Courses Offered in Spring 2011 (99AY 2S)

A core-course in two semesters for all year-one students. Those who are interested in writing research paper in music are also welcome. In the first semester, we'll be exploring about the what, why and how of music research, in the second, the different sources and resources (literary, notational, audio-visual). We'll be doing a lot of thinking, reading, talking and writing, in and out of the classroom. An important companion throughout our journey will be the computer and the Internet. Our aim is to train ourself to be a modern-day musician-scholar, who can make music and make sense of music cleverly and critically. Concrete "product" at the end of the semester will be a mini-conference and an anthology of selected written work. Reading assignments for composers and musicologists will cover a broad range of topics such as composition, opera, popular music, music theory and technology.

The Seminar in Performance Practice (or, Performing Practice) is an introductory course on all aspects of the way in which music is and has been performed, with special emphasis on the importance of a historical awareness as a pre-requisite for modern performers. In this comprehensive study there is no limitation on the kinds of approach to solving interpretational problems, and the basis of the course is to help students reach for a true understanding of the work he or she performs. The study will require a wide range of reading from historical treatises, critical writings, to present-day discussion on interpretational issues. Actual music will be used for performance studies, and where possible, discography will aid our perspective on the original instrument sound and the various interpretive styles. Students are encouraged, last but not least, to gain first hand experience if at all possible, on some period instruments for important references.

A writing seminar where individual projects are presented and discussed, complemented by readings in theoretical and methodological literature on musicological research and writing. The aim is to help each other to be a more experienced and critical writer of academic paper. The end "product" for each participant will be a revised and improved paper (oral and written). A mini-conference and an anthology of selected paper are planned.