Important UMKC Resources and Policies are

applicable to every course and every student at

UMKC. These are located in the Blackboard site for
this course under the UMKC Policies tab. As a
UMKC student, you are expected to review and
abide by these policies. If you have any questions,
please contact your instructor for clarification.

This course follows the Faculty allowing recording

option of the Academic Inquiry, Course Discussion
and Privacy policy. PLEASE NOTE that recordings
made under this policy are legally protected from
sharing or distribution except for the purposes
outlined under the policy.

CONSVTY 5523
ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES
Fall semester 2017
Dr. Hali Fieldman

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-2:15 pm

Grant Hall ___330

Important UMKC Resources and Policies are applicable to every

course and every student at UMKC. These are located in the
Blackboard site for this course under the UMKC Policies tab. As a
UMKC student, you are expected to review and abide by these
policies. If you have any questions, please contact your instructor
for clarification.

This course follows the Faculty allowing recording option of the

Academic Inquiry, Course Discussion and Privacy policy. PLEASE
NOTE that recordings made under this policy are legally protected
from sharing or distribution except for the purposes outlined under
the policy.

COURSE SYLLABUS
(subject to change)

Student learning outcomes: By the end of the semester, students will

 Have been exposed to multiple diverse
analytical situations;
will have analytically demonstrated a refined
understanding of the use of roman numerals;
will have learned and used basic set-theoretical
techniques in analysis;
will have refined and demonstrated their
aural-analytical abilities;
will have become familiar with and
demonstrated the basic methods of
Schenkerian analysis;
will have become familiar with and
demonstrated knowledge of some aspects of
rhythmic-metric analysis;
will have demonstrated the synthetic grasp of
musical passages by the use of rhetorical
analysis.: _____

In addition, to do well in this class you must come

prepared to every meeting: You must have done
any required listening and/or reading and be
prepared for discussion, and you must have
hard copies of scores with measures
numbered; you must be prepared to take notes,
to ask questions, and otherwise participate.

You should be aware that I take academic

honesty extremely seriously. You can find the
Universitys regulations regarding cheating,
plagiarism, and more at this link:
https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collecte
d_rules/programs/ch200/200.010_standard_of_
conduct__
and in the UMKC Policies document posted on
Blackboard.

Contacting me:
Office Grant Hall 118
Phone 816.235.2951
Email (preferred method): fieldmanh@umkc.edu
 or leave a note in my faculty mailbox in Grant Hall

Office hours: Tuesdays 2:30-3:30

Wednesdays 10:001-11:00noon
or by appointment

Materials: Please bring to class ALWAYS the following:

Both staff and notebook paper and writing implements
Copies of all assigned reading (e-copies ok)
Copies of all required scores (hard copy required, measures
numbered). Scores will be made available to you on Blackboard,
through links to my own copies or by linking to IMPSL.
Copies of all additional distributed materials (your choice of
format)
Returned assignments

Grading: I use the Universitys standard A-F scale and its 100-point
equivalent (reduced by a factor of 10), to assign grades. (This scale
includes all +/- grades other than A+, though I will use this grade to
mark an exceptional assignment, consistent with the Universitys
+/- values for grades of A- and below.)
Graduate students, take note: I repeat, I use the standard A-F scale.
Many of your degree programs require a grade of B- or above in
order for the class to count towards your degree. That means that
your work has to be worth a B- on an A to F scale I will not shrink
that scale to fit a bottom grade of B-.

Your grade will be made up of these components:

1. Attendance and participation. You will get no points for attending

class only; but will lose 1 point for each class you miss. You will get
either 0 or 1 point per meeting, maximum 30 points. You get a point
ONLY if you invest in some way in the work of the class. I want to
encourage you in the broadest way to be invested, so here are ways
you can do that: Asking, answering questions; relevant comments
that contribute to discussion in class; attendance at office hours;
writing me class-related email, questions on an assignment or a
reading.
 Please see the Universitys absence policy regarding excused
absences. In addition to the provisions there, I will excuse an
absence for a professional commitment audition, interview, or
performance ONLY if you have told me about it beforehand. You
will not be excused for lessons, rehearsals, etc. scheduled during
our regular meeting time. Absences of any kind totaling 5 or more
will lead to automatic failure of the class, though I reserve
discretion in this matter.

