36 courses with the subject MUSC H, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
MUSC H102CHORALE0.5
Chorale is a large mixed chorus that performs major works from the oratorio repertoire with orchestra and student soloists. Attendance at weekly two-hour rehearsals and dress rehearsals during performance week is required. Entrance by audition. Students can start Chorale at the beginning of any semester. This course is graded universal P/F in which no numerical grade is assigned. Prerequisite(s): Audition and consent of the instructor.
An intensive introduction to the notational and theoretical materials of music, complemented by work in sight-singing, keyboard harmony, and dictation. This course is appropriate for students who sing or play an instrument, but who have had little or no systematic instruction in music theory. Topics include time and pitch and their notation, scales, intervals, triads, basic harmonic progressions, melodic construction, harmonization of melody, non-harmonic tones, transposition, and key change (modulation). Students who wish to explore the art of musical composition will find this course especially useful, as two creative projects are assigned: the composition of a pair of melodies in the major and minor modes, and a 32-bar piece which changes key. Preparation for these projects is provided through listening and analysis of works in a variety of musical styles. Students having completed this course will be prepared to enter Music 203, the first semester of the theory sequence for music majors.
In this course, students acquire practice in listening to music, and explore the idea that music, in a Western context, is also always seen. Throughout the semester, we will listen to and view a series of works and performances, primarily from the Western classical tradition from the Baroque era to the twenty-first century, and consider how musical performance as a cultural practice is defined both by spectatorship and audition. In the process, we will explore questions such as: What does it mean to listen? What does listening entail, what senses and what skills are involved? How does our listening change based on context, genre, venue, geography? In addition to listening and reading, students attend concerts and complete written reflections on subjects and musical objects discussed in class.
This course examines the intersections of music, sound, and the environment, especially focusing on environmental justice issues. Throughout the class, we will explore alternative conceptions of the natural world, including the misnomer of ‘pristine’ wilderness as idealized nature, conflicting engagements with various political ecologies, and the intersections of music, sound, identity, coloniality, and nature. A critical aspect of this course is its investment in learning about activist research practices, which will be discussed via ethnographic studies, guest lecturers, multi-media presentations, and documentaries. Subtopics for this course include queer ecologies, sound studies, post-humanism, cultural sustainability, soundscapes, climate justice, musical activism, and more.
This course explores the informal processes through which subculture participants negotiate their use of music as a means of constructing, maintaining, and resisting cultural norms and social institutions. With a focus on the everyday, we will investigate the social processes and contexts involved in the creation and maintenance of musical subcultures and countercultures through ethnographic studies and films. The course will emphasize the impacts of theories of globalization and sovereignty, which have, for both better and worse, significantly influenced scholarship around musical subcultures and countercultures of the Global South. While ‘youth’ subcultures remain a key component of subculture studies, we will also address the challenges of aging within musical subcultures, including the work of scholars like Andy Bennett and Tom Turino. Specific studies read in this course will include punk scenes in Mexico City, San José, Costa Rica, and Peru; Chinese musical communities in Cuba (Dr. Porras!); heavy metal music in Jakarta; hip-hop in New York; Kwaito music in South Africa; Cumbia and its reaches; and more.
MUSC H124A CENTURY OF RECORDED SOUND: TECHNOLOGY, MEDIUM, REPERTOIRE1.0
This course is designed as an introduction to thinking critically about the mediums on which music is recorded, distributed, and circulated. The class will provide a chronological overview of recording technologies with an emphasis on the relationship between medium, repertoire, and listener experience. The basic units of the course include early phonography, radio, vinyl records, bootleg recordings, cassettes, CDs, digital mediums, and more. Underlying themes include the environment, questions of genre, and music and capitalism. Lottery Preference: First years and seniors
MUSC H125POPULAR MUSIC, FEMININITY, AND FEMINISMS1.0
This course interrogates popular music history through a feminist lens, asking why popular music is the venue of choice for so many iterations of feminist expression. By engaging in feminist thought, feminist musicology, and popular music studies, this course asks how questions of music, femininity, and feminism are imbricated in larger matrices of racial, socioeconomic, and gender identity; political economies; and other forms of power. More broadly, it asks: what makes music feminist? Crosslisted: GSST. Lottery Preference: No lottery preferences
MUSC H134ELECTRONIC MUSIC EVOLUTION: FROM FOUNDATIONAL BASICS TO SONIC HORIZONS1.0
Electronic music, a constantly evolving entity, has revolutionized the way we create and experience music. This course, Electronic Music Evolution, offers a deep dive into its history, theory, and practical application. From the Telharmonium's inception to contemporary interactive performances, students will develop critical listening skills. Hands-on use of cutting-edge production tools will enable students to compose electronic music works, exploring composition and performance alongside emerging electronic music theories. This course does not count for the Music major or minor. Lottery Preference: Music major / Music minor
This course provides an overview of the world's musical traditions, with selected case studies from each of ten regions: Oceania, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. It introduces ways to think and write about the huge diversity of musical genres from different parts of the world, together with their performers, audiences, and cultural contexts.
