Readings are also listed by class session.
Required Texts
Aldwell, Edward, and Carl Schachter. Harmony and Voice Leading. 3rd ed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace, 2002. ISBN: 9780155062429.
The chapter structure of the 2nd and 3rd editions is identical; so if you find a copy of the 2nd ed., feel free to use it (keeping in mind that the page numbers won’t match those of the 3rd ed.).
Classical themes and variations by Beethoven, Clementi, Haydn, and Mozart.
Music manuscript paper: Please obtain a plentiful supply of music manuscript paper. It must be no smaller than letter-size, and no larger than 9"x12". It must have ten to twelve staves per page, printed in gray or brown ink (not black). I will not accept photocopied or laser-printed manuscript paper.
Various Composers. Five centuries of choral music for mixed voices. Vol. 1. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, 1963.
Ottman, Robert. Music for sight-singing. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN: 9780131456709.
Key to the Reading Assignments
| Abbreviations | authors/titleS |
|---|---|
A+Sch |
Aldwell, Edward, and Carl Schachter. Harmony and voice leading. 3rd ed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace, 2002. ISBN: 9780155062429. |
Allanbrook |
Allanbrook, Wye Jamison. Rhythmic gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1984. ISBN: 9780226014036. |
Larsen |
Larsen, Jens Peter. Handel, Haydn, and the Viennese Classical style. Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Research Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780835718516. |
Ratner |
Ratner, Leonard. Classic music: Expression, form, and style. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1981. ISBN: 9780028720203. |
Roles |
Parakilas, James, et. al. Piano roles: Three hundred years of life with the piano. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0300083513. |
Rosen |
Rosen, Charles. The Classical style. Exp. ed. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 1997. ISBN: 9780393040203. |
Please be sure to read each chapter prior to the class meeting for which it is listed.
Readings by Class Session
| LEC # | TOPICS | readings |
|---|---|---|
Unit One: Review of Fundamentals |
||
1 |
Welcome-Ritual Reading of the Syllabus-Overview Review of Chord Construction, Figured Bass, and Part-Writing |
|
2 |
Review of Four-part Writing (cont.) Assignment 1 (Long Exercise in Four-part Writing) Practice Quiz (C, a, G, e, F, d) |
A+Sch. Chapters 1-6. Roles. "1700 to 1770s: The need for the piano." pp. 9-29. |
3 |
Review of Two-part Counterpoint Assignment 2 (Short Exercise in Four-part Writing) Quiz 1 (C, a, G, e, F, d) |
Roles. "1770s to 1820s: The piano revolution in the Age of Revolutions." pp. 77-93. |
4 |
Review of Diatonic Harmony, Cadences, Binary Form Assignment 3 (Long Exercise in Two-part Writing) |
A+Sch. Chapters 7-13. Roles. "The Classical repertory revisited: Instruments, players, and styles." pp. 109-131 |
5 |
Review of Melodic Figuration Assignment 4 (Short Exercise in Harmony and Voice-Leading) Quiz 2 (D, b, Bb, g) |
A+Sch. Chapter 20. Rosen. "The musical language of the late eighteenth century." pp. 19-29. Larsen. "Some observations on the development of the Viennese Classical instrumental music." pp. 227-249. |
6 |
Review of Rhythmic Figuration Assignment 5 (Long Exercise in Harmony and Voice-Leading) |
A+Sch. Chapter 21. Ratner. "Ideas of expression." pp. 3-8. Allanbrook. "Expression, imitation, and the musical topos." pp. 1-9. |
7 |
Review of Diatonic Modulation Assignment 6 (Short Exercise in Harmony and Voice-Leading) Quiz 3 (A, f#, Eb, c) |
A+Sch. Chapters 14 and 26. Ratner. "Periodicity." pp. 33-47. |
8 |
Test 1 (Diatonic Voice-Leading, Harmony, and Figuration) |
|
Unit Two: Elementary Chromatic Harmony |
||
9 |
Introduction to Leading-Tone Seventh Chords Assignment 7 (Analytic Exercise) Quiz 4 (E, c#, Ab, f) |
A+Sch. Chapter 22. Ratner. "Harmony." pp. 48-67. |
10 |
Applied Leading-tone Seventh Chords |
A+Sch. Chapter 25. Ratner. "Rhythm." pp. 68-80. |
11 |
Workshop Discussion of Theme Drafts Introduction to the Flat Supertonic (Neapolitan) Assignment 8 (viio7 and applied viio7) Quiz 5 (viio7 in all Keys) |
A+Sch. Chapter 28. Ratner. "Melody." pp. 81-107. |
12 |
Introduction to Chords of the Augmented Sixth |
A+Sch. Chapter 29. Allanbrook. "The gestures of social dance." pp. 31-52. |
13 |
Workshop Discussion of Revised Themes Introduction to Mode Mixture Assignment 9 (Flat Supertonic and Chords of the Augmented Sixth) Quiz 6 (ii6, iio6, and bII6 , in all Keys) |
A+Sch. Chapter 23. Ratner. "Topics." pp. 9-26. |
14 |
Complete Draft of Variation(s), Featuring Melodic Figuration |
Rosen. "The popular style." pp. 329-350. |
15 |
Workshop Discussion of Variations Featuring Melodic Figuration Assignment 10 (Mode Mixture) Quiz 7 (vi, [b]VI, and Chords of the Augmented Sixth, in all Keys) |
Rosen. "Structure and ornament." pp. 101*-108. Ratner. "Performance." pp. 181-202. |
16 |
Test 2 (Elementary Chromatic Harmony) |
|
Unit Three: Chromatic Modulation |
||
17 |
Workshop Discussion of Variations Featuring Melodic Figuration Assignment 11 (Chromatic Harmony) Quiz 8 (A, Ab, a, Bb, b, Including Chromatic Harmony) |
|
18 |
Complete Draft of Variation(s), Featuring Rhythmic Figuration |
|
19 |
Workshop Discussion of Variations Featuring Rhythmic Figuration Assignment 12 (Chromatic Harmony) Quiz 9 (C, c, c#, D, d, Including Chromatic Harmony) |
|
20 |
Complete Draft of Variation(s), in the Parallel Mode |
|
21 |
Workshop Discussion of Variations in the Parallel Mode Assignment 13 (Chromatic Modulation) |
|
22 |
Assignment 14 (Chromatic Modulation) |
|
23 |
Assignment 15 (Chromatic Modulation) Quiz 10 (E, Eb, e, F, f, f#, G, g) |
|
24 |
Performances of Final Projects Assignment 16 (Chromatic Harmony) |
|
25 |
Performances of Final Projects (cont.) |
|