2. Assignments. (There are no exams in this course.) You will have six
assignments, some of them in multiple parts as specified. Most
assignment components are worth 10 points each, making some
assignments worth as much as 30 points. Together, the semesters
assignments are worth 120 points.
Each late component will be automatically docked 30% unless you and I
have previously made arrangements.
Ten points will be distributed as follows:
Neatness/legibility = 2 points
Quality of writing = 3 points
This includes use of correct punctuation, spelling, and
grammar, the use and quality of thesis statement,
overall organization and flow
Answering question/assignment prompt as asked = 5 points

3. Discretionary points: Extra points (as many as 15) that I add to your
semester grade on the basis of things that are not reflected in other
ways, such as improvement over the semester that reflects my
comments on your work, your ability to bring various facets from
the class together in your work, and the quality and constructive
nature of your contributions to the class.

CONS 5523 F 2017 // Fieldman

T/TH, 1:00-2:15

ORDER of WORK (subject to change)

PROJECT/UNIT WEEK TUES THURS ASSIGNMENT BRIEF SUMMARY
DUE DATES
Getting 1 AUG 22 24 Essay. 29 Enrich understanding
started Aug, hard and the many ways w
copy, in class semester.
[10]
Rhetoric/graph 2 29 31 Detailed map Draw attention to mus
s as discussed have no systematic m
in class, plus their interactions and
5 days essay, due interactions are valua
12 Sept., use concept all semes
hard copy, in
class.
[20=2x10]
3 SEP 5 7
T
Rhythm and 4 12 14 2 essays. Define the rhythmic a
meter Essay 1 on what we call Rhythm;
aural first, uses of meter an
6 days experience the various properties
due 28 Sept. demonstrate in class s
by 5:00 pm.
as Word or
PDF
attachment
to email.
[15]
5 19 22
6 26 28 Essay 2
(may include
marked score
if desired)
due 3 Oct.,
hard copy, in
class. [10]
Linear/structur 7 OCT 3 5 Two-level Show how the notes t
al analysis graph plus not all have the same
marked on consonance within
5 days score, due 24 time. Underneath, ton
Oct., hard scale-wise behavior th
copy, in metaphorically conclu
class. [15] cadence.
8 10 12
9 17 19
Tonal harmony 10 24 26 Roman- Using roman-numeral
numeral ways. Focus on functio
4 days analyses plus perspective, how chro
comments/ system (functional an
essay due 7 chromaticism). What e
Nov., hard presence of a chord/s
copy, in patterns and harmoni
class. rns.
[20=2x10]
11 31
NOV 2
12 7 9
Atonal 13 14 16 3 parts as Removing focus on ba
harmony described, vertical counterpoint (
due 7 example), leaving inte
8 days, December, sound and organizatio
interrupted hard copy, in theory: Pitch v. pitch-c
class. interval); naming the
Discussion showing contour using
and sharing finding (partitioning).
of work.
[30=3x10]
T- 21 23
GIVING
14 28 30
15 DEC 5 7
FINALS NO FINAL EXAM IN TH
WEEK

Overview and brief outline of written assignments

Before our first meeting, please read the
following: (materials chosen, not available to me while
away from KC.)

Getting started
Readings (see above) and discussion: the roles, importance
of analysis
ASSIGNMENT: Essay due Tues 29 Aug in class: After
our reading and discussion this week, what do you
now think is the purpose of analysis, and how do you
see that understanding influencing your
playing/teaching etc.?
Rhetoric
In-class aural analysis:
Pieces (tentative list): Strauss, Zarathustra, opening;
Mozart a minor sonata K 310, I, excerpts

ASSIGNMENT: Detailed map, essay due 12

September in class.
Schumann, Ich grolle nicht, from Dichterliebe. As
we have discussed, in the nineteenth century a song
was not a setting of a poem to music, but rather a
composition that used an existing text as part of the
material for a new work. As such, the composers
use of the text, in all relevant ways, reflects how
he/she understands or interprets it.

