CCCOnline LogoCourse Snapshot for MUS122 - Music History Early Romantic Period to the Present

The information listed below is subject to change. Please review the course syllabus within your online course at the start of class.

Course Competencies

The competencies you will demonstrate in this course are as follows:

  1. Define the basic elements of music (melody, harmony, texture, rhythm, meter, dynamics, timbre, instrumentation, and form) and recognize their use in musical compositions.
  2. Demonstrate critical listening skills that reflect understanding of musical forms and the genres with which they are associated.
  3. Distinguish prominent style characteristics of music from historical style periods Romantic to present.
  4. Relate the effects of religious, social, and political climate on the music produced in each period.
  5. Recall salient composers from each period and articulate their significant achievements and compositions.

Learning concepts for this course are enchanced using modules, websites, and online discussions.

Module Outcomes Mapped to Competencies

The module objectives that will permit students to demonstrate course competencies are:

Module 1
  Objectives Competencies
1 Locate Beethoven between the Classical and Romantic styles B, C, D, E
2 Understand the unique historical impact of Beethoven's symphonic style A, B, C, D, E
3 Listen for Beethoven's transportation of Classical forms and techniques in his Symphony No. 5 A, B, C, E
4 Recognize the innovative turn in Beethoven's late style B, C, E
5 Gain an overview of the culture and arts of the Romantic movement A, B, C, D, E
6 Understand the new place of the composer in 19th century concert life C, D
7 Recognize new features of style and new genres in the Romantic period  A, C
8 Understand new ways of connecting instrumental music to non-musical things: program music C, E
9 Recognize the contrast of miniature and grandiose works by Romantic composers A, B, C, E
Module 2
  Objectives Competencies
1 Understand new genres in the early nineteenth century: lied, character pieces for piano, and program symphony A, B, C, D
2 Listen carefully to examples of each of these genres A, B C, D
3 Differentiate and hear strophic and through-composed form in the lied A, B, C, D
4 Diagram musical form in miniature piano pieces A, B, C
5 Observe program music at work in miniature piano pieces (Carnaval) and a grandiose symphony (Fantastic Symphony) A, C
6 Appreciate the individuality of early Romantic styles: Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Hector Berlioz D, E
7 Experience the development of recitative, aria, and ensemble in Verdi's Romantic opera Rigoletto A, B, C, D, E
8 Observe the changing relationship of voice and orchestra in opera A, B, C, D
9 Contrast Richard Wagner's use of leitmotivs and follow their use in a scene from The Valkyrie A, B, C, D, E
10 Contrast early and late Romantic opera, before and after Verdi and Wagner A, C, D, E
Module 3
  Objectives Competencies
1 Understand the cultural background of late Romantic art: realism, nationalism, and exoticism C, D
2 Follow the development of symphonic program music in works by Tchaikovsky and Musorgsky A, B, C, D, E
3 Listen to the musical styles that offer responses to Romanticism: the renewal of Classicism in Johannes Brahms, the nostalgia and exaggeration of Gustav Mahler C, D, E
4 Understand artistic modernism B, C, D
5 Explore similar tendencies in modernist literature, pictorial art, and music C, D
6 Gain understanding of some general stylistic features of early modernist music A, C
Module 4
  Objectives Competencies
1 Recognize the wide stylistic variety of early avant-garde music A, B, C
2 Understand Claude Debussy's distance from the sounds and styles of late Romanticism A, B, C, D, E
3 Follow the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic novelties of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring A, B, C, D, E
4 Recognize the breakdown of tonality in Arnold Schoenberg's hallucinatory songs A, B, C, D, E
5 Understand the power of post-Romantic, expressionist opera in Alban Berg's Wozzeck A, B, C, D, E
6 Track the course of an American avant-garde original, Charles Ives A, B, C, D, E
7 Listen to the consolidation of modernist styles in works of the 1930s by Maurice Ravel and Béla Bartók A, B, C, D, E
8 Discern several distinct varieties of American modernism in instrumental works by Ruth Crawford, William Grant Still, and Aaron Copland A, B, C, D, E
9 Survey the development of film music and listen to an early example by Sergei Prokofiev A, B, C, D, E
Module 5
  Objectives Competencies
1 Distinguish the second phase of avant-garde modernism, after World War II, from the first B, C, D, E
2 Understand late modernists' radical experimentation with time, chance music, and new electronic media A, B, C, D, E
3 Sample modernist styles in the 1950s and 1960s: Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and John Cage A, B, C, D, E
4 Listen carefully to a minimalist classic by Steve Reich A, B, C, D, E
5 Explore varieties of late modernism and postmodernism circa 2000: George Crumb, Tania León, and John Adams A, B, C, D, E
6 Differentiate cultivated and vernacular (or popular) musical traditions A, B, C, D
7 Understand the importance of African American music in American popular traditions B, C, D
8 Analyze blues form and follow an example of it A, B, C, D
9 Listen to examples from major styles of jazz history: New Orleans jazz, big-band swing, bebop and fusion jazz A, B, C, D
10 Explore the history of the American musical A, B, C, D, E
11 Survey some shifting currents in the history of rock music A, B, C, D

Course Time Commitment and Expectations

The semester schedule for this course may be 15 weeks, 10 weeks, or 6 weeks in duration. Based on the course format, this table shows the approximate amount of time you should plan to spend per week on this course. This includes time to read/listen to the online content, participate in discussion forums, complete all assignments, and study the course material.

For accelerated courses, the amount of time required per week is greater. Note that regardless of course format, the course material is the same and all course competencies, module outcomes, and assignments will be covered.

Course Activity Hours and Student Learning Hours
Course Credit Hours Course Format (Duration) Pace Relative to a 15 Week Course Course Activity Hours Student Learning Hours Per Week
3 15 Weeks - 135 8.5 to 9.5
3 10 Weeks 1.5x faster 135 12.5 to 14.5
3 6 Weeks 2.5x faster 135 21 to 24

Aside from typical reading assignments, this course has the following (Please Note: This list is subject to change based on the discretion of the instructor facilitating this course.):

Summary of Grading
Assignment Points %
Discussions (15 @ 10 points each) 150 15%
Written Assignments (2 @ 125 points each) 250 25%
Group Project(1 @ 50 points each) 50 5%
InQuizitive Quizzes (10 @ 55 points each) 550 55%
TOTAL 1000 100%
Grading Scale
A = 90 to 100% B = 80 to 89% C = 70 to 79% D = 60 to 69% F = 59% and below

 

 

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