2008–2009 Music Courses
The Music program is structured to integrate theory and practice. Students select a combination of component courses that together constitute one full course (called a Music Third). A minimal Music Third includes four components:
- Individual instruction (instrumental performance, composition, or voice), the central area of study around which the rest of the program is planned;
- Theory and/or history (see requirements below);
- A performance ensemble (see area requirements below);
- Concert attendance/Music Tuesdays requirements (see below).
The student, in consultation with the faculty, plans the Music program best suited to his or her needs and interests. Advanced students may, with faculty consent, elect to take two-thirds of their course study in music.
Seminars
The following seminars with conferences are offered to the College community and constitute one-third of a student’s program. Studies in Music and Culture may also be taken as a component in a Music Third. (See Components below for specific requirements.)
First-Year Studies: Music and Technology
Level: FYS
Semester: FYS
This course will explore the effects that advancements in technology have on music. We will study the development of musical instruments, the recording studio, the advent of computers and synthesizers, as well as the impact that these areas have on contemporary music. Some of the topics to be covered will include the following: basic elements and fundamentals of music; principles of acoustics as related to music and electronics; an overview of Western music from its origins through contemporary styles, including jazz, rock, pop and music for other media such as dance, film, and theatre. Some other questions to be considered are as follows: How are composers and performers inspired by new developments in instrument making and technology? How has technology changed the course of music for the listener? What effect has technology had on music education? Students will select conference projects based on their particular interests and from a variety of perspectives, including, but not limited to, world history, musical genre, specific periods of music history, types of instruments, and developments in technology. Course work will include listening assignments, electronic and recording studio demonstrations, guest lectures, and concert attendance.
Mozart and the Enlightenment
Level: Open
Semester: Spring
This course will examine Mozart’s music and life in the context of the ideals and conflicts of the Enlightenment. The first great freelance composer, Mozart transcended the constraints of his early fame as a child prodigy and freed himself, against great odds, from an oppressive court and family to write the most challenging music of the late eighteenth century. His operas deal with various challenges to authority (political, social, and sexual), and his instrumental music seems to embody at various points (and sometimes at once) a classical sense of decorum, an undercurrent of romanticism, and a deep humanism. We will examine multiple aspects of Mozart’s music and ask how and why his music has affected listeners so profoundly and for so long. Examples of all the main genres in which he composed will be studied: symphonies, chamber music, concertos, serenades, and operas. Study of the operas will include viewings and will consider aspects of staging and performance. A background in music theory or the ability to read music is not required for this course.
Studies in Music and Culture
Semester: Year
This yearlong course provides students with an introduction to ethnomusicology, the study of the interactive relationship between musical and cultural practices. Selected case studies will introduce students to world musical styles through specific communities’ aesthetic-theoretical models and social histories, as well as considering the contemporary implications of music as it is imbricated in (and constitutive of) intercultural exchange. The first semester will cover many canonical sites of ethnomusicological analysis, including the Native Americas, Africa, Indonesia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Through close readings of classic ethnographies, we will examine how different ethnomusicological methods have been employed to analyze these traditions, and how those interpretive strategies are relevant to us today. The second semester will focus on several different traditional and contemporary African musical practices, as well documenting historical movements and modern developments throughout the black Atlantic diaspora, including North America, the Caribbean, and South America. We will not stop at considering contemporary and traditional arts as mere reflections of local culture, but instead learn how music actually produces culture; we will explore how musical performance and listening construct social relationships through their vital roles in everyday life. Participation in Gamelan Angklung Chandra Buana (fall term) is strongly recommended. Participation in African Percussion Ensemble (spring term) is optional.
