Graduate Course Offerings

MUS 7756 (Music of the Modern Era) surveys the history of Western classical music during the twentieth century from stylistic, aesthetic, philosophical, and historical perspectives. Students will be exposed to major stylistic trends by examining representative works by leading composers; as a result, listening-based exams determine a large component of the final grade in this course. Students will also study the cultural context surrounding the music’s composition, performance, and reception through readings and class discussion.

This course surveys the life, works, and times of Franz Schubert (1797–1828), one of the most important composers of the nineteenth century. We begin by attempting to understand Schubert’s character and temperament, his life in a politically turbulent city, the social and cultural institutions that sponsored his musical career, and the circles of friends who supported and inspired his artistic vision. We turn to his compositions: the influence of predecessors and contemporaries (idols and rivals) on his early works, his revolutionary approach to poetry and song, the cultivation of expression and subjectivity in his instrumental works, and his audacious harmonic and formal practices. And we conclude with a consideration of Schubert’s legacy: the ever-changing nature of his posthumous reception, his impact on subsequent composers, and the ways in which modern composers have sought to retool, revise, and refinish his music. 

If you love opera, it doesn’t get much better than Giacomo Puccini. But whereas audiences have loved (most of) his operas ever since their premieres, critics and scholars resisted until the late twentieth century. In this seminar, we will evaluate Puccini’s place in the history of turn-of-the-century Italian opera, understand his protracted trajectory toward critical acceptance, study the performance practice of the time, and, of course, study some of his masterpieces, focusing on one or two aspects per opera: form in Manon Lescaut, style in La bohème, verismo and performance practice in Tosca, reception in La fanciulla del West, and a synthesis of these elements in Turandot.

The symphony emerged in the early eighteenth century and soon became the genre in which composers attempted to realize their highest ambitions in instru­mental expression. Perhaps better than any other genre, the symphony reflects the interests and con­cerns of the respective periods, such as the rise of public concerts, the development of particular instruments, the issues surrounding program music, looming wars, and new harmonic systems. In this course, we will investigate a select set of symphonies from a variety of angles: on the one hand, we will explore the historical context in which the symphonies were written; on the other, we will strive to enjoy and appreciate them both as self-contained musical works of art and representatives of a composer’s style. We will focus on the established masterworks of the Classic and Romantic periods and on those of the early twentieth century. 

Study and application of significant contemporary methods of music analysis for both tonal and post-tonal repertoire. Prepares students for additional graduate courses in music theory; as such, it should be taken in the student’s first year of study. Required of all DMA candidates. 

Survey of post-tonal analytical techniques and repertoire. 

This course explores analytical methods that inform performance decisions. Special attention is given to theories of form and gesture, and repertoire will mostly be drawn from the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Description coming soon!

Pre-requisite: MUS 4745

Advanced techniques in digital sound synthesis and composition; analysis/resynthesis techniques, granular synthesis, physical modeling, interactive computer music performance and algorithmic composition using computers; survey of representative music from the genre.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of quantitative research methods as applied to the field of music education. Topics include research design, measurement, statistical analysis, and data interpretation, with a focus on empirical approaches to investigating issues in music teaching and learning. Students will engage with experimental and quasi-experimental designs, survey methods, and descriptive and inferential statistics. Using real-world examples from the field of music education, students will learn to formulate research questions, select appropriate methodologies, analyze data using software tools, and effectively communicate research findings.

Offered Every Other Spring Semester; Next Offered Spring 2028

Course Description Coming Soon!

Course Description Coming Soon!

Course Description Coming Soon!

Course description coming soon.