An introduction to tonal music theory and compositional practice, drawing on diverse American and European repertories. Explored are techniques of musical analysis, harmonization in four parts, and the craft of composition from the phrase level to larger units of structure. Composition of a set of variations, sonatina, or other homophonic piece is the final project. Lab period covers related aural and keyboard harmony skills. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 110 or instructor consent
Continuation of Music 203, covering chromatic harmony and focusing on the development of sonata forms from the Classical through the Romantic period. Composition of a sonata exposition is the final project. Three class hours plus laboratory period covering related aural and keyboard harmony skills. Required for the Music major or minor; should be taken the semester after Music 203. Prerequisite: Music 203.
All students enrolled in the private study program should be participating in a departmentally directed ensemble or activity (Chorale, Orchestra, etc.) as advised by their program supervisor. Students receive ten hour-long lessons with approved teachers for one-half credit, graded. All students in the private study program perform for a faculty jury at the end of the semester. Students assume the cost of their lessons, but may apply for private study subsidies at the beginning of each semester’s study through the department.
All students enrolled in the private study program should be participating in a departmentally directed ensemble or activity (Chorale, Orchestra, etc.) as advised by their program supervisor. Students receive ten hour-long lessons with approved teachers for one-half credit, graded. All students in the private study program perform for a faculty jury at the end of the semester. Students assume the cost of their lessons, but may apply for private study subsidies at the beginning of each semester’s study through the department.
All students enrolled in the private study program should be participating in a departmentally directed ensemble or activity (Chorale, Orchestra, etc.) as advised by their program supervisor. Students receive ten hour-long lessons with approved teachers for one-half credit, graded. All students in the private study program perform for a faculty jury at the end of the semester. Students assume the cost of their lessons, but may apply for private study subsidies at the beginning of each semester’s study through the department.
A 30-voice mixed choir that performs a wide range of mostly a cappella repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day, in original languages. The choir performs on and off campus, both public concerts and outreach concerts to underserved audiences. Requires attendance at three 80-minute rehearsals weekly. Entrance by audition at the beginning of the Fall semester each year. This course is graded universal P/F in which no numerical grade is assigned.
Intensive rehearsal of works for small instrumental groups, with supplemental assigned research and listening. Performance is required. Students enrolled in Chamber Music have the opportunity to receive coaching from visiting artists on the Concert Artist Series and from resident ensembles. Performances take place at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, and other community venues. This course is available to those students who are concurrently studying privately, or who have studied privately immediately prior to the start of the semester. In addition, all students playing orchestral instruments must participate concurrently in the Orchestra, unless granted permission by the music director. Entrance by audition only. This course is graded universal P/F in which no numerical grade is assigned.
The Haverford-Bryn Mawr Orchestra has over seventy members and performs a wide range of symphonic repertory. Orchestra members are expected to attend one two-and-a-half hour rehearsal per week, and are guided in sectional rehearsals by professional musicians. There are three/four performances a year, including Parents/Family Weekend concerts. The spring Orchestra concert features the winner of the annual student concerto competition. Entrance by audition only. This course is graded universal P/F in which no numerical grade is assigned.
A performance course devoted to historical and contemporary art song traditions from the early 19th century to the present. Weekly performance classes and lectures on history and performance practice will be accompanied by weekly individual coaching with the instructor and pianist, culminating in a public recital at the end of the semester. Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
MUSC H224BEETHOVEN'S CENTURY: BEETHOVEN IN CONTEXT1.0
An exploration of Beethoven's life and works, considered in the context of changing aesthetic and cultural values of the last two centuries. Students will listen to Beethoven's music, study his letters and conversation books, and read some of the many responses his art has engendered. In their written responses to all of this material, students will think in new ways about Beethoven's music, his artistic personality, about the ideas and assumptions that have guided the critical reception of art and life. They will learn to cultivate their skills as readers and listeners while improving their craft as writers. Counts towards Music major and minor. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing, or permission of instructor.