Components
Components
Kirsten Agresta, Glenn Alexander, William Anderson, Chester Biscardi, Susannah Chapman, Judith Davidoff, Kermit Driscoll, Oren Fader, Donald Friedman, Martin Goldray, Hilda Harris, Mark Helias, Robert Ingliss, Bari Mort, Patrick Muchmore, Tara Helen O'Connor, Eddye Pierce-Young, Wayne Sanders, La-Rose Saxon, Carsten Schmidt, Sungrai Sohn, Jean Wentworth, Cal Wiersma, Matthew Wilson, Daniel Wohl, John A. Yannelli, Jonathan Yates, Thomas Young
Semester: Year
Individual instruction. Arranged by audition with the following members of the music faculty and affiliate artists:
Clarinet—Mr. Begelman
Composition—Mr. Biscardi, Mr. Muchmore, Mr. Wohl, Mr. Yannelli
Conducting—Mr. Yates
Contrabass—Mr. Helias
Flute—Mr. Crawford
Guitar—Mr. Alexander (jazz), Mr. Anderson (acoustic), Mr. Driscoll (jazz bass), Ms. Getter (jazz)
Harp—Ms. Agresta
Harpsichord—Mr. Schmidt
Percussion—Mr. Wilson
Piano—Mr. Biscardi, Mr. Friedman (jazz), Mr. Goldray, Ms. Mort, Mr. Schmidt, Ms. Wentworth
Saxophone—Mr. Magnuson
Violin—Mr. Sohn
Viols—Ms. Davidoff
Voice—Ms. Harris, Ms. Pierce-Young, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Saxon (spring), Mr. Young (fall)
With the following members of the Cygnus Ensemble, where appropriate:
Flute—Ms. O’Connor
Oboe and English horn—Mr. Ingliss
Violin—Mr. Wiersma
Violoncello—Ms. Chapman
Guitar, Banjo, and Mandolin—Mr. Anderson, Mr. Fader
The director of the Music program will arrange all other instrumental study with the affiliate artist faculty who teach off campus. In all cases, individual instruction involves consultation with members of the faculty and/or the director of the Music program. Auditions for all instruments, including voice, during the registration period are for placement purposes only. Voice juries at the end of the year evaluate each student’s progress and goals.
Theory and Composition Program
Theory I, Theory II, and Advanced Theory, including their aural skills and historical studies corollaries, make up a required theory sequence that must be followed by all music students unless they prove their proficiency in a given area; entry level to be determined by diagnostic exam.
Theory I: Materials of Music
Martin Goldray, Patrick Muchmore
Semester: Year
This introductory course will meet twice each week (two one-and-a-half-hour sessions). We will study elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, intensity, and timbre, and we will see how they combine in various musical structures and how these structures communicate. Studies will include notation and ear training, as well as theoretical exercises, rudimentary analyses, and the study of repertoire from various eras of Western music. Hearing and Singing is taken concurrently with this course. This course is a prerequisite to the Theory II and Advanced Theory sequence.
Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition
Semester: Year
As a skill-building course in the language of tonal music, this course covers diatonic harmony and voice leading, elementary counterpoint, and simple forms. Students will develop an understanding through part writing, analysis, and composition. The last forty-five minutes of this course will be devoted to Basic Aural Skills, tackling written theory concepts from an aural perspective. We will develop the ability to sing and identify intervals and sonorities; perform and transcribe rhythm in simple and compound meters; sing melodies at sight; and dictate melodies and harmonic progressions—all of which add dimension and scope to written theory. This portion of the course develops the “inner” ear, a necessary foil for the study of composition, and an indispensable tool for any musician. The materials of this course are prerequisite to any Advanced Theory course.
Note about Advanced Theory Courses
At least one of the following Advanced Theory courses is required after Theory II. Note: With Advanced Theory, students are required to take either a yearlong or two semester-long seminars in music history, which include Concerto, The Idea of a New Style, Jazz History, Studies in Music and Culture, Mozart and Beethoven: Music from 1720-1810 (fall), Debussy and the French School (spring), and Schubert (fall).
Advanced Theory: Advanced Tonal Theory and Composition
Semester: Year
This course will discuss the fundamentals of chromatic harmony and will build on diatonic skills established in Theory II. Students will learn tools in order to enhance their knowledge of chord progressions and musical form. They will also acquire knowledge of essential techniques, such as counterpoint, modulation, mixture, and basic twentieth-century practices. The course will emphasize keyboard, writing, and listening skills, as well as score analysis.
