麻豆AV

I. History (2 hours)

A. Write one essay to be chosen from a list of topics, to test knowledge of significant compositions, composers,聽historical trends, etc., from 1600 to the present. Topics build on answers to questions found at the end of chapters in texts such as Grout, Burkholder and Palisca鈥檚 A History of Western Music.聽Example questions:

1. Discuss the interaction of drama and musical form in the operas of Richard Wagner.
2. Discuss approaches to sonata form in the 19th century; include examples from the literature for orchestra聽and for piano and/or chamber music.
3. Discuss the interaction of text and form in the Lieder of Clara Wieck Schumann.
4. Discuss the origins, evolution and main characteristics of the music of a post-tonal composer of your choice; cite specific examples whenever possible.
5. Compare Haydn and Mozart as innovators.

B.聽Identification of musical excerpts (scores will be provided) to test knowledge of historical and stylistic trends. Example question:

• Briefly discuss the following excerpts. 聽Suggest a composer, genre and date of composition for each, giving reasons for your answer. 聽Where possible, indicate the probable form or approach to form in the excerpt, and identify where in the form the excerpt comes.聽
  1. A passage from Messiaen鈥檚 Quatuor pour la fin du temps.
  2. A passage from a Beethoven symphony.
  3. A motet by Josquin.
  4. A passage from a tenor aria from Verdi鈥檚 Aida.

II. Form and Analysis (2 hours)

A. The 19th-century analysis exam [1 hour] is an analysis of a large-scale form (usually one movement of a sonata), with discussion of its normative and non-normative aspects (as defined in Part IV of Caplin, Classical Form) and its motivic materials, as well as identification of chromatic harmonies as presented in Chs. 26-31 of Aldwell/Schachter/Cadwallader, Harmony and Voice Leading or a similar theory textbook (applied chords, extended and altered chords, Neapolitan sixth chords, and augmented sixth chords). 聽The chapters include relevant exercises.聽 Example question:

• Johannes Brahms, Sonata for clarinet and piano in F minor, op. 120 no. 1, mvt. 1 ():
  1. Keys, cadences, harmony:聽Annotate the score, using the symbols you are used to, of the聽following two passages: mm. 1-24 and 77-89. Label all cadences and clearly indicate any modulations.聽
  2. Form:聽Answer the following questions pertaining to the form:
     1. In what measure does the main theme end? Why?
     2. What are the boundaries of the transition?
     3. In what measure does the subordinate theme group begin? Why?
     4. To what extent does the tonal organization of the subordinate theme group conform to Classical norms聽(i.e., the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven)?
     5. What is unusual about the tonal organization of the subordinate theme group in relation to聽Classical norms?
     6. In what measure does the recapitulation begin? Why?
     7. To what extent does the tonal organization of the recapitulation conform to Classical norms?
     8. What is unusual about the tonal organization of the recapitulation in relation to Classical norms?

B. The post-tonal analysis exam is a consideration of the pitch structures in a work, using set theory or twelve-tone theory where appropriate, discussion of motivic relationships, and structural shifts in rhythm, texture, register and timbre. 聽 Chs. 1, 3, 7 and 10 of Roig-Francoli, Understanding Post-Tonal Music are recommended for study and include sample questions.聽Example question:

• Charles Ives, 鈥淭he Cage鈥� ():
  1. Analyze the pitch structures within the work, their potential for combinatorial and complement聽relationships, and the realization of such relationships, and/or lack thereof.
  2. Discuss the phrase structure, rhythmic organization, texture within the piano part, relationship of piano and vocal parts, and use of register.
  3. How do the musical elements discussed above relate to the title or text of the song?
  4. Comment on which aspects of this song are typical of Ives鈥� compositional oeuvre, and which are not.

III. Counterpoint (2 hours)

Parts A and B (description and examples):聽 music_theory_graduate_placement_exam_samples_counterpoint_2016.pdf

IV. Musicianship (15 minutes).

The musicianship placement exam is scheduled directly with the Music Theory Area Chair in September.聽

Parts A and B (description and examples):聽 music_theory_graduate_placement_exam_samples_musicianship_2016.pdf

16th-Century Analysis: 聽

• Mark Everist, ed. 聽Music Before 1600. 聽Models of Musical Analysis. 聽Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.聽

19th-Century Analysis:

• E. Aldwell, C. Schachter, and A. Cadwallader, Harmony and Voice Leading, 4th ed., chaps. 28-33 S.
• Kostka, D. Payne, and B. Almen, Tonal Harmony, 7th ed., chaps. 21-25聽
• William Caplin. 聽Analyzing Classical Form. 聽New York: Oxford University Press, May 2013.聽

20th-Century Analysis:聽

• Joel Lester. 聽Analytic Approaches to Twentieth-Century Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 1989.聽
• Joseph N. Straus. 聽Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004.
• Miguel Roig-Francoli. 聽Understanding Post-Tonal Music. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.聽

Modal Counterpoint: 聽

• Peter Schubert. 聽Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999

Tonal Counterpoint: 聽

• Peter Schubert and Christoph Neidh枚fer. Baroque Counterpoint. Prentice Hall, 2006.

Music History:聽

• Donald Grout and Claude Palisca. 聽A History of Western Music, sixth edition. 聽New York: Norton, 2001.
• Claude Palisca. 聽Norton Anthology of Western Music, fourth edition. New York: Norton, 2001. (Other editions are also fine).聽