. Many courses are geared not only to majors but also to a variety of students involved with music and music making.

Students majoring in music design their program in close consultation with the departmental representative. In addition to the two prerequisite courses (105, 106 or 205, 206), music majors are required to take a minimum of nine additional courses.

A second year of theory, 205, 206, is required. (In cases where 205, 206 has already been taken as a prerequisite, majors are expected to take two additional electives.) Also required are three courses chosen from those listed below under Group I (Western music history sequence), one course from Group II (non-Western and non-canonical music), and three additional electives at the 300 level or higher (with a strong recommendation that one of these be another theory course). Music majors in the performance program may use 213, 214, or 215 as a departmental course.

Group I (Western music history): 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, 242

Group II (non-Western and noncanonical music): 250, 251, 254, 255, 257, 258, 259, 260, 262, 264, 265

Languages

Students planning graduate study in music should achieve reading and speaking proficiency in at least one foreign language. German, French, and Italian are most germane to the study of Western music. Some experience with composition software may also be of use.

Independent Work

Junior Independent Work. Juniors participate in a junior seminar their first semester. This weekly seminar is led by the departmental representative. Students in the seminar are responsible for various writing assignments, including one substantial paper. In the second semester, students either (1) write a research paper that allows them to explore the theoretical, historical, and analytical literature on music as well as develop their own ideas; or (2) write a substantial musical composition.

Senior Independent Work. The senior thesis may range from an extended essay on a musicology topic to a project in composition. The specific topic or project of the thesis is agreed upon in discussions with a faculty adviser.

Senior Departmental Examination

Departmental examinations are held after the submission of senior theses. The examination is broad in scope and covers a wide range of musical knowledge.

Study Abroad

Beginning in 2007, Princeton began a unique collaboration with the Royal College of Music in London(link is external), in which students have the opportunity to participate in a five-year double-degree program (A.B. and M.M.). Students spend the fall semester of the junior year in London. Interested current and prospective music majors should email the director of the Certificate Program in Musical Performance for further details.

Musicianship. Some training in musicianship is a component in the undergraduate theory courses, but it is expected that students will also work on aural and practical skills on their own. At least a minimal competence at the keyboard is expected of all music concentrators as well.

Other Academic Preparation:  Students planning graduate study in musicology or theory should achieve reading and speaking proficiency in at least one foreign language, depending upon their areas of interest.  Students with interests in composition may want preparation in engineering and computer science.  Majors should discuss this with the departmental representative

Instrumental and Vocal Lessons. The Department of Music has highly qualified professionals on the performance faculty who provide co-curricular instruction for a fee that is billed directly to the student's University account.  Music majors and students in the Certificate Program in Music Performance also have the option of receiving academic credit for lessons by registering for Music 298-299.  For details, see the Program in Music Performance.  For further information, please contact Gregory Smith(link sends e-mail).

Performance for Departmental Concentrators. Serious students of music, whatever their particular interests or eventual orientation, need to have at least some experience in performing music. Music concentrators are expected to be pursuing some performance study by taking vocal or instrumental lessons. It is recommended that prospective concentrators without at least minimal keyboard skills study piano. Concentrators are also urged to participate in the ensembles conducted by department staff.

Technical, Electroacoustic, and Computer Facilities. The music department is equipped with complete facilities for recording, editing, creating, and processing sound. There are three studios: a central studio equipped with an SSL Nucleus control surface, a Macintosh computer, Pro Tools, Logic and Abelton Live software with a large supply of plug-ins, Max/MSP, most standard software packages, and surround-sound capabilities; two other studios have similar setups, with specialized video-editing equipment, and other specialized software. There is also a room dedicated to hardware construction with soldering stations and electronic components.

