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Fall 2008

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Last update 10/25/2009

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MUSIC CS 102, Section 2 EC # 35204
MUSICAL VARIATION: AN APPROACH THROUGH ICONOGRAPHY

This course adopts a new approach toward understanding the aesthetics of 20th-century variation in music. Its unique road to doing this is the ancient picture writing (or glyphs) of the classic Maya. The more pedestrian purpose of the course is to fully equip the student for the "continuous variation" part of the music jury requirements. Far more importantly, thinking and writing music this way serves to acquaint students with one of the 20th-century's hallmark technical procedures.

The course begins with a short analysis of Maya glyphs and their families of variants. Then each student works at creating several short, emblematic ideas in music. He/she also creates their analogs as pictures. It is these musico-picture glyphs that serve as substance for variation over the rest of the quarter. In response to numerous short assignments, each student "composes out" his/her pictorial "icons" and along the way discovers the century's most time-honored transformational procedures.

We compile a class dictionary of musical ideas, along with their "picture versions." The real test comes when students switch working material and keep right on transforming!

The purpose of this course is to orient the student to musical development as currently practiced today. First taught in Spring,1995, the course has evolved through several more offerings and has even benefited from new discoveries in Mayan writing in the interim.

This course is strongly recommended for all CCS Music majors who have not yet completed the Sophomore Jury, and also highly suggested for others. The course is also open to L&S Music majors. Assignments may be executed both with traditional pencil/paper or in graphic arts/music software.




Instructor(s): Jeremy Haladyna
Time(s): Monday and Wednesday, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Place(s): Old Little Theatre, Rm. 154


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