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Music

MUSI E-1a Major Composers and Developments in Western Music: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Periods (11595)
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4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550.
Fall term

*** MUSI E-1a has been CANCELLED.***

Composers include Machaut, Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Purcell, Bach, and Handel. Emphasis is on appreciation and understanding based on a consideration of both vocal and instrumental music.
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MUSI E-1b Major Composers and Developments in Western Music: Classic, Romantic, and Modern Periods (20187)
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Cynthia Verba, PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7:35-9:35 pm, Music Building, Room 2. Spring term

Composers include Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Berlioz, Liszt, Verdi, Wagner, and Brahms, as well as key figures leading into and defining the modern period.
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MUSI E-54/W Introduction to Jazz, 1900-1945 (10209)
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Thomas G. Everett, MS, Director of the Harvard University Band.
Writing-intensive course. 4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5:30-7:30 pm, Music Building, Room 2. Fall term

Discussion and outline of the history of jazz (from origins to swing era) with emphasis on outstanding innovators and stylists Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. Class time spent discussing the artists and listening to prime examples of their work. Desirable background: a varied listening experience.
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MUSI E-100 Music Theory and Composition (20345)
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John D. Stewart, EdD, Senior Preceptor in Music, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Feb. 2, 5:30-7:30 pm, Music Building, Room 2. Optional sections to be arranged. Spring term

The basic materials of music theory (scales, intervals, chords, rhythm, and meter) and their use in simple composition exercises. Includes ear-training drill. The course is designed to accommodate a wide range of backgrounds and interests. Students who wish to enroll for graduate credit should consult with the instructor at the first class.
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MUSI E-139 A History of Blues in America (12261)
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Charles M. Sawyer, Jr., MS, Consulting Software Engineer and Project Consultant, B. B. King Museum.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450. Limited enrollment.
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7:35-9:35 pm, Music Building, Room 2. Fall term

A study of blues from 1900 to the present. Major artists include McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters), Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf), Marion Walter Jacobs (Little Walter), Otis Spann, B. B. King, Paul Butterfield, and Kim Wilson. Development of the unique voices of principal instruments (guitar and harmonica) and the role of amplification in establishing the defining style of blues is given special attention. Class time includes listening to and discussing recordings, viewing historic footage, and hearing lecture-demonstrations by major artists. The history of the music is set in the context of social changes that allowed "race" music to enter the mainstream.
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MUSI E-142 The Future of Music (22408)
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Isaiah Jackson, DMA, Music Director, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Monday, Jan. 30, 7:35-9:35 pm, Music Building, Room 1. Spring term

Has jazz run its course? What lies ahead for classical music, opera, musical theater, even rap? Exploring music since 1900, we investigate how we arrived at the music of today. Where, though, are we headed? Through recorded examples and meetings with shapers of the new music, we examine some possibilities.
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MUSI E-145 Electronic Music: History and Aesthetics of Popular Music Since the 1960s (22252)
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Wayne G. Marshall, MA.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7:35-9:35 pm, Music Building, Room 2. Optional sections to be arranged. Spring term
Online and on-campus options. See the Distance Education website. Lecture 1 video. See course website for all other lectures.

From dub to hip-hop, disco to techno, avant-garde experimentation to mass-produced pop, this course illuminates the ways that electronic and digital technologies have shaped popular music production and consumption over the last 50 years. Analysis of musical style accompanies examination of the music in its social and cultural contexts.
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Related Course

  • DRAM E-24 The History and Practice of American Musical Theater