Advanced Theory: Concerto
Semester: Year
This analysis course will focus on the development of the instrumental solo concerto from the early eighteenth century to the early twenty-first. In addition to the detailed study of seminal works ranging from Vivaldi and J. S. Bach to Ligeti and John Adams, we will also discuss the origins of the genre and place the concerto’s evolution in a broader historical and societal context. The list of works to study will reflect the particular interests of seminar participants, who are encouraged to bring to class repertoire that they may be working on in their applied lessons. We will also consider performance practices associated with the works studied. Completion of the required theory sequence (or equivalent) is a prerequisite for this course.
Advanced Theory: Jazz Theory and Harmony I
Semester: Year
This course will study the building blocks and concepts of jazz theory, harmony, and rhythm. This will include the study of the standard modes and scales as well as the use of melodic and harmonic minor scales and their respective modals systems. It will include the study and application of diminished and augmented scales and their role in harmonic progression, particularly the diminished chord as a parental structure. An in-depth study will be given to harmony and harmonic progression through analysis and memorization of triads, extensions, and alterations as well as substitute chords, reharmonization, and back cycling. We will look at polytonality and the superposition of various hybrid chords over different bass tones and other harmonic structures. We will study and apply all of the above to their characteristic and stylistic genres including bebop, modal, free, and progressive jazz. The study of rhythm, which is possibly the single most important aspect of jazz, will be a primary focus as well. We will also use composition as a way to absorb and truly understand the concepts discussed. Theory II is a prerequisite.
Advanced Theory: Jazz Theory and Harmony II
Semester: Year
Advanced Theory: Jazz Theory and Harmony II will be a continuation of Level I with more in-depth study and application of the same concepts and an emphasis placed on the actual performance of the material. This course will also introduce new concepts in slash chord harmony, superposition of pentatonics as both harmonic structures as well as scales for improvisation, back cycling on blues, rhythm changes and standards, extensive chord substitution, reharmonization, exploring Coltrane changes, etc.
Advanced Theory: Twentieth-Century Theoretical Approaches: Post-Tonal and Rock Music
Semester: Year
This course will be an examination of various theoretical approaches to music of the twentieth century, including post-tonal, serial, textural, minimalist, and pop/rock music. Our primary text will be Joseph Straus’s Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, but we will also explore other relevant texts, including scores and recordings of the works themselves. This course will include study of the music of Schoenberg, Webern, Pink Floyd, Ligeti, Bartók, Reich, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Corigliano, and Del Tredici, among others. Open to students who have successfully completed Theory II.
Hearing and Singing
Semester: Year
This course focuses on developing fluency with the rudiments of music. It is the required aural corollary to Theory I: Materials of Music. As students begin to explore the fundamental concepts of written theory—reading notes on the staff, interpreting rhythm—Hearing and Singing works to translate these sights into sounds. The use of solfège helps in this process as ear, mind, and voice begin to understand the relationship between the pitches of the scale. Rhythm drills help solidify a sense of rhythm and a familiarity with rhythm patterns. In-class chorale singing supports this process. All incoming students will take a diagnostic test to determine placement. Those students who demonstrate proficiency for this subject may advance directly into Basic Aural Skills.
Basic Aural Skills
Semester: Year
The last forty-five minutes of Theory II:Basic Tonal Theory and Composition will be devoted to Basic Aural Skills, tackling written theory concepts from an aural perspective. We will develop the ability to sing and identify intervals and sonorities; perform and transcribe rhythm in simple and compound meters; sing melodies at sight; and dictate melodies and harmonic progressions—all of which add dimension and scope to written theory. This portion of the course develops the “inner” ear, a necessary foil for the study of composition, and an indispensable tool for any musician. This course may be taken by those students who demonstrate proficiency for Hearing and Singing.
Intermediate Aural Skills
Semester: Year
This course continues to support the cooperation of senses—ear, eye, and voice—initiated in Hearing and Singing and the Basic Aural Skills part of Theory II. The primary emphasis of this course is harmony. This is manifest in the transcription of multipart writing and in a broadening of harmonic language: chromatic harmonies, including a full-range of seventh chords; chromatically altered chords; secondary dominants; and modulation. This will be realized in the singing performed in class, harmonic dictations, and contextual listening exercises. Furthermore, the study of rhythm will take on more challenging aspects incorporating multiple parts. It is recommended, but not required, that this course be taken in conjunction with Advanced Theory: Advanced Tonal Theory and Composition and may be taken by any student who has completed the required theory sequence.
