This course presents a study of representative compositional techniques and musical practices used and developed by composers of the twentieth-century. Your training in tonal theory, which treated Western music composed roughly between 1650 and 1900, will be used as a point of departure for this investigation. The goal of this course is to help you understand some of the most important and representative compositional concepts of music articulated during the twentieth-century, to familiarize you with a selection of the musical repertoire of this period, and, by extension, to help you become a better musician through listening, composing, and writing. Understand that the instructor will assign grades based only upon the quality and quantity of work you complete in the course. Thus, the grade you earn on an assignment or on your final semester report is based on what you do, not on your potential or desire to earn a high grade, or on what you already know.
Assignments are due at the beginning of class.
Any assignment turned in after that time will be considered late. That stated, and understnding that this is a graduate-level course, attendance will NOT be taken and will not, in an absolute way, affect a student's grade. However, students are responsible for grasping all material covered in class at the time it is presented. Furthermore, the pace of the class will not be set back to restate material missed by students who do not attend class.