Music

These courses are open only to students who have fulfilled the freshman humanities requirement.

Mu 10. Selected Topics in Music. Offered by announcement. Units to be determined by arrangement with instructor. Instructors: Staff, visiting lecturers.

Mu 21. Understanding Music. 9 units (3-0-6); first term. The Listening Experience I. How to listen to and what to listen for in classical and other musical expressions. Listening, analysis, and discussion of musical forms, genres, and styles. Course is intended for musicians as well as nonmusicians and is strongly recommended as an introduction to other music courses. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 22. Life and Music of Mozart. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. This course will explore Mozart’s music within the context of his life and times, including the early works composed as a child prodigy and touring artist; the first masterpieces he composed, and finally the masterworks written during his meteoric rise and his equally amazing fall from grace. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 23. Life and Music of Beethoven. 9 units (3-0-6); third term. The course will examine the exuberant works of Beethoven’s youth, the series of grand, heroic masterpieces of the early 1800s, and the puzzling and mysterious works of his final decade. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 24. Introduction to Opera. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. Opera exploded onto the cultural scene around the year 1600 and quickly became the most popular, expensive, and lavish spectacle in all of Europe. The course will trace the history of the genre examining masterpieces by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Berg, and Britten, and will sample a host of newer works, including Einstein on the Beach, The Death of Klinghoffer, and The Ghosts of Versailles. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 25. History of Chamber Music. 9 units (3-0-6); third term.To be coordinated with Caltech’s spring chamber music performances; enrollment limited to students preparing performances of chamber music during the term. The course will survey the history of chamber music and will offer more in-depth exploration of works in preparation for performance. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 26. Jazz History. 9 units (3-0-6); third term. This course will examine the history of jazz in America from its roots in the unique confluence of racial and ethnic groups in New Orleans around 1900 to the present. The lives and music of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and others will be explored. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 27. Fundamentals of Music Theory and Elementary Ear Training. 9 units (3-0-6); first term. Basic vocabulary and concepts of music theory (rhythm and pitch notation, intervals, scales, function of key signatures, etc.); development of aural perception via elementary rhythmic and melodic dictation, and sight-singing exercises. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 28. Harmony I. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: Mu 27 or entrance exam. Study of tonal harmony and intermediate music theory; techniques of chord progression, modulation, and melody writing according to common practice; ear training, continued. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 29. Harmony II. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: Mu 28 or entrance exam. More advanced concepts of music theory, including chromatic harmony, and 20th-century procedures relating to selected popular music styles; ear training, continued. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 31. Music of Courts and Cathedrals. 9 units (3-0-6). Explores the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, including that of the great medieval monasteries, cathedrals, and chapels. The course will include study of the music and dances from courts, towns, and countryside by trouvères, troubadours, and other entertainers. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 32. Monteverdi to Bach: Music of the Baroque. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. Survey of musical forms and composers during the period 1600–1750. The course will include masterworks of Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, and others. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 33. Music of the Age of Enlightenment. 9 units (3-0-6); third term. Music of the so-called pre-Classic and Classic periods (ca. 1750–1825), with emphasis on C. P. E. Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and the early works of Beethoven. Not offered 2005–06.

Mu 37. History I: Music History to 1750. 9 units (3-0-6); first term. The course traces the history of music from ancient Greece to the time of Bach and Handel. A survey of the contributions by composers such as Machaut, Josquin, and Palestrina will lead to a more in-depth look at the music of Monteverdi, Purcell, Corelli, Vivaldi, and the two most important composers of the high baroque, Bach and Handel. Given in alternate years; not offered 2005–06. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 38. History II: Music History from 1750 to 1850. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. Music composed between 1750 and 1850 is among the most popular concert music of today and the most recorded music in the classical tradition. This course will focus on developments in European music during this critical period. An in-depth look at the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven along with the cultural and societal influences that shaped their lives will be the primary focus. Music of composers immediately preceding and following them (the Bach sons, Schubert, Chopin, and others) will also be surveyed. Given in alternate years; not offered 2005–06. Instructor: Neenan.

Mu 39. History III: Music History from 1850 to the Present. 9 units (3-0-6); third term. From the end of the 19th century to the present day, classical music has undergone the fastest and most radical changes in its history. The course explores these changes, tracing the development of various musical styles, compositional methods, and music technologies while examining acknowledged masterpieces from throughout the period. Given in alternate years; not offered 2005–06. Instructor: Neenan.