Advanced Aural Skills
Semester: Year
This class meets once a week. Topics covered range from atonal music, to irregular meters, to modes, to listening for musical form. There is a keyboard component as well. Permission is required.
Keyboard Lab
Semester: Year
This course is designed to accommodate beginner students who elect to study the piano as part of a music “split” (e.g., a full lesson in voice with a half lesson in piano). This instruction takes place in a group setting, with eight keyboard stations and one master station. Students will be introduced to elementary keyboard technique and simple piano pieces. No audition is required.
Sight Reading for Instrumentalists
Semester: Year
This course is open to all instrumentalists who are interested in developing techniques to improve their sight-reading skills. Groups from duets to quintets will be formed according to level and will meet once a week. A sight-reading “performance” will be held at the end of each semester.
Orchestration
Semester: Spring
This course offers an in-depth study of individual orchestral instruments, both in their standard practices and extended techniques. We will discuss their uses in solo and chamber ensemble settings, as well as in each of the various orchestral choirs and the orchestra as a whole. Through original compositions and arrangements, students will learn by emulating representative scores by significant composers, such as Berlioz, Ravel, Xenakis, and Morricone, spanning various eras and styles, while aiming to adapt this knowledge to suit their own particular voices. Performers will be invited periodically to demonstrate on their instruments and read through student compositions, and the Sarah Lawrence Orchestra will read student compositions and orchestrations once a term.
Twentieth-Century Compositional Techniques
Semester: Year
This course is an introduction to the art of composition with a focus on twentieth-century techniques. We will discuss recent compositional techniques and philosophies as well as issues in orchestration and notation. We will explore significant works by a wide variety of major twentieth-century composers, such as Bartók, Berio, Cage, Carter, Debussy, Ligeti, and Stravinsky, as well as recent compositions by established and emerging composers across the world. These will serve as models for original student compositions. It is expected that the students will develop a fluency in using either Finale or Sibelius.
Music Technology
Studio for Electronic Music and Experimental Sound
Semester: Year
The Sarah Lawrence Electronic Music Studio is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the instruction and development of electronic music composition. The studio contains the latest in digital audio hardware and software for synthesis, recording, and signal processing, along with a full complement of vintage analog synthesizers and tape machines. Beginning students will start with an introduction to the equipment, basic acoustics, principles of studio recording, and a historical overview of the medium. Once students have acquired a certain level of proficiency with the equipment and material—usually by the second semester—focus will be on preparing compositions that will be heard in concerts of electronic music, student composers’ concerts, and music workshops.
Studio for Electronic Music and Experimental Sound II and III
Semester: Year
Students who have successfully completed the beginning course and wish to continue their study of electronic music may continue with the intermediate and advanced courses in electronic music. The intermediate Studio for Electronic Music focuses on digital audio workstations using such programs as Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Logic, and others. Students work on individual projects and present material in class for discussion and critique. Students may also be assigned or elect to work on collaborative projects involving students from dance, theatre, and film. The advanced Studio for Electronic Music continues with the above topics and includes various types of synthesizer architecture, working in surround sound environments, and developing software and experimental compositional techniques. Students create projects for presentation in various performance venues throughout the year.
By permission only.
Sound and Music for the Theatre I
Semester: Year
Open to theatre and music students, this course deals with the technical and creative aspects of sound and music production for theatre. Hands-on training and practical application using facilities in the electronic music studio as well as sound equipment from the various theatre spaces will be emphasized. Drawing from each semester’s theatre performance schedule, students will be assigned one or more productions for which they will serve as sound designers, assistant sound designers, or composers. Composition students who normally would not consider writing for other media may find this work both challenging and useful in stimulating new musical ideas. No previous background in music is necessary. Topics to be covered include basic acoustics, use of studio equipment, sound reinforcement techniques, using sound effects, creating and embellishing special effects, creating sound and music collages, incidental music from existing resources, and composing original music.
Music History
Survey of Western Music
Semester: Year
A chronological survey of Western art music from the Middle Ages to the present day. The fall semester will begin with an introductory section on the views of the ancient Greeks toward music and music theory and then continue through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque, ending with the music of Bach and Handel. The spring semester will begin with the transition to the classical style in the eighteenth century and proceed through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, concluding with an overview of the musical languages of today. Ability to read music is required. Required for all students enrolled in Theory II.