An exploration of musical modernism, experimentalism, and the avant-garde throughout the long twentieth century. Exploring works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartók, Weill, Chávez, Cage, Boulez, and others, plus films, scores, and happenings by Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Benjamin Patterson, Nam June Paik, and Amiri Baraka and others. In the process of understanding the historical and cultural pressures that led to the development of this repertoire, we will attend performances, exhibitions, and stage our own performances. Prerequisite(s): Music 110, 111, or knowledge of musical notation or experience studying an instrument or voice.
MUSC H229THINKING ABOUT MUSIC: IDEAS, HISTORY, AND MUSICOLOGY1.0
Core concepts and perspectives for the serious study of music. Students explore music, meaning, and musicological method in a variety of contexts through a set of six foundational themes and questions: Music and the Idea of Genius, Who Owns Music?, Music and Technology, The Global Soundscape, Music and the State, and Tonality, Sense, and Reason. Each unit uses a small number of musical works, performances, or documents as a focal point. In each unit we also read current musicological work in an attempt to understand the methods, arguments, and perspectives through which scholars interpret music and its many meanings. This course is required of all music majors and minors in their sophomore or junior year.
This course is guided by the central question: how did the Soviet Union sound? By combining musicological, sound studies, and other methods, we’ll study the Soviet Union’s remaining sonic traces to chart an audible history of the USSR. We’ll study the music, sounds, and recording technologies that defined daily life for Soviet citizens and their unique, socialist context. In using sonic materials, we’ll practice how auditory sources can provide another perspective on well-known historical narratives.
MUSC H235INTERACTIVE MUSIC DESIGN: PROGRAMMING SOUND AND MEDIA1.0
This course explores the creative potential of programming for live performance using interactive media. Through hands-on projects in Max/MSP/Jitter, students will design systems that integrate real-time control of MIDI, digital audio, and video. Emphasizing both technical fluency and artistic expression, the course investigates how software, sound, and performance interfaces can be shaped into dynamic, responsive works of art. Pre-requisite(s): MUS 134, or consent of the instructor. No standard notation knowledge will be necessary, but a fundamental understanding of sound and musical elements would be beneficial.
MUSC H236SOUNDS DELICIOUS!: EXPLORING CULTURAL MEANING-MAKING THROUGH SOUND AND TASTE1.0
Music and food come into contact through a wide array of cultural practices, often inseparable or unimaginable without the other. This course examines these connections, interrogates the use of different senses in the production of knowledge, and encourages experimentation in ethnographic research on cultural practices involving food and sound. Through interdisciplinary studies from foodways, anthropology, ethnomusicology, and musicology, we will dive into the emerging subfield of gastro(ethno)musicology, interrogating some of its terminology, methodologies, and theories. Lottery Preference: Music majors and minors
MUSC H240MUSICAL CULTURES OF AFRO-LATIN AMERICA1.0
This course considers Afro-Latin American music within a broad cultural framework. The course surveys the historical and musical development of various social groups, who constitute the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. It explores African-influenced musical cultures and practices that emerged from syncretic practices among indigenous, African, and European people, focusing on folkloric, ritual, and popular forms of expression. Lottery Preference: Music majors
Music and Social Justice explores the relationship between ethnomusicology and social justice. The course introduces themes, concepts, tools, and methodologies of applied ethnomusicology, and discusses the role of the ethnomusicologist on a wide set of issues, including advocacy, indigenous people, education, agencies, and conflict. It considers traditional, popular, and ritual forms of music around the world and their significance to the struggle for social justice. The course is open to students from all disciplines; there are no pre-requisites and knowledge of music performance and theory is helpful but not necessary.
MUSC H242THE LIVES OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: CONCEPTS AND CLASSIFICATIONS1.0
Ever wonder why a violin is not a fiddle or feel that traditional classifications are inadequate to express ALL a musical instrument is, including what they mean to you personally? This course explores the numerous formal and informal systems that humans in their desire to create rational structures, have created to classify and think about musical instruments around the world. It also explores the diversity of instrument-related philosophical, symbolic, disciplinary, and intellectual approaches and meanings that humans have conceived and that express the world's great cultural diversity.