For this assignment, we will ignore the text, except to

know that the title of this song means, literally, I
growl not. While in English we would say something
like Im not mad/irritated, Heine used the verb form
of growl, and it is Heines word choice that is the
basis for Schumanns own sense of the poem. Keep
that choice in mind as you examine both the voice
and piano parts and their interactions throughout the
song.

Start by circling or highlighting each appearance of

the short phrase Ich grolle nicht in both Heines
original poem and in Schumanns song. Does
Schumann strictly follow Heines poem in regard to
this phrase? Here, consider only this phrase in both
poem and song, not the musical context.

Now look closely at the songs music apart from the

text. Consider especially how Schumann uses the
elements listed here:

1. register
2. range (voice, especially)
3. rhythm
4. repetition on multiple
levels, including form
5. at least one other
important element of your
choice
Create a formal map an intensity graph of these
rhetorical elements and their interaction, as we have
demonstrated in class. Using a standard line graph,
you will plot each element along a consistent
x(horizontal) axis that uses the measure as its unit.
Number the measures to align with the song. The y
axis should show the behavior of each element its
increases and decreases in intensity from its
starting point until the end of the song. Allow room
below your x axis so that you can show both positive
and negative changes over time. When you have
finished, show on your graph the measures in which
Schumann uses the phrase Ich grolle nicht.

What youve mapped is a kind of record of what

Schumann actually does in this song, but when we
listen to the song as experienced listeners, we will
also hear that some elements have a somewhat
abnormal aspect to them when considered against a
background of generic norms, called a horizon.**
Your maps alone will not reflect that aspect of how
you hear the piece, though it is tremendously
important to how we understand the song.

So, does Schumanns singer growl not? To convey

your full sense of the song and those three important
words from the text, you will need to write an essay
of approx. 400-600 words. In it you will discuss the
affect of the song in regard to that phrase, being
specific both about your sense of non-normative
behavior in some of the elements Schumann uses,
and in referencing specific information from your own
map.

**The term horizon is used in many ways, but

when psychologists use it, they typically mean
the set of (usually unstated) assumptions we
use as the implicit basis for actions and
decisions. It is a set of generic data about
some specific category that we use to compare
current or present phenomena, and we create
horizons about nearly everything.

Some examples: If youre sitting on your porch

talking to friends and one lone car whizzes
down the street, you might think wow, that
 guys really moving. Youre not basing that on
the other traffic; there is none. And youre not
looking at the speed limit sign and the cars
speedometer, or sitting there with a radar gun.
You just know. You probably dont recognize
that youre relying on embedded knowledge, a
horizon that has to do with a range of normal
speeds on a residential street. But being
conscious of how you know that can help
strengthen your overall awareness and build
new knowledge. Lets say you hear someone
practicing and you think that sounds like a
flute, but not quite. Its awfully low for a flute.
You dont have to be a flutist, or to have
perfect pitch or anything else to know this;
instead, without ever having heard of or seen
an alto flute, you have an understanding of it
simply by having made yourself aware that it
can play below the register in which youre
accustomed to hearing the standard flute.**

Want to know more? Read an article by

Lawrence Kramer in Nineteenth-Century Music
partially titled The Mirror of Tonality.

Rhythm and meter.

Pieces (tentative list): Beethoven sonatas op. 14/2, i; op.

31/2, iii; Brahms Symphony no. 3, i; Paul Simon, For
Angie; R. Schumann Kreisleriana op. 16, i and ii; Haydn
Symphony no. 92, Menuet and Trio; others.

Rhythm and meter, separately and, especially, together,

are powerful rhetorical (expressive) agents in music. Read
Charles Burkhart on Chopin in Stein, ed., Engaging Music.
We will discuss Burkharts main ideas and his use of
graphic means of communicating his findings. How else
might we create meaningful visualizations of the ideas
Burkhart brings to this article?

