This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Listening and Readings

This table lists the music and readings associated with selected class topics.

LEC # TOPICS LISTENING READINGS
1 Introduction

pezzipez. "John Cage - 4'33" by David Tudor." YouTube. September 21, 2006. Accessed March 4, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY

Buy at Amazon Tenney, James. "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion" (1971). Performed by Elisabeth Smalt, and Tobias Liebezeit. Postal Pieces. New World Records, 2004.

Lucier, Alvin. Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra. Rainer Römer, triangle. Berlin, Germany: Algen CD 120, 1998.

Liner notes for Tenney's Postal Pieces, including "Never Having Written a Note for Percussion." (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)

Buy at Amazon Cage, John. "Experimental Music," and "Experimental Music: Doctrine." In Silence. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961, pp. 7-17. ISBN: 9780819560285. [Preview in Google Books]

Two scores discussed in class

Oliveros, Pauline. "Two Sonic Meditations." New York, NY: Smith Publications, 1974.

Stockhausen, Karlheinz. "From the Seven Days." Vienna, Austria: Universal Editions, 1968.

3 Soundwalks Lockwood, Annea. A Sound Map of the Hudson River. Lovely Music CD 2081, 2003.

Liner notes for Lockwood A Sound Map of the Hudson River

Buy at Amazon Schafer, R. Murray. "Notation," "Classification," and "Soundwalks." Chapters 8 and 9 in The Tuning of the World. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977, pp. 212-213. ISBN: 9780771079658.

4 Indian classical music (guest lecture by George Ruckert)

Buy at Amazon Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar. "Chandranandan." in slow and fast tintal. Signature Series. Vol. 1. AMMP, 1990.

Buy at Amazon Khan, Rashid. "Rag Bageshri." in ektal and tintal. Khyal. Moment, 1996.

Handout summarizing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
6

Western classical music

Short in-class listening quiz

Buy at Amazon Perotin. "Sederunt Principes" (12th c.) Perotin. Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier. ECM, 2000.

Buy at Amazon des Prez, Josquin. "Kyrie," and "Gloria." from Missa Ave maris stella (15th c.). Motets & Chansons. Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier. EMI Classics, 1997.

Buy at Amazon Bach, Johann Sebastian. Brandenberg Concerto No. 3, 1st mvmt (1st half of 18th c.). Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music. Decca, 1990.

Buy at Amazon Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Symphony No. 40, 1st mvmt (2nd half of 18th c.). George Szell; Cleveland Orchestra. Sony Classical, 2002. (1956 original recording)

Buy at Amazon Beethoven, Ludwig Van. Symphony No. 3, 1st mvmt (1806). Herbert Von Karajan; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Wagner, Richard. "Prelude," and "Liebestod." from Tristan and Isolde (1860). Overtures & Preludes. Herbert Von Karajan; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon, 1995.

Buy at Amazon Stravinsky, Igor. Part 1 from The Rite of Spring (1913). Esa-Pekka Salonen; Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon, 2006.

Selections from Buy at Amazon Wiess, P., and R. Taruskin. Music in the Western World. New York, NY: Schirmer, 1984. ISBN: 9780028729008.

Ch. 16 "The Emergence of Polyphony"
Ch. 26 "Josquin des Prez in the Eyes of His Contemporaries"
Ch. 70 "Bach's Duties and Obligations at Leipzig"
Ch. 71 "Bach Remembered by His Son"
Ch. 72 "Bach's Obituary"
Ch. 80 "A Side Trip into Aesthetics"
Ch. 91 "Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament"
Ch. 92 "The First Reactions to Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony"
Ch. 108 "From the Writings of Wagner"
Ch. 109 "Wagner's Beethoven"
Ch. 129 "The Rite of Spring"

7 Jazz (guest lecture by Mark Harvey) Buy at Amazon Harvey, Mark and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. "Swing Landscape." Paintings for Jazz Orchestra. Leo Records, 1995.  
8 Visual representation of sound

Brown, Earle. Folio.

Two versions of Feldman, Morton. Intersection 3 (1953):

Buy at Amazon David Tudor, piano. John Cage: Music for Keyboard 1935-1948/Morton Feldman: The Early Years. New World Records 80664, 2007.

Steffen Schleiermacher, piano. The New York School 2. hat ART CD 6146, 1994.

Buy at Amazon Xenakis, Iannis. Psappha (1976). Xenakis: Pléiades / Psappha. Gert Mortensen, percussion. BIS CD 482, 1994.

Brown, Earle. Folio. New York, NY: Associated Music Publishers, 1961. (score)

Feldman, Morton. Intersection 2 and Intersection 3. In Solo Piano Works - 1950-64. New York, NY: C. F. Peters, 1962. (score)

Buy at Amazon Schafer, R. Murray. "Notation," and "Classification." Chapters 8 and 9 in The Tuning of the World. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. ISBN: 9780771079658.

9 Graphing sound d21d34c55. "Ligeti - Artikulation." May 28, 2007. YouTube. Accessed January 13, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hNl_skTZQ  
10

Text sound

Perform graphic notation pieces (Homework 4) in class

Amirkhanian, Charles. Just (1972). (MP3)

Beckett, Samuel. Not I.
[First, watch the video. Then read the text and watch the video again.]

Buy at Amazon Berio, Luciano. Sequenza III. (1966). Tony Arnold, voice. From Sequenzas I-XIV for Solo Instruments. Naxos, 2006.

Schwitters, Kurt. Ursonate.
[Listen to 1. einleitung und erster teil: rondo. Follow score while listening.]

