Orchestration (MUSI W4526, Fall 2012)

Fall 2012 Music W4526
ORCHESTRATION
Section 001 Call Number: 65942 Points: 3
Day/Time: TR 8:40am-9:55am
Location: To be announced
Instructor: TBA

Classical and Romantic music is normally studied with an eye to the vertical and horizontal organization of tones (harmony and counterpoint) and to the organization of form and rhythm (musical analysis), as well as from a historical perspective. Rules of orchestration are also crucial to fully understanding a work of music.

The goal of this course is to study different principles of "functional" orchestration, with examples taken mainly from eighteenth and nineteenth century music (Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, etc.). "Functional orchestration" designates different instrumental techniques for organizing the musical work such as crescendos, contrasts, opposition of themes, climax, melodic movements, counterpoint and voice leading, distinction and fusion, resonance, "wet"/"dry" sounds, doubling and mixtures, complex textures, etc.

Students will also write practical exercises "in the style of" various composers under the instructor's supervision.This seminar is for undergraduate students as well as for graduate students in composition, historical musicology, and music theory. It is given once a year only. The ability to read and write orchestral music is required.