Syllabus GRADUATE SEMINAR IN CHORAL LITERATURE
(for a printed version, click on the title above or go to the bottom of the page)
I acknowledge my presence in the traditional homelands of Native peoples including the Haudenosauneega, Miami, Peoria, and particularly the Pokégnek Bodéwadmik / Pokagon Potawatomi, who have been using this land for education for thousands of years, and continue to do so—
GRADUATE SEMINAR IN CHORAL LITERATURE
SPRING 2021
THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES
Friday, 1-3:30 pm
Professor Carmen-Helena Téllez
COURSE WEBSITE: sites.nd.edu/choral-lit
General Objectives
To gain proficiency and insight in the historical context, analysis, performance practices, programming, and interpretation of choral literature from 1900 to the present.
Scores and Recordings
Students are usually advised, as the semester develops, to obtain published copies of specific repertoire through Reserves at the Music Library to prepare for class. However, because of the pandemic, we will use digital scores alongside electronic listening resources. (The use of an IPad with the ForScore app is highly recommended).
Requirements and grading.
- You must have access to your personal computer and IPad (if you have one) while attending the seminar. Materials will be distributed electronically
Grading is based on the following:
- attendance and participation in the discussion (33%)
- class presentations and assignments (33%)
- final paper (34%)
- Attendance is strictly required. An excuse to be absent must be requested at least week in advance.
Assignments
Assignments will be distributed on a rolling basis, matching the content and progress of the discussion. They will be listed in the seminar’s online page, and/or emailed directly to the seminar members as the semester develops. The seminar members are responsible for checking on assignments and clarifying expectations. Reading and listening resources are available in the Music Library and Seminar Website. Completed assignments will be sent BY EMAIL to me at ctellez1@nd.edu
Types of assignments.
Assignments may involve the following activities:
•Readings and reports of book chapters and articles about style trends after 1900
•Analysis of compositional procedures and formal structures in a specific composition
•Preparation of annotated lists of repertoire and music terminology
•Discussion of case studies on programming and rehearsing 20th and 21st century choral music repertoire
•Attendance to guest lectures and workshops
•Listening to assigned excerpts to discuss rehearsal techniques
Research paper
A topic proposal for a final research paper will be expected by mid-semester (see calendar below). The proposal will be submitted by email to Dr. Tellez at ctellez1@nd.edu. Recommendations on how to prepare the topic proposal and the paper can be found in the Seminar Website. Handouts page. Please follow the topic proposal format indicated there.
Final research presentations based on your paper will take place during the last week of classes with a possible extra day if necessary (see calendar). Written final papers are due on or before the assigned date in the calendar, by or before 5pm. Papers will be submitted by email to ctellez1@nd.edu
E-portfolio
All students must keep an e-portfolio in the format of a personal website with both public and private pages. See Handouts page of the seminar website for suggestions on how to prepare this tool.
Materials recommended for your permanent personal library (links provided for purchase options):
- Biographies and Essay Compilations (often called “Companions to…”) about the featured composers in this seminar, preferably those published after 1985, such as:
The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten (Cambridge Companions to Music)by Mervyn Cooke(June 28, 1999)
The Cambridge Companion to Arvo Pärt (Cambridge Companions to Music) by Andrew Shenton, editor (May 17, 2012).
The Cambridge Companion to Stravinsky (Cambridge Companions to Music)by Jonathan Cross(Aug 18, 2003)
And others on composers of your choice.
- Studies on the development of styles, genres, compositional techniques and performance practices in the 20th- and 21st-century music, such as:
Analysing Musical Multimedia by Nicholas Cook (2001)
Analytic Approaches to Twentieth-Century Music by Joel Lester (1989)
Approaches to Meaning in Music (Musical Meaning and Interpretation) by Byron Almén and Edward Pearsall. (2006)
Modern Music and After by Paul Griffith (2011).
Music after the Fall by Tim Rutherford-Johnson. (2017).
Postmodern Music, Postmodern Listening, by Jonathan Kramer (2016)
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross (2008)
Other activities.