Concerto
Semester: Year
Please see course description above under the Advanced Theory listing. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students (see above).
The Idea of a New Style
Semester: Year
This course is designed to acquaint the student with significant compositions of the Western musical tradition from the Middle Ages to the present, exploring the cyclical nature of music that mirrors philosophical and theoretical ideas in ancient Greece and how it appears every three hundred years: the Ars nova of the fourteenth century, Le nuove musiche of the seventeenth century, and the New Music of the twentieth century and beyond. The course involves participation in listening, reading, and discussion, including occasional quizzes about and/or written summaries of historical periods. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students.
Mozart and Beethoven: Music from 1720-1810
Semester: Fall
The classical style especially manifested in the music of “divine” Mozart is complemented and sharply opposed by his younger contemporary, Beethoven, and their lives were scarcely more distant from each other than was the Enlightenment from the events of 1789 and the world of Napoleon. We will touch on the source of the classical manner in the reactions of minor figures such as Sammartini, Quantz, and the Bach sons to the learned style of J. S. Bach, and then explore the operatic style that made Mozart possible. His mature works will then be set alongside both the more genteel early period and the combative and partly romantic middle style of Beethoven. Readings in cultural history will be joined by biographical and music score study. Some experience in music theory is necessary and general historical interest is desirable for enrollment in this course. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students.
Debussy and the French School
Semester: Spring
Debussy’s influence on today’s music is incalculable. He has been called the only “universal” French composer, and he is very likely also the greatest. This course will deal with the ambience of the Second Empire, from which he emerged, and with Debussy’s relationships to the impressionist, symbolist, and decadent aesthetics. Allowing for earlier influences, including the contradictory effects of Wagner, we will explore Debussy’s revolutionary musical language in detail, with many references to older and younger contemporaries such as Massenet, Saint-Saëns, Franck, Satie, Ravel, and the group known as Les Six. For approach and qualifications, see Mozart and Beethoven: Music from 1720 to 1810. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students.
Schubert
Semester: Fall
This course will offer an opportunity to study in detail some of Schubert’s extraordinary contributions to the genres important in his time. We will examine a broad cross-section of his music, including selections from his songs, song cycles, symphonies, masses, operas, piano sonatas and impromptus, as well chamber music compositions. Readings in biography, intellectual history, analysis, and literary criticism will help us to place his music in a larger context. Since analytical work is integral to this course, participants will need to have completed the required theory sequence or have a comparable background in music theory. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students.
Jazz History
Semester: Year
Jazz music of all styles and periods will be listened to, analyzed, and discussed. Emphasis will be placed on instrumental styles and performance techniques that have evolved in the performance of jazz. Skills in listening to and enjoying some of the finer points of the music will be enhanced by the study of elements such as form, phrasing, instrumentation, instrumental technique, and style. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of modern jazz and its relationship to older styles. Some topics: Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, roots and development of the Big Band sound, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, lineage of pianists, horn players, evolution of the rhythm section, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, bebop, cool jazz, jazz of the 60’s and 70’s, fusion and jazz rock, jazz of the 80’s, and modern trends. The crossover of jazz into other styles of modern music, such as rock and R & B, will be discussed, as will be the influence that modern concert music and world music have had on jazz styles. This is a two-semester course; however, it will be possible to enter in the second semester. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students.
Studies in Music and Culture
Semester: Year
Please see course description above under the listing of full courses—seminars with conferences—that constitute one-third of a student’s total program. Gamelan Angklung Chandra Buana (fall term) is required; African Percussion Ensemble (spring term) is optional. This is one of the component courses required for all Advanced Theory students (see above) and is also open to students who have completed the theory sequence.
Performance Courses
All performance courses listed here are open to all members of the Sarah Lawrence community with permission of the instructor.Choral Ensembles
Chamber Choir
Semester: Year
Early madrigals and motets and contemporary works especially suited to a small number of voices will form the body of this group’s repertoire. The ensemble will perform winter and spring concerts. Chamber Choir meets once a week. Students may qualify for membership in the Chamber Choir by audition.