In addition, we will do several AURAL score-blind

analyses of passages that use meter and/or rhythm in
interesting ways, before comparing our aural
understanding with what we see in the scores.
 ASSIGNMENT: Essays, 2. Essay 1 from an aural
perspective due 28 September; Essay 2,
incorporating the visual information, comparing
experience with that described in Essay 1, due 3
October.
Similar to the listen, THEN look approach we use in
class, this assignment must be done in two parts.
Part I requires very careful listening, without score, of
the assigned piece, after which youll write your
observations, guided by a few questions. Then Ill
release the score; for Part II you will listen with the
score and readdress those same questions in a
second essay.

Linear/structural analysis.

Pieces (tentative list): Mozart, K. 311, iv; Brahms, Immer

leiser, others

Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) was a well-regarded

musician in Vienna who is best known for his
theoretical exploration of the nature of tonality. In
particular, he wanted to know what it was that made
all tonal (common-practice period) pieces, the tens
and hundreds of thousands of them, tonal: what one
characteristic did they all share? He was equally
interested in the mirror image of that question: if all
of those many tonal pieces are the same in one
particular way, how then did they differentiate
themselves from one another? How can they be in
the same category, but express that category
differently?

While we will not engage in Schenkerian analysis,

per se, we will learn some basic principles of linear
(melodic) counterpoint in order to begin to
differentiate what Schenker thought of as the
structural element of the piece, which is an element
shared with all other tonal works, from the
embellishments of that structure, which make the
piece unique. Schenker used familiar musical
notation to show his findings, but gave that notation
structural meaning; we will begin to use the stem
and slur notation that allows us to visually
differentiate structural from embellishing pitches.
 ASSIGNMENT: Two-level graph, due in hard
copy 24 October in class.
We will do a 2-level graph of mm. 1-16 of
Chopins a minor Mazurka op. 7, 2. In the first
level you will notate the structural pitches you
have chosen and how each is embellished. In
the second level, youll begin to show how the
structural pitches of the first level are
associated with one another.

Tonal harmony

Pieces (tentative list): Chopin op. 28 no. 4, Schoenberg op.

2, no. 2, Beethoven op. 109, i, Schubert Impromptu in A-
flat major, op. 90(?), Mozart Rondo K 355.

One of the main tools we are taught to use to indicate

harmonic structures in tonal music is what is called roman-
numeral analysis; we are all familiar with it. Unless used
with considerable judgment and discretion, however,
roman numerals are often little more than a recipe for the
ingredients of a triad-based event; in other words, they
describe rather than inform. We will talk about what they
do and do not tell us and how in what musical
circumstances to put them to best use.

ASSIGNMENT: Roman-numeral analyses of

excerpts plus comments/essay; due 7
November in class.
Provide roman-numeral analyses of the given
excerpts when it is meaningful to do so. Write
an accompanying essay of 250-500 words in
which you discuss the places in which roman
numerals were not useful and why, and what
you learned about the passages where you
found roman-numeral analysis to be
productive.

Atonal harmony

Pieces (tentative list): Schoenberg op. 2, 2; Pierrot,

selections; Webern, selections; Schoenberg, Book of the
Hanging Gardens, selections.

Tonal harmony functions around two interconnected

functions: its distinction between consonance and
dissonance, in which dissonance has specific functions
relative to consonance; and the use of the lowest voice of a
texture, the bass line, as the basis from which to determine
whether or not a given pitch is dissonant, and in what way.
NOTE that dissonance here is a functional description,
not an abstract one; some sounds that are abstractly
considered to be consonances are functionally dissonant,
for instance the interval of a fourth above the bass.

One simple way to describe atonal harmony (often called

free atonality) is to say that neither of the functions just
discussed obtains. The lowest voice of a structure is no
longer a reference point for determining consonance and
dissonance, and in fact there is no longer such a concept
as functional dissonance; in other words, no note has a
prescribed behavior relative to another note. That does not
mean harmony disappears! just that we have other ways
to name it and discuss the relationships between those
named objects.

