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Instructor Class Description

Time Schedule:

George S Bozarth
MUHST 497
Seattle Campus

Special Topics in Music History

Topics vary each quarter. Prerequisite: 2.0 in MUHST 210; 2.0 in MUSIC 303; 2.0 in MUSIC 306.

Class description

PLEASE NOTE: The administration has listed the wrong course for me, an error that I just noticed. This course will not be Editing Music, but the course described below.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE: The history prerequisites for this course are MUHST 210, 211, and 212, not just MUHST 210.

Issues in Composition: Chamber Music and Symphony in the 19th Century, with a Special Focus on Johannes Brahms.

In readings, listenings, discussions, group presentations, and papers we shall consider how chamber music and symphonies were conceived and constructed during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and how Johannes Brahms, who composed this type of music at the very end of this long "Common Practice" tradition, coped with his position as a "late composer." His solutions will also be viewed in comparison to Richard Wagner's contemporary solutions to this situation.

Student learning goals

Understanding of chamber music and symphonies as dynamic entities

Deep understanding of how selected pieces of chamber and symphonic music, from Mozart to Brahms, are constructed

Increased confidence about presenting your historical and analytical finding to your colleagues

Improved skills in writing about music

General method of instruction

Lectures, class discussions, group student presentations, individual papers

Recommended preparation

MUHST 210, 211, and 212, not just MUHST 210, as well as the music theory core through the 300 level.

Class assignments and grading

Reading, listening, preparation for class discussions and group student presentations, individual paperss.

Assigned group student presentations and individual papers, and active participation in class discussions


The information above is intended to be helpful in choosing courses. Because the instructor may further develop his/her plans for this course, its characteristics are subject to change without notice. In most cases, the official course syllabus will be distributed on the first day of class.
Last Update by George S Bozarth
Date: 02/26/2011