Course Description
MUS-T 190 Literary and Intellectual Traditions: Music in the Big Apple (3 credits). This course, open to non-music and music majors, will use the city of New York as a focal point to trace the development of three styles of music: classical, jazz, and rock/pop. A weekend trip to New York City will be linked with the course, so that students can experience the living history first-hand, possibly including the operational Steinway piano factory, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater (celebrating 75 years in 2009) and select jazz/rock venues to hear live music.
Course Goals
This course is designed to follow the dovetailing of socio-cultural history in New York City and its influence on music. Through in-the-field experience of visiting the metropolis, students will gain an understanding of the environment that facilitated the development of various musical styles. In addition, students will gain a familiarity with a repertoire of musical examples associated with these styles.
Overview
Beginning in the late nineteenth-century, New York City evolved from its status of commercial capital into a flourishing artistic center. The course will explore how New York became the epicenter for musical trends that reverberated on the world stage: such as the impact of a German immigrant who started a piano-making business 150 years ago, the Harlem Renaissance, and the cultural life of the Greenwich Village neighborhood.
After starting with a brief socio-political history of New York City from colonial times to the present-day, the course will pursue three lines of musical development in classical, jazz, rock, and pop. For instance: just as Beethoven and Liszt pushed piano-makers to make a stronger, more virtuosic instrument, the arrival of Steinway helped put New York on the map as the golden standard for the success of concert pianists, a perception that persists today. Regarding jazz, there are various styles associated with different cities, but the history of jazz in New York City is especially rich and legendary. In terms of rock, clubs such as CBGB’s played an important role in the fledgling punk rock scene of the early 1970’s. Its location in the rough neighborhood of the Bowery influenced the musical aesthetic and the audience.
The trip would include group activities such as a tour of Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, and walking tours of Harlem and Greenwich Village (the Steinway factory only offers tours on Tuesday mornings, so that would not be an option for a weekend-only trip). In addition, students would keep journals relevant to their final projects, which may include analysis of live performances at various venues.
Grading
There will be a midterm exam that will prepare students for the trip, a final project that will reflect the students’ research while in New York City, a final exam, and three listening quizzes throughout the semester.
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Muñiz
E-mail: jemuniz@iusb.edu
Office Hour: by appointment
The syllabus is subject to change by the instructor as necessary.
Course Description
MUS-T 190 Literary and Intellectual Traditions: Music in the Big Apple (3 credits). This course, open to non-music and music majors, will use the city of New York as a focal point to trace the development of three styles of music: classical, jazz, and rock/pop. A weekend trip to New York City will be linked with the course, so that students can experience the living history first-hand, possibly including the operational Steinway piano factory, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater (celebrating 75 years in 2009) and select jazz/rock venues to hear live music.
Course Goals
This course is designed to follow the dovetailing of socio-cultural history in New York City and its influence on music. Through in-the-field experience of visiting the metropolis, students will gain an understanding of the environment that facilitated the development of various musical styles. In addition, students will gain a familiarity with a repertoire of musical examples associated with these styles.
Required Text
TBA
Disabilities Statement
If you have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs. Contact the Director of Disabled Student Services (Administration Building, room 149, telephone number 520-4832), as soon as possible to work out the details. Once the Director has provided you with a letter attesting to your needs for modification, bring the letter to me. For more information, please visit the web site for Office of Disabled Student Services www.iusb.edu/~sbdss/services.shtml
Course Policy
Attendance: Attendance and participation are essential for success in this class. You may miss three classes for any reason (with the exception of the midterm). More than three absences lowers your final grade by ½ a letter.
Grading:
100-98% A+ 89-87% B+ 79-77% C+ 69-60% D
97-94% A 86-84% B 76-74% C BELOW 60% F
93-90% A- 83-80% B- 73-70% C-
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Project: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
Listening Quizzes: 25%
The Midterm Exam will be given in class and will only be considered for make-up with written, advanced notice. The same applies to quizzes and the Final Exam.
The Final Project will be approved by the instructor and based on research conducted before, during, and after the trip to New York City.
Academic Honesty Statement
It is the responsibility of the student to know of the prohibited actions such as cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, academic, and personal misconduct, and thus, to avoid them. All students are held to the standards outlined in the code. Please reference the entire code for a complete listing (www.dsa.indiana.edu/Code/). Any violation may result in serious academic penalty, ranging from receiving a warning, to failing the assignment, to failing the course, to expulsion from the University.
All students have an obligation to behave honorably and to respect the highest ethical standards in carrying out their academic assignments. Academic dishonesty is defined to include any form of cheating and/or plagiarism. Assignments must be done individually.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Once you have read this syllabus and its course policies, you must send an email to jemuniz@iusb.edu, with the subject “Dr. Muniz – MUS-T-190”, stating the following:
“I acknowledge that I have read the course syllabus for MUS-T-190 and I agree with its course policies.”
Include your name at the end of the email.
Class Schedule
Week 1
History of New York City
Colonial Times through the 1880’s
Week 2
History of New York City
The 1880’s through the present day
Week 3
Classical Music Early American music: the European Tradition and
Creating a New Sound: Edward MacDowell, Horatio Parker, and Antonin Dvorak
Week 4
Classical Music Late 19th Century: Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff
Steinway and Sons
Venues: Carnegie Hall
Week 5
Classical Music 1900-1950: Ives and Bartok
Performers: Rubinstein and Horowitz
Week 6
Classical Music 1900-1950: Stravinsky and Copland
NY Philharmonic Conductors: Mahler and Toscanini
NBC Orchestra
Music in Film/Television: Bernard Herrmann, CBS Symphony Orchestra
Week 7
Classical Music 1950’s through 2000: Samuel Barber, John Cage, Leonard Bernstein
Venues: Lincoln Center/Met Opera
Listening Quiz #1
Week 8
Classical Music
Contemporary Composers Living in NYC: Richard Danielpour, John Corigliano, Milton Babbitt, Julia Wolfe
Venues: Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, Miller Theater at Columbia University
Week 9
Review and Midterm
MIDTERM EXAM
SPRING BREAK
Trip to NYC
Week 10
Musical Theater
Gershwin, Rogers and Hart
Stephen Sondheim and Jonathan Larson’s Rent
Week 11
Jazz Early Beginnings in NYC
Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club
Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday
Venues: The Apollo Theater, Village Vanguard
Week 12
Jazz Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Wynton Marsalis
Latin Connection: Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito d’Rivera
Listening Quiz #2
Week 13
Rock
Emergence of punk rock: Ramones and Patti Smith
Venues: CBGB’s
Week 14
Pop Contemporary: Madonna, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen
Listening Quiz #3
Week 15
Final Review