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!

DMA students engage in a comprehensive study of vocal repertoire and pedagogy. In MUS 9758, students analyze their complete repertoire of art song, oratorio, and opera to identify strengths and gaps, with additional repertoire assigned to ensure balance and breadth. MUS 9758 focuses on German Lieder and French Mélodie, while MUS 9759 explores American/British Art Song, Russian, Spanish, and a specialized area of the student’s choice (e.g., Chinese or Korean song). Each semester’s curriculum includes 30 detailed class sessions with lectures, demonstrations, listening assignments, student presentations, and performance components. Students create syllabi, lecture notes, and curated listening and performance lists for each topic. These courses are typically taken with the student’s major professor and coincide with weekly vocal coachings on the assigned repertoire.

DMA students engage in a comprehensive study of vocal repertoire and pedagogy. In MUS 9758, students analyze their complete repertoire of art song, oratorio, and opera to identify strengths and gaps, with additional repertoire assigned to ensure balance and breadth. MUS 9758 focuses on German Lieder and French Mélodie, while MUS 9759 explores American/British Art Song, Russian, Spanish, and a specialized area of the student’s choice (e.g., Chinese or Korean song). Each semester’s curriculum includes 30 detailed class sessions with lectures, demonstrations, listening assignments, student presentations, and performance components. Students create syllabi, lecture notes, and curated listening and performance lists for each topic. These courses are typically taken with the student’s major professor and coincide with weekly vocal coachings on the assigned repertoire.

An introduction to the history of film music. We start the semester with a brief introduction to various theoretical approaches to film music and film sound, learning important terminology along the way. We then launch a historical survey, beginning with the accompaniment of silent film in the early twentieth century and concluding with an examination of present-day film music. An important goal of this course is to acquaint students with the study of primary sources. This includes the direct analysis of film production materials (shot-by-shot diagrams, recording logs, cue sheets) and the interpretation of composer interviews, notes, and essays. Secondary sources will be assigned to provide students with a general introduction to the current state and scope of film music scholarship.

This course explores a variety of nineteenth-century musical practices, examining the styles, genres, forms, and musicians that have been considered—in at least some sense of the term—“Romantic.” Our focus is the interaction of Italian, German, French, and Russian musical traditions, though our journey also includes detours to England, the United States, Norway, Spain, and Bohemia. We concentrate on some of the most popular genres of the century—symphony (or symphonic poem), opera, and piano music—with briefer considerations of song, chamber music, concerto, ballet, and oratorio. Another important component of this course is the examination and interpretation of primary sources, particularly historical essays on aesthetics, criticism, and the diaries and travelogues of musicians. We will supplement these sources with recent historical and analytical studies by leading musicologists and theorists. 

Course description coming soon.

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.