We look at atonal harmony as the collection of intervals

available in a group of pitches or pitch classes. Using
several concepts familiar from tonal harmony, we will
discuss the difference between pitch and pitch class,
interval and interval class. Because we are concerned with
intervals, and often NOT with pitch (or pitch-class) content
per se, we will develop a numerical spelling for pitch-
classes that allows us to more easily look at the interval
content of selected groups of pitches. If you learned things
like subsets, supersets, and union when you were in grade
school and high school, youll recognize the basic
techniques we borrow from mathematics, called set theory.

The main point of all of this is not the set-theoretical stuff

but the use of these ideas to learn interesting things about
how a composer uses the harmony the sound-field of a
given piece. To do this well we must bring all of our
musical instincts to bear. Thus we will use the mapping
techniques we learned at the beginning of the semester to
guide our analytical investigations into freely-atonal works.

ASSIGNMENT: 3 parts: 1) a detailed map; 2) set-

theoretical analysis of harmony; 2) essay describing
your use of the two approaches together and what
they led you to discover about this piece. Discussion
 and hand-in of all parts in hard copy, 7 December in
class.

Bartoks Sketches, op. 9, no. 2. We will work with

this small piano piece in two phases. For the first
phase, you will need to make an accurate map
showing the main elements Bartok uses to shape the
piece and the interactions of these elements. For the
second phase, youll do a set-class analysis of
musical events your map has shown you to be of
interest. Finally, you will write an essay in which you
discuss how you used these two methodologies
together to develop a rich understanding of this
work.

PLEASE SEE calendar-form outline!

Overview and brief outline of written assignments

Before our first meeting, please read the
following:
Ross Lee Finney, Analysis and the Creative Process,
and Composition of Time. The first of these articles is
annotated; make sure to open each of the orange tabs
as you get to them, by clicking on them. Ive made
many comments and asked you to consider a few
questions.

Getting started
Readings (see above) and discussion: the roles, importance
of analysis
ASSIGNMENT: Essay due Tues 29 Aug in class: After
our reading and discussion this week, what do you
now think is the purpose of analysis, and how do you
see that understanding influencing your
playing/teaching etc.?

Rhetoric
In-class aural analysis:
Pieces (tentative list): Strauss, Zarathustra, opening;
Mozart a minor sonata K 310, i, excerpts
ASSIGNMENT: Detailed map, essay due 12
September in class.
Schumann, Ich grolle nicht, from Dichterliebe. As
we have discussed, in the nineteenth century a song
was not a setting of a poem to music, but rather a
composition that used an existing text as part of the
material for a new work. As such, the composers
use of the text, in all relevant ways, reflects how
he/she understands or interprets it.

For this assignment, we will ignore the text, except to

know that the title of this song means, literally, I
growl not. While in English we would say something
like Im not mad/irritated, Heine used the verb form
of growl, and it is Heines word choice that is the
basis for Schumanns own sense of the poem. Keep
that choice in mind as you examine both the voice
and piano parts and their interactions throughout the
song.

Start by circling or highlighting each appearance of

the short phrase Ich grolle nicht in both Heines
original poem and in Schumanns song. Does
Schumann strictly follow Heines poem in regard to
this phrase? Here, consider only this phrase in both
poem and song, not the musical context.

Now look closely at the songs music apart from the

text. Consider especially how Schumann uses the
elements listed here:

6. register
7. range (voice, especially)
8. rhythm
9. repetition on multiple
levels, including form
10. at least one other
important element of your
choice

Create a formal map an intensity graph of these

rhetorical elements and their interaction, as we have
demonstrated in class. Using a standard line graph,
you will plot each element along a consistent
x(horizontal) axis that uses the measure as its unit.
Number the measures to align with the song. The y
axis should show the behavior of each element its
increases and decreases in intensity from its
starting point until the end of the song. Allow room
below your x axis so that you can show both positive
and negative changes over time. When you have
finished, show on your graph the measures in which
Schumann uses the phrase Ich grolle nicht.

What youve mapped is a kind of record of what

Schumann actually does in this song, but when we
listen to the song as experienced listeners, we will
also hear that some elements have a somewhat
abnormal aspect to them when considered against a
background of generic norms, called a horizon.**
Your maps alone will not reflect that aspect of how
you hear the piece, though it is tremendously
important to how we understand the song.