MUSC H251STRANGE MUSIC: MONSTERS, GHOSTS, AND ALIENS ON STAGE AND SCREEN1.0
Scholars of film often speak of the camera as an “all-seeing eye.” But what role does the ear play in cinematic experience? This course will explore the history, character, and function of music (and sound) in the first half of the twentieth century (and beyond): how they worked with (and against) the camera’s gaze to complicate narratives, to articulate time, and more generally to represent feeling and identity. This term will put special focus on the non-human: monsters, ghosts, aliens, and more generally the idea of the magical or supernatural. What does such radical Otherness sound like? How has it been represented musically? And how have composers and sound designers put such conventions to work in films of the last 100 years, from Metropolis and Nosferatu to Dune and Arrival? To answer these questions we’ll explore the silents, the early sound film and (especially) the long arc of composers (from Eric Korngold to Bernard Herrmann and from John Williams to Hans Zimmer. We’ll consider the legacy of Romanticism, the possibilities of Modernism, and even the Avant Garde, and learn about orchestration, harmony and thematic process as they contribute to cinematic narrative. We will also consider various theories of sound, music, and film staked out by film and operatic composers themselves, as well as critical and scholarly essays by leading writers on the monstrous, the alien, and the supernatural. Crosslisted: VIST Prerequisite(s): No formal prerequisite, but some previous study of either music or visual media would be helpful
MUSC H255ENCODING MUSIC: DIGITAL APPROACHES TO SCORES AND SOUND1.0
How do we represent music, in all its forms, from concept to practice? What sorts of systems have humans devised to learn, transmit, and preserve music? How have we collected and categorized music? And what might these activities look like in an era of ubiquitous data? In this course musicians and computer scientists will team up to explore two key dimensions of the digital revolution for music: data about music, and music as data. Pre-requisite(s): This course is open to students interested in music, computer science or data science. Some previous coursework or experience with either (but not both) would be good preparation for this course. That is either: a basic working knowledge of musical concepts (staff notation, guitar tablature, scales and keys, or work with MIDI) or some familiarity with computer code (Python, XML) or data structures. Lottery Preference: Music Majors and Minors. BMC Data Science Minors. CS Majors.
This course traces the evolution of the orchestra and samples some of its most compelling literature, from the symphonic canvases of Beethoven, Berlioz, and Still to contemporary pieces incorporating non-Western instruments, electronics and even cell phones. Along the way we will learn to read the orchestral score, and study the capabilities of various orchestral instruments and how they are used together. Short weekly exercises in scoring during the first half of the class, visits from guest musicians, and attendance at concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra and/or Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will both supplement and enhance our class discussions. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 203 or permission of instructor
Preparation of a portfolio of compositions for various instruments and ensembles. Weekly assignments designed to invite creative, individual responses to a variety of musical ideas; experimentation with harmony, form, notation, and text-setting. Performance of student works-in-progress and final reading/recording session with professional musicians. Recent classes have had their compositions read by Network for New Music, percussionist Phillip O’Banion, and the Amernet String Quartet. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 204 and instructor consent
MUSC H268SONIC NARRATIVES - STORYTELLING THROUGH SOUND SYNTHESIS1.0
"Sonic Narratives" is a course that combines traditional instruments and electronic music technologies to explore storytelling through sound. The course explores the language of sound as a potent narrative tool, covering advanced sound synthesis techniques such as Additive, Subtractive, FM, Granular, and Wavetable Synthesis using state-of-the-art tools like KYMA and Logic Pro. Beyond technical proficiency, students will explore how these synthesis techniques contribute to diverse fields, from cinematic soundtracks to social media engagement. Pre-requisite(s): MUS 134, or consent of the instructor. No standard notation knowledge will be necessary, but a fundamental understanding of sound and musical elements would be beneficial. Lottery Preference: Music major / Music minor
Study of late 19th-century harmonic practice in selected works of Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, Fauré, Wolf, Debussy, and Mahler. Exploration of chromatic harmony through analysis and short compositions; final composition project consisting of either art song or piano piece such as nocturne or intermezzo. Musicianship lab covers related aural and keyboard harmony skills. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 204
Exploration of contrapuntal techniques and forms, such as canon, two-part invention, and fugue, with an emphasis on the works of J.S. Bach and beyond. Featured this semester will be the study of counterpoint in contemporary styles. This is a studio course which will result in a portfolio of works for various instruments, ranging from harpsichord to percussion. We will be writing for Philadelphia’s Network for New Music and other guest artists, who will visit our class to offer feedback, perform and record your work. Advising note: This course is particularly valuable taken prior to senior year if you intend to complete a thesis in composition. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 204
This course will offer an introduction to conducting choral ensembles. Students will learn to synthesize the many aspects of conducting, including physical communication, artistic leadership, and musical study. In addition to incorporating elements of music history and theory, this course will emphasize additional skills such as score study, group vocal technique, and performance practice in different musical eras. Prerequisite(s): MUSC 204 and MUSC 229; MUSC 102 or MUSC 214, and any one of the following: MUSC 208, 209, 210
