SYLLABUS FOR MUS 450

SONG LITERATURE I

Fall 2000

Course Description

Prerequisite: junior or senior standing

A survey of solo repertoire from French and German composers, this course emphasizes style and interpretation. 2 credit hours. Offered fall semester of even-numbered years.

Rationale

This course is appropriate at Mississippi College as part of the degree requirements for the Vocal Performance Major. Church Music majors with a vocal emphasis may choose this course or its companion course MUS 451. Composition majors and students seeking a B.A. in music may choose this course as one of their literature requirements. The course provides the opportunity to gain a knowledge and understanding of German Lieder and French mélodie through an examination of the respective literature, the composers, and the poets of each genre, and thus offers intellectual development and cultural enrichment. As an upper-level course, it serves to reinforce, to unify, and to make practical application of other music courses and also helps to create a continuum with university core subjects such as literature and foreign languages.

Objective

The student should be able to identify specific songs, to recognize general song-writing characteristics (aurally and visually), and to discuss interpretation, historical facts, musical development and related aspects of each genre and individual composers.

Academic Integrity

The student is expected to demonstrate academic integrity according to the statements found in the 2000-2001 Mississippi College General Bulletin on p. 49 under Honesty. Failure to comply earns the grade of zero in the violated work.

Course Outline

I. General Elements of Style: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Accompaniment, Text, Form

II. German Lieder

A. Poets: Goethe, Heine, Müller, Eichendorff, Rückert, Möricke

B. Early Composers: Berlin Schools, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Loewe

C. Major Composers: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Strauss

D. Others Composers: Mendelssohn, Liszt, Franz, Schoenberg, Berg

III. French Mélodie

A. Poets: Hugo, Gautier, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Apollinaire

B. Early Composers: Berlioz, Gounod. Franck, Bizet, Chabrier

C. Major Composers: Fauré, Duparc, Chausson, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc

D. Others Composers: Satie, Roussel, Hahn

Procedure

The primary method of instruction is class lecture coupled with listening and score examination.

Assignments

As instructed in the class schedule according to date dues and specific explanations, the following practices are required:

1. Read from the text.

2. Utilizing the recordings on reserve in the Learning Resource Center of the MC library, prepare for weekly test which involve aural identification of and light research on eight to twelve songs.

3. Formulate an annotated bibliography of musical scores and related sources.

4.Write and orally present to the class summaries of two articles.

5. Create a recital program of Art Songs.

6. Prepare for unit examinations.

7. If the opportunity arises, attend as a class and individually critique off-campus song

recitals.

Text

Kimball, Carol. Song: A Guide to Style and Literature. Seattle: Pst...Inc., 1996.

Evaluation

Grades for written assignments will be based on two parts: (1) content (50%) and (2) structure, grammar, and spelling (50%). Weekly listening tests, written assignments, and oral presentations will be equally averaged for 70% of the semester grade. Three unit tests (two scheduled within the semester and one at the time of the final exam) will comprise the remaining 30% of the semester grade. Approximately 15% of the material on the second unit test will be based on the material from the first unit of study. Likewise, approximately 30% of the third unit test will be based on the material from the first two units of study. Any test missed, any portion of a test missed, or any assignment not submitted as required in the class schedule without just and verifiable cause will be recorded as a zero. Grading scale: A=100-94; B=93-85; C=84-75; D=74-70; F=69 and below.

Attendance

In addition to the policies concerning class attendance and absence appeal found in the 2000-2001 Mississippi College General Bulletin on pp. 46-47 under Attendance, the following guidelines will apply. The student is responsible for all material missed during an absence. Only in cases of personal emergency or illness which can be verified by the school nurse will a student be allowed to turn in a late assignment or make up a test. Notification prior to such an absence is expected when feasible. If a make-up test becomes necessary, unless the student has made prior arrangements with the instructor to take the test at an earlier date, the student may be allowed to take it at the end of the semester just prior to DEAD DAYS at a time designated by the instructor.

Any student who questions the semester grade may appeal according to the policy in the 2000-2001 Mississippi College General Bulletin in p. 43 under Grade Correction/Appeal.

Information concerning study skills and tutorial assistance may be obtained from the Counseling and Career Development Center located in Lowrey Hall, room 101.

Instructor: Nell Adams. Please call me if you need me. Office:925-3924. Home: 924-0289