Choral performances, workshops, lectures and related activities will be recommended for attendance with follow-up reports by the seminar members. They will be announced as they emerge and therefore, given the student’s possible conflicts with other duties, a strict requirement will not be imposed. However, reports on these events will earn points for the class and should be added to the e-portfolio. This semester the pandemic may restrict these activities.
GENERAL SEMINAR CALENDAR SPRING 2021
- FRIDAY, February 5 – First seminar session 1-3:30 pm
- FRIDAY April 2
Good Friday: no classes and no meetings - FRIDAY April 9 – Submit paper proposal (prospectus)
- FRIDAY MAY 7- PAPER PRESENTATIONS
- TUESDAY May 11
Last class day - FRIDAY May 14 POSSIBLE EXTRA PAPER PRESENTATION DATE –
Final Exams (no review sessions) - THURSDAY, MAY 20, BY 5 PM- PAPER SUBMISSION DEADLINE
- May 22-23
Commencement Weekend
An overview of the seminar’s activities through the semester:
Each week the seminar will include some or all of the following components:
–Lecture by Professor Tellez on the profile and contributions of salient works of the 20th/21st century repertoire
–Presentations by seminar members on targeted readings and technical terminology, as assigned.
–Reports by seminar members on related repertoire and listening assignments, as assigned.
WEEK 1 – February 5
Survey of topics, requirements and expectations.
The constellation of trends in music composition after 1900. The breakdown of Romantic music and the artistic focus on innovation. The dominant directions of innovation.
Fauré, Rachmaninoff, Martin, early Schoenberg
WEEK 2 – February 12
Modernism and the innovation based on root traditions 1. Stravinsky’s Les Noces (Svadebka). Villa-Lobos Choros No. 10. Modernism and the pre-classical structures.
Stravinsky ‘s Symphony of Psalms and Mass. Comparable works. Reports and presentations assigned.
WEEK 3 – February 19.
Student reports and presentations as assigned.
WEEK 4 – February 26
The French neoclassical school: Poulenc, Duruflé, and other French masters. The influence of the French school in America and Britain. The preservation of tonality and the “middle-brow” aesthetic. Vaughan Williams, Howells, Britten. Copland, Bernstein, Barber. The American influence on Latin American countries, Ginastera, Estevez.
WEEK 5 – March 5
Reports and presentations as assigned.
WEEK 6 – March 12
Rational Modernism: Twelve-tone languages and Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Dallapiccola. Moving towards radical modernism: The imperative of originality and Messiaen, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Penderecki, Lutoslawski. Radical modernism continues: The move towards postmodernism and polystylism: Schnittke and Berio.
WEEK 7 March 19
Reports and presentations as assigned.
WEEK 8 – March 26
The American “maverick” approach versus the success of the ”middle-brow” choral tradition. Ives, Cage, Feldman, Meredith Monk American minimalism and other conceptual experimentations: John Adams, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Luther Adams, Lauridsen, Whitacre, Paulus, Caroline Shaw.
WEEK 9 -“ April 2
Good Friday – no session
WEEK 10- April 9
Presentation of paper theses. Submission of the paper’s topic proposal, before 5pm.
WEEK 11 April 16
Post-Modernism and the renaissance of sacred music in the Catholic and Lutheran traditions. MacMillan, Sandstrøm. Nordic and Baltic Countries: Rautavaara, Norgard, Tormis. Post-Modern Music and the influence of Orthodox and Medieval religious traditions. Pärt, Tavener, Esenvalds. The impact on American choral music. David Lang.
WEEK 12 – April 23
Reports and presentations as assigned.
WEEK 13 April 30
A global and inter-artistic sensibility: Classical choral, the non-Western European traditions, embrace of non-concert repertoire, and the advent of interactive technologies Performance Studies and Creativity: Challenges in contemporary conducting practice. The need to integrate diverse cultures. The new conductor as an interdisciplinary artist. Ellington, Sierra, Golijov, Leon, Thompson
WEEK 14 May 7
Paper presentations.
WEEK 15 May 14
Possible continuation of paper presentations.