So, does Schumanns singer growl not? To convey

your full sense of the song and those three important
words from the text, you will need to write an essay
of approx. 400-600 words. In it you will discuss the
affect of the song in regard to that phrase, being
specific both about your sense of non-normative
behavior in some of the elements Schumann uses,
and in referencing specific information from your own
map.

**The term horizon is used in many ways, but

when psychologists use it, they typically mean
the set of (usually unstated) assumptions we
use as the implicit basis for actions and
decisions. It is a set of generic data about
some specific category that we use to compare
current or present phenomena, and we create
horizons about nearly everything.

Some examples: If youre sitting on your porch

talking to friends and one lone car whizzes
down the street, you might think wow, that
guys really moving. Youre not basing that on
the other traffic; there is none. And youre not
looking at the speed limit sign and the cars
speedometer, or sitting there with a radar gun.
 You just know. You probably dont recognize
that youre relying on embedded knowledge, a
horizon that has to do with a range of normal
speeds on a residential street. But being
conscious of how you know that can help
strengthen your overall awareness and
build new knowledge. Lets say you hear
someone practicing and you think that sounds
like a flute, but not quite. Its awfully low for a
flute. You dont have to be a flutist, or to have
perfect pitch or anything else to know this;
instead, without ever having heard of or seen
an alto flute, you have an understanding of it
simply by having made yourself aware that it
can play below the register in which youre
accustomed to hearing the standard flute.**

Want to know more? Read an article by

Lawrence Kramer in Nineteenth-Century Music
partially titled The Mirror of Tonality.

Rhythm and meter.

Reading: Charles Burkhart in Deborah Stein, ed., Engaging

Music

Pieces (tentative list): Beethoven sonatas op. 14/2, i; op.

31/2, iii; Brahms Symphony no. 3, i; Paul Simon, For
AngieAnji; R. Schumann Kreisleriana op. 16, i and ii;
Haydn Symphony no. 92, Menuet and Trio; others.

Rhythm and meter, separately and, especially, together,

are powerful rhetorical (expressive) agents in music. Read
Charles Burkhart on Chopin in Stein, ed., Engaging Music.
We will discuss Burkharts main ideas and his use of
graphic means of communicating his findings. How else
might we create meaningful visualizations of the ideas
Burkhart brings to this article?

In addition, we will do several AURAL score-blind

analyses of passages that use meter and/or rhythm in
interesting ways, before comparing our aural
understanding with what we see in the scores.
 ASSIGNMENT: Essays, 2. Essay 1 from an aural
perspective due 28 September; Essay 2,
incorporating the visual information, comparing
experience with that described in Essay 1, due 3
October.
Similar to the listen, THEN look approach we use in
class, this assignment must be done in two parts.
Part I requires very careful listening, without score, of
the assigned piece, after which youll write your
observations, guided by a few questions. Then Ill
release the score; for Part II you will listen with the
score and readdress those same questions in a
second essay.

Linear/structural analysis.

Pieces (tentative list): Mozart, K. 311, iv;ii Brahms, Immer

leiser, others

Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) was a well-regarded

musician in Vienna who is best known for his
theoretical exploration of the nature of tonality. In
particular, he wanted to know what it was that made
all tonal (common-practice period) pieces, the tens
and hundreds of thousands of them, tonal: what one
characteristic did they all share? He was equally
interested in the mirror image of that question: if all
of those many tonal pieces are the same in one
particular way, how then did they differentiate
themselves from one another? How can they be in
the same category, but express that category
differently?

While we will not engage in Schenkerian analysis,

per se, we will learn some basic principles of linear
(melodic) counterpoint in order to begin to
differentiate what Schenker thought of as the
structural element of the piece, which is an element
shared with all other tonal works, from the
embellishments of that structure, which make the
piece unique. Schenker used familiar musical
notation to show his findings, but gave that notation
structural meaning; we will begin to use the stem
and slur notation that allows us to visually
differentiate structural from embellishing pitches.
 NOTE: There may be additional brief, ungraded
assignments called for in this segment.