Courses

• MUS 103 Introduction to Music LAA listener's introduction to western musical styles from the middle ages to the present. The course is designed for students with no previous musical background and is taught essentially without musical notation. Emphasis is on guided analytic listening to selected works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Two lectures, one class. S. Morrison, W. Heller, J. Reuland
• MUS 104 When Music Is Made LAAn introduction to the fundamental materials of a variety of musics, including Western concert music, jazz, and popular music. Course activities center around interrelated theoretical, compositional, and analytical projects that serve to explore issues of music theory, style, and creativity. Two lectures, two preceptorials. D. Dennehy
• MUS 105 Music Theory through Performance and Composition Fall LAAn introduction to the procedures, structures, and aesthetics of tonal music. Composing, singing, playing, analysis of music such as 18th-century chorale, and 18th- and 19th-century piano music. Emphasis on fluency in handling tonal materials as a means of achieving a variety of formal and expressive ends. Two lectures, two classes, one session in practical musicianship. D. Tymoczko, B. White
• MUS 106 Music Theory through Performance and Composition Spring LAAn introduction to the procedures, structures, and aesthetics of tonal music. Composing, singing, playing, analysis of music such as 18th-century chorale, and 18th- and 19th-century piano music. Emphasis on fluency in handling tonal materials as a means of achieving a variety of formal and expressive ends. Two lectures, two classes, one session in practical musicianship. Prerequisite: ability to read music. D. Tymoczko, B. White
• MUS 205 Species Counterpoint Fall LAAn introduction to the principles of voice leading and linear construction through a series of systematic compositional exercises. Two lectures, two classes. Prerequisite: 106 or equivalent. S. Mackey, D. Trueman, J. Seo
• MUS 206 Tonal Syntax Spring LAAn introduction to the syntactic structure of the music of the 18th and 19th centuries through exercises in analysis and composition. Two lectures, two classes. Prerequisite: 205 or equivalent. S. Mackey, D. Trueman, J. Seo
• MUS 210 Beginning Workshop in Musical Composition LAA continuous cycle of creation, discussion, and response based on the creative musical activity of the students. Varieties of kind and style--notated composition, multimedia music, multitracking, and improvisation--are encouraged. Prerequisite: instructor's permission. Two 90-minute classes. S. Mackey, J. Seo
• MUS 213 Projects in Instrumental Performance LAGuides students in extended projects in performance. Prerequisite: instructor's permission. Staff
• MUS 214 Projects in Vocal Performance LAGuides students in extended projects in performance. Prerequisite: instructor's permission. Staff
• MUS 215 Projects in Jazz Performance Fall LAA performance course that focuses on the development of style, concept, and repertoire in the jazz idiom. Students are coached by faculty in extended projects in performance. One three-hour class. Staff
• MUS 220 The Opera LAAn introduction to opera. Lectures deal with works by major composers, conventions of libretto poetry, singers and voice types, musical forms and dramatic pacing, and opera staging. Classes are devoted to close study of two works and the plays on which they were based. Two lectures, one class. Prerequisite: any music course, or some musical background, or instructor's permission. Open to freshmen. W. Heller
• MUS 221 Choral Music (also REL 221 ) LAA survey of vocal literature (excluding opera) from the early Middle Ages to the present. Relations between text and music are stressed. The classes are devoted to a close study of two or three works. Two lectures, one class. Prerequisite: instructor's permission. Staff
• MUS 225 Instrumental Music: The Symphony from Haydn to Stravinsky LAA study of the development of the symphony from its origins in the mid-18th century through the first half of the 20th. Representative works will be chosen for detailed study in the class meetings. Two lectures, one class. Prerequisite: any music course, some musical background, or instructor's permission. S. Burnham, W. Heller
• MUS 230 Music in the Middle Ages (also MED 230 ) Fall LAMajor developments of Western music up to about 1400, including some of the following: the origin and growth of chant, its liturgical context and musical properties; medieval secular song; early polyphony and Parisian organum; the French ars nova and Machaut; the Italian trecento; English medieval music. Prerequisite: a year of theory or instructor's permission. R. Wegman
• MUS 232 Music in the Renaissance LAIntroduction to the history and current scholarship of European music in the period 1400-1600. The principal thread is compositional history; in addition, the course includes extensive coverage of these topics: aesthetics, orality/literacy, improvisation, gender and sexuality. R. Wegman
• MUS 234 Music of the Baroque LAAn introductory survey of style developments, aesthetic trends affecting music, and principal vocal and instrumental genres (opera, cantata, concerto, sonata, and suite) of the period 1600-1750. Major figures to be considered include Monteverdi, Schütz, Lully, Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, and J. S. Bach. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: any music course or instructor's permission. W. Heller
• MUS 236 Music of the Classical Period LAThis course provides a comprehensive introduction to the music of the Viennese Classical period. In addition to becoming familiar with some 20 musical works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, students will engage the cultural context of this music, including historical, aesthetic, and biographical issues. Includes units on the primary instrumental genres of the Classical style and concludes with a series of in-depth analyses of large-scale works by each composer. Two lectures, one class. Staff
• MUS 240 Musical Modernism 1890-1945 LAAn introduction to modern music, beginning with its origins in late Romanticism, up to World War II. Composers considered include Mahler, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, and Berg. Topics range from urban centers for modern music (Paris and Vienna), the relationship of musical modernism to contemporary literature and visual arts, music and politics, to the impact of recording technology and cinema on musical arts. Prerequisite: any music course, some classical music background, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one preceptorial. S. Morrison