Women’s Vocal Ensemble
Semester: Year
Repertoire may include both accompanied and a cappella works from the Renaissance to the contemporary, specifically composed for women’s chorus. The ensemble will perform winter and spring concerts. Women’s Vocal Ensemble meets once a week. Students may qualify for membership in this ensemble by audition.
Jazz Studies
The Blues Ensemble
Semester: Year
This performance ensemble is geared toward learning and performing various traditional as well as hybrid styles of blues music. The blues, like jazz, is purely an American art form. Students will learn and investigate Delta Blues, performing songs by Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Skip James, and others; as well as Texas Country Blues by originators such as Blind Lemon Jefferson; and Chicago Blues, beginning with Big Bill Broonzy and moving up through Howlin’ Wolf and Buddy Guy. Students will also learn songs and stylings by Muddy Waters, Albert King, and B. B. King and how they influenced modern blues men such as Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughn and pioneer rockers such as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix. By audition only.
Jazz Composition and Arranging
Semester: Year
This hands-on course in jazz composition and arranging will explore the creative process from brainstorming through development and effective expression of ideas. Writing for a variety of configurations ranging from jazz combo to big band, we will examine the roles of compositional devices and orchestral elements.
Jazz Colloquium
Semester: Year
This ensemble will meet weekly to rehearse and perform a wide variety of modern jazz music and other related styles. Repertoire in the past has included works by composers Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock as well as some rock, Motown, and blues. All instruments are welcome; an audition is required.
Jazz Performance and Improvisation Workshop
Semester: Year
This course is intended for all instrumentalists and will provide a hands-on study of topics relating to the performance of jazz music. The class will meet as an ensemble, but the focus will not be on rehearsing repertoire and giving concerts. Instead, students will focus on improving jazz playing by applying the topic at hand directly to instruments, and immediate feedback on the performance will be given. The workshop environment will allow students to experiment with new techniques as they develop their sound. Topics include jazz chord/scale theory; extensions of traditional tonal harmony; altered chords; modes; scales; improvising on chord changes; analyzing a chord progression or tune; analysis of form; performance and style study, including swing, Latin, jazz-rock, and ballade styles; and ensemble technique. The format can be adapted to varying instrumentation and levels of proficiency. A placement audition is required.
Jazz Vocal Ensemble
Semester: Year
No longer do vocalists need to share valuable time with those wanting to focus primarily on instrumental jazz and vice versa. This ensemble will be dedicated to providing a performance-oriented environment for the aspiring jazz vocalist. We will mostly concentrate on picking material from the standard jazz repertoire. Vocalists will get an opportunity to work on arrangements, interpretation, delivery, phrasing, and intonation in a realistic situation with a live rhythm section and soloists. They will learn how to work with, give direction to, and get what they need from the rhythm section. The ensemble will provide an environment to learn to hear forms and changes and also work on vocal improvisation if students so choose. This will not only give students an opportunity to work on singing solo or lead vocals, but also to work with other vocalists in singing backup or harmony vocals for and with each other. This will also serve as a great opportunity for instrumentalists to learn the true art of accompanying the jazz vocalist, which will prove to be a valuable experience in preparing for a career as a professional musician. By audition.
Vocal Studies
Jazz Vocal Seminar
Semester: Fall
An exploration of the relationship between melody, harmony, rhythm, text, style, and how these elements can be combined and manipulated to create meaning and beauty. A significant level of vocal development will be expected and required. Audition necessary for consideration.
Diction for Singers
Semester: Year
The course intends to discuss the basic rules of pronunciation and articulation for German, French, and Italian as used in lyric diction. Language-specific aspects such as purity of open versus closed vowels, formation of mixed vowels and diphthongs, treatment of single consonants, especially plosives, and consonant clusters will be studied through both spoken and written exercises using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Students will get a chance to experience the languages through analytical listening as well as by being coached in song repertoire and recitatives. The course further intends to deepen the student’s understanding of the three languages by introducing basic aspects of grammar. Required for all Music Thirds in voice, preferably during sophomore year.
Self–Discovery Through Singing
This course will develop the student’s knowledge and awareness of her or his vocal potential through experience in singing. Basic vocal technique will be explored, and individual vocal needs will be addressed. Repertoire will be chosen to enhance the strengths of each student as well as to present vocal challenge.