ASSIGNMENT: Two-level graph, due in hard

copy 24 October in class.
We will do a 2-level graph of mm. 1-16 of
Chopins a minor Mazurka op. 7, 2. In the first
level you will notate the structural pitches you
have chosen and how each is embellished. In
the second level, youll begin to show how the
structural pitches of the first level are
associated with one another.

Tonal harmony

Pieces (tentative list): Chopin op. 28 no. 4, Schoenberg op.

2, no. 2, Beethoven op. 109, i, Schubert Impromptu in A-
flat major, op. 90(?), Mozart Rondo K 355.

One of the main tools we are taught to use to indicate

harmonic structures in tonal music is what is called roman-
numeral analysis; we are all familiar with it. Unless used
with considerable judgment and discretion, however,
roman numerals are often little more than a recipe for the
ingredients of a triad-based event; in other words, they
describe rather than inform. We will talk about what they
do and do not tell us and how in what musical
circumstances to put them to best use.

ASSIGNMENT: Roman-numeral analyses of

excerpts plus comments/essay; due 7
November in class.
Provide roman-numeral analyses of the given
excerpts when it is meaningful to do so. Write
an accompanying essay of 250-500 words in
which you discuss the places in which roman
numerals were not useful and why, and what
you learned about the passages where you
found roman-numeral analysis to be
productive.

Atonal harmony

Pieces (tentative list): Schoenberg op. 2, 2; Pierrot,

selections; Webern, selections; Schoenberg, Book of the
Hanging Gardens, selections.
Tonal harmony functions around two interconnected
functions: its distinction between consonance and
dissonance, in which dissonance has specific functions
relative to consonance; and the use of the lowest voice of a
texture, the bass line, as the basis from which to determine
whether or not a given pitch is dissonant, and in what way.
NOTE that dissonance here is a functional description,
not an abstract one; some sounds that are abstractly
considered to be consonances are functionally dissonant,
for instance the interval of a fourth above the bass.

One simple way to describe atonal harmony (often called

free atonality) is to say that neither of the functions just
discussed obtains. The lowest voice of a structure is no
longer a reference point for determining consonance and
dissonance, and in fact there is no longer such a concept
as functional dissonance; in other words, no note has a
prescribed behavior relative to another note. That does not
mean harmony disappears! just that we have other ways
to name its elements and to discuss the relationships
between them.

We look at atonal harmony as the collection of intervals

available in a group of pitches or pitch classes. Using
several concepts familiar from tonal harmony, we will
discuss the difference between pitch and pitch class
(octave equivalence, enharmonic spelling), interval and
interval class (interval complementarity). Because we are
concerned with intervals, and often NOT with pitch (or
pitch-class) content per se, we will develop a numerical
spelling for pitch-classes that allows us to more easily look
at the interval content of selected groups of pitches. If you
learned things like subsets, supersets, intersections, and
unions when you were in grade school and high school,
youll recognize the basic techniques we borrow from
mathematics, called set theory.

The main point of all of this is not the set-theoretical stuff

but the use of these ideas to learn interesting things about
how a composer uses the harmony the sound-field of a
given piece. To do this well we must bring all of our
musical instincts to bear. Thus we will use the mapping
techniques we learned at the beginning of the semester to
guide our analytical investigations into freely-atonal works.
NOTE: There may be additional brief, ungraded
assignments called for in this segment.

ASSIGNMENT: 3 parts: 1) a detailed map; 2) set-

theoretical analysis of harmony; 2) essay describing
your use of the two approaches together and what
they led you to discover about this piece. Discussion
and hand-in of all parts in hard copy, 7 December in
class.
Bartoks Sketches, op. 9, no. 2. We will work with
this small piano piece in three phases. For the first
phase, you will need to make an accurate map
showing the main elements Bartok uses to shape the
piece and the interactions of these elements. For the
second phase, youll do a set-class analysis of
musical events your map has shown you to be of
interest. Finally, you will write an essay in which you
discuss how you used these two methodologies
together to develop a rich understanding of this
work.