• MUS 242 Music since 1945 LAEuropean and American music since World War II. Study of many recent approaches to music and their cultural, social, and philosophical bases. Topics include: postwar European avant-garde, American extensions of serialism, technological developments, influences of popular and folk cultures, American avant-garde. Prerequisite: any music course, some musical background, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one preceptorial. D. Dennehy
• MUS 251 Music and Film LAAn examination of the effect of different compositional practices and different sound technologies on the film viewer. The course will focus on three parameters of film music: music that has a visual point of origin on the screen (diegetic music), music that does not have a visual point of origin on the screen (nondiegetic music, also called background scoring), and music that floats between these two realms. Prerequisite: 103, or 105, or permission of instructor. One three-hour seminar. S. Morrison
• MUS 258 Music of Africa (also AFS 258 ) LAIntroduction to the vocal and instrumental music of Africa south of the Sahara. Topics include the place of music in society, the influence of language on musical composition, principles of rhythmic organization, urban popular music, "art" music as a response to colonialism, and the impact of African music on the earliest forms of African American music. Two 90-minute lectures. V. AgawuMUS 262 Introduction to the Evolution of Jazz Styles (also AAS 262 ) LAAn introduction survey examining the historical development of jazz from its African origins through the present. The course will place emphasis on the acquisition of listening skills and explore related musical and social issues. Staff
• MUS 264 Urban Blues and the Golden Age of Rock LAExamines post-World War II blues, rock music mostly of the late sixties and early seventies, and the connections between them. Explores wider musical and extramusical connections. Two lectures, one class. R. Wegman
• MUS 308 Contemporary Music through Composition and Performance LAAn introduction to a variety of 20th-century approaches to composition. Emphasis on understanding different techniques, syntaxes, and musical languages through exercises in compositional emulations and in performance projects of student and studied works, using available performance skills of participants. Prerequisite: 206 or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar, one preceptorial. S. Mackey, V. Agawu
• MUS 309 Topics in Tonal Analysis LAThe course will deal closely with a small number of works from the tonal repertoire and will serve as a critical introduction to several pertinent and influential analytical methodologies, including motivic, formal, semiotic, and voice-leading analysis. The focus will be on the musical and aesthetic values that each method either enhances or attenuates. Prerequisite: 206 or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar. V. Agawu, D. Trueman
• MUS 310 Advanced Workshop in Musical Composition LAAn opportunity for students who have developed sufficient compositional skills to work on more extended and advanced projects. Three hours per week. S. Mackey, D. Dennehy
• MUS 311 Jazz Theory through Improvisation and Composition I LAAn exploration of the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic principles of the bebop paradigm. The course includes analysis of representative works by various jazz masters and will place a strong emphasis on student projects in improvisation and composition. Prerequisites: 105 or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute classes. Staff
• MUS 314 Computer and Electronic Music through Programming, Performance, and Composition (also COS 314 ) QRAn introduction to the fundamentals of computer and electronic music in the context of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). The music and sound programming language ChucK, developed here at Princeton, will be used in conjunction with Max/MSP, another digital audio language, to study procedural programming, digital signal processing and synthesis, networking, and human-computer interfacing. D. Trueman, J. Snyder
• MUS 315 Transforming Reality by Computer (See COS 325)
• MUS 316 Computer and Electronic Music Composition LACompositional projects involving computers and synthesizers. Some work may involve interactions between live and electronic sounds. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 314 or permission of instructor. D. Trueman, J. Snyder
• MUS 325 Special Topics in Contemporary Practice (See DAN 304)
• MUS 328 Special Topics in Performance Practice (See THR 330)
• MUS 333 Bach and Handel LAThe contrasting careers and oeuvres of the two greatest representatives of the late baroque in music will be considered both individually and comparatively. Prerequisite: a year of theory or instructor's permission. W. Heller
• MUS 339 Russian Music (also SLA 311 ) LAA detailed survey of Russian national and international composers. Topics of discussion and analysis will include magic opera, realism, orientalism, the relationship between composers and poets of the Russian Symbolist era, the World of Art movement and the Ballets Russes, Soviet film music, Soviet arts doctrine, and musical aesthetics (especially as they pertain to authorship and identity). Prerequisites: 105 or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute classes. S. Morrison
• MUS 430 Topics in History, Analysis, and Interpretation Fall LATopics chosen from, but not limited to: a group of works by a single composer (Leonin's organa, Monteverdi's madrigals, Brahms's symphonies); a certain genre (19th-century choral works, Hindustani Khayal, contemporary rock, late 16th-century madrigal); a specific theoretical or historical problem (atonal theory, composers' sketches and musical analysis, the origins of opera). One three-hour seminar. Staff
• MUS 431 Topics in History, Analysis, and Interpretation Spring LATopics chosen from, but not limited to: a group of works by a single composer (Leonin's organa, Monteverdi madrigals, Brahms's symphonies); a certain genre (19th-century choral works, Hindustani Khayal, contemporary rock, late 16th-century madrigal); a specific theoretical or historical problem (atonal theory, composers' sketches and musical analysis, the origins of opera). One three-hour seminar. Staff

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