Seminar in Vocal Performance
Semester: Year
Voice students will gain performance experience by singing repertoire selected in cooperation with the studio instructor. Students will become acquainted with a broader vocal literature perspective through singing in several languages and exploring several historical music periods. Interpretation, diction, and stage deportment will be stressed. During the course of their studies and with permission of their instructor, all Music Thirds in voice are required to take Seminar in Vocal Performance for two semesters. For further information, see Ms. Pierce-Young.
So This Is Opera?
Eddye Pierce-Young, Wayne Sanders
Semester: Year
This is an introductory course in opera production. Open to students enrolled in any performing art (Music, Dance, and Theatre Thirds) as well as to the college community at large. Repertoire will be selected from the standard traditional and contemporary operatic expression in English and Italian languages. There will be one production per year. Attendance is required for every session. Audition required.
Studio Class
Hilda Harris, Eddye Pierce-Young, Wayne Sanders, La-Rose Saxon, Thomas Young
Semester: Year
Studio Class is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. The voice faculty strongly feels that classes in voice for the beginner are supportive and educationally sound ways of approaching individual vocal needs. Placement in this course is determined by audition at the beginning of the year.
Ms. Harris, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Pierce-Young, Mr. Young, Fall Semester
Ms. Saxon, Spring SemesterWorld Music Ensembles and Courses
Gamelan Angklung Chandra Buana
Jonathan King, Nyoman Saptanyana
Semester: Fall
The gamelan is an “orchestra” that includes four-toned metallophones, gongs, drums, and flutes. This gamelan angklung was specially handcrafted in Bali for the College and was named Chandra Bawana, or “Moon Earth,” at its dedication on April 16, 2000, in Reisinger Concert Hall at Sarah Lawrence. Required for all students taking Studies in Music and Culture as a component; strongly recommended for those taking it as a full seminar with conferences. Any interested student may join; no previous experience with music is necessary.
African Percussion Ensemble
Semester: Spring
The African Percussion Ensemble performs music of West Africa on balafons (a type of xylophone) and djembe drums. This ensemble was built especially for Sarah Lawrence College in Guinea in 2006, and its inaugural concert took place on May 3, 2007, on Westlands Lawn. Optional for all student taking Studies in Music and Culture as either a component or a full seminar with conferences. Any interested student may join; no previous experience with music is necessary.
Other Ensembles and Courses
Awareness Through Movement for Musicians
Semester: Year
This course will offer a selection from the thousands of Awareness-Through-Movement lessons developed by Moshe Feldenkrais. The lessons consist of verbal instructions for carefully designed movement sequences. These allow the students to better sense and feel themselves, and thereby develop new and improved organizational patterns. These gentle movements are done in comfortable positions (in lying, sitting, and standing), and many instrumentalists and singers have found them to be hugely helpful in developing greater ease, reducing unwanted tension and performance anxiety, and in preventing injuries. Another benefit is the often increased capacity for learning and, perhaps most important, an increas-ed enjoyment of music making and the creative process. Throughout the year, students will also have the opportunity to work in additional, individualized conferences if they so choose. Open to everyone.
Bluegrass Performance Ensemble
Semester: Spring
Bluegrass music is a twentieth-century amalgam of popular and traditional music styles that coalesced in the 1940’s in the American southeast, emphasizing vocal performance and instrumental improvisation. This ensemble will highlight through performance many of the influences and traditions that bluegrass comprises, including ballads, breakdowns, “brother duets,” gospel quartets, Irish-style medleys, “modal” instrumentals, “old-time” country, popular song, and rhythm and blues, among many possible others. Though experienced players will have plenty of opportunities to improvise, participants need not have played bluegrass before. The ensemble should include fiddle, five-string banjo, steel string acoustic guitar, mandolin, resophonic guitar (Dobro), and upright (double) bass.
Chamber Music
Semester: Year
Various chamber groups—from quartets or even quintets to violin and piano duos—are formed each year depending on the number and variety of qualified instrumentalists who apply. They are weekly coaching sessions. An important part of the program is the chamber music workshop, generally held twice monthly, when all groups meet for performance and discussion of works-in-progress.
Chamber Music Improvisation
Semester: Year
This is an experimental performing ensemble that explores a variety of musical styles and techniques. Composer- performers, vocalists, dancers, and actors are welcome. Two concerts are performed each year. Open to a limited number of students by audition.
Collegium Musicum
Semester: Year
This course is devoted to vocal and instrumental music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Open to music and non-music students. Modern instruments are welcome. Some historical instruments will be available for student use. Private instrumental instruction can be arranged.
Conducting
Semester: Year
A course in the basics of conducting is available to qualified students and is taught on an individual conference basis. Completion of Advanced Theory is required. With consent of instructor.
Evolution of a Performance
Semester: Year
This advanced seminar presents a unique resource designed to help students develop well-informed and inspired performances. The content of this course will be carefully tailored to participants’ interests, needs, abilities, and chosen repertoire. It will include a combination of the following: textual criticism and possible creation of a performance edition; consideration of performance practices, drawing on historical documents and recent scholarship; study of historical instruments (with possible field trips to the Yale and Smithsonian Instrument Collections); review of pertinent analytical techniques and writings; analytical, compositional, and ear-training assignments; readings that explore the cultural, artistic, and emotional worlds of the composers studied; in-class performances and coaching; and discussion of broader philosophical issues relating to authenticity in performance. This course is for accomplished and highly motivated performers who have a theory background commensurate with completion of at least the first semester of Advanced Theory: Advanced Tonal Theory and Composition. It is especially suitable for instrumentalists and singers who are preparing for a recital or performances of major chamber music works. Permission of the instructor is required.
Guitar Class
Semester: Year
This course is for beginning guitar students. Recommendation by the faculty.
Sarah Lawrence Orchestra
Semester: Year
The Sarah Lawrence Orchestra is open to all students as well as to members of the College and Westchester communities by audition. It is required for all instrumentalists taking a Music Third. The orchestra performs at least once each semester. Recent performances have included Stravinsky’s L’histoire du Soldat with dancing and narration, Satie’s film score Entr’acte performed live with a screening of the film, and a concert version of Bernstein’s Candide.
Senior Recital
Semester: Spring
This component offers students the opportunity to share with the larger College community the results of their sustained work in performance study. During the semester of their recital, students will receive additional coaching by their principal teachers. By audition.
Other Components
Concert Attendance Requirement
Semester: Year
The music faculty wants students to have access to a variety of musical experiences. Therefore, all Music Thirds are required to attend five music department-sponsored concerts on campus per semester, including concerts presented by the music faculty and outside professionals that are part of the Concert Series, as well as concerts that are part of Music Tuesdays.
Music Tuesdays
Semester: Year
Required for all Music Thirds. This component consists of various programs including student/faculty town meetings, concert presentations, guest-artists lectures and performances, master classes, and collaborations with other departments and performing arts programs. Meetings, which will take place in Reisinger Concert Hall on Tuesdays from 1:30-3:30 p.m., are open to the community. Concerts that take place on Music Tuesdays will count toward the Concert Attendance requirement. Schedule to be announced each semester.
Residencies and Workshops
The Cygnus Ensemble: Artists-in-Residence
William Anderson, Susannah Chapman, Oren Fader, Robert Ingliss, Tara Helen O'Connor, Cal Wiersma
Semester: Year
The Cygnus Ensemble is a contemporary music ensemble in residence at the College. Along with presenting concerts of new music on the Concert Series, the members of the ensemble work individually with instrumental students and participate in readings of new works by student composers.
Master Class
Semester: Year
A series of concerts and instrumental and vocal seminars as well as lecture/demo presentations of music history, world music, improvisation, jazz, composition, and music technology. Master Classes take place on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in either Reisinger Concert Hall or Marshall Field House Room 1. They are open to the College community.
Music Workshop
Semester: Year
Approximately twice a month, music workshops are held in which a student or student ensemble, with consent of his or her teacher, may participate as performer(s). The College community is welcome to attend. Since the only limitation is that the composition(s) should be fully prepared, these workshops serve as important opportunities for students at all levels to share their playing, singing, or composing work with others and to have a significant way to trace their own development.