Berio, Luciano. Sequenza III. London, UK: Universal Editions, 1968. (score)

Schwitters, Kurt. Ursonate. (score).

13 Musique concrete

Buy at Amazon Three tracks from An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music / First A-Chronology 1921-2001. Bruxelles, Belgium: Sub Rosa SR 190 CD, 2002.

Schaeffer, Pierre. Cinq Etudes de Bruits: Etude Violette (1948).

Varese, Edgard. Poeme Electronique (1957-58).

Xenakis, Iannis. Concret PH (1958).

 
14 Music that focuses on timbre

Buy at Amazon Grisey, Gérard. Partiels (1975) for 18 musicians; and Périodes (1974) for 7 instruments. Les Espaces Acoustiques. Ensemble Court-Circuit. Accord/Musidisc, 1999.

Buy at Amazon Ligeti, György. Atmosphères (1961) for orchestra. Berliner Philharmoniker; Jonathan Nott. The Ligeti Project II. Teldec, 2002.

Buy at Amazon Bregman, Albert S. "The Auditory Scene." Chapter 1 in Auditory Scene Analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780262521956. [Preview in Google Books]
16 Electronic music (guest lecture by Peter Whincop) SPEAR manipulations and remixes by Peter Whincop, based on (a) the sound of a hurricane recorded underwater and (b) Ryoji Ikeda's "Headphonics 0/0" from CD +/- (Touch TO:30, 1996).  

Supplemental Listening and Readings

These materials were used in the Fall 2007 version of the class, and are presented here as supplemental materials.

TOPICS LISTENING READINGS
Chant and early music (Michael Cuthbert, Fall 2007 guest lecturer)

[Note: for the following, it's much more important to listen to one minute of each than the whole excerpt.]

Buy at Amazon From the CD accompanying Roden, Timothy J., Craig Wright, and Bryan R. Simms. "Antiquity through the Renaissance." In Anthology for Music in Western Civilization. Vol. A. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Schirmer, 2006. ISBN: 9780495008798.

Track 3: Antiphon "Tecum Principium," esp. the Psalm "Dixit Dominus Domino Meo." (We will sing this Psalm in class.)

Three compositions on "Viderunt Omnes" — Mass for Christmas Day:

Track 8: Anonymous, Chant
Track 20: Composition by Leonin (ca. 1170-80), Paris.
Track 21: Composition by Perotin, Paris. Written for Christmas 1199.

Two versions of the troubador song "Kalenda Maya"

Buy at Amazon The Courts of Love. Sinfonye; Stevie Wishart. Hyperion UK, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Under the Greenwood Tree. Estampie - Munchner Ensemble Fur Fruhe Musik. Naxos, 2000.

Buy at Amazon 14th c. Italian madrigal by Johannes Ciconia, "Una Panthera." Ballate e Madrigali al tempo della Signoria di Paolo Guinigi (sec. XV). Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua and Concentus Lucensis; Stefano Albarello. Tactus Records, 2002.

Makan, Keeril. Voice within Voice (2005).

Buy at Amazon Wright, Craig. Excerpt from "Medieval Music." Chapter 4 in Listening to Music. 4th edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Schirmer, 2003, pp. 72-80. ISBN: 9780534603724. [Ignore the "Listening Guides."]

Lyrics for "Kalenda Maya" and "Una Panthera" (TXT)

Makan, Keeril. Voice within Voice. 2005 (score)

Balinese music and gamelan (Evan Ziporyn, Fall 2007 guest lecturer)

"Kecak." Download mp3 from UbuWeb

Buy at Amazon Lotring, I Wayan. "Pengrangrang Gede/Simbar." Gamelan Semar Pegulingan of Binoh Village. World Music Library, 1992.

Buy at Amazon Two pieces from Cudamani. Vital (City Hall), 2002.

Ketut Alit, Dewa "Geregel."
Manik, Gde. "Taruna Jaya."

Buy at Amazon Ziporyn, Evan, and Gamelan Galak Tika. "Tire Fire." Amok! / Tire Fire. New World Records, 2000.

Notes on Bali listening (PDF)
Assorted supplemental listening

Buy at Amazon Mahler, Gustav. Symphony No. 2, 3rd movement "In Ruhig Fliessender Bewegung." Georg Solti; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. London/Decca, 1984.

Buy at Amazon Berio, Luciano. Sinfonia, 3rd movement, "In Ruhig Fliessender Bewegung." Pierre Boulez; Orchestra National De France. Apex/Warner Classics, 2006 (reissue of 1986 Erato release).

Buy at Amazon Gainesbourg, Serge, and Brigitte Bardot. "Bonnie and Clyde." Virgin France, 1998 (reissue of 1968 release).

Buy at Amazon MC Solaar. "Nouveau Western." Prose Combat. Cohiba, 1994.

Two versions of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger:"

Buy at Amazon Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." Off the Record, Vol. 1: Live Recordings 1956-1969. Smithsonian Folkways, 1993.

Riddle, Almeda. "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." [Lyrics and two-part MP3, recorded August. 21 1959 in Miller, AR.]

Buy at Amazon Holliday, Billie. "I'm a Fool to Want You." Lady in Satin. Columbia/Sony, 1997.

Rodrigues, Amalia. "Troca de olhares." Reine du Fado. [label unknown], 2004.

Buy at Amazon Johnson, Blind Willie. "It's Nobody's Fault But Mine." The Complete Blind Willie Johnson. Sony, 1993.

Buy at Amazon Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. "Manaqib Khawaja Mueenuddin Chishti." Pakistan: En Concert A Paris Vol. 1. Ocora Radio-France, 1985.

Buy at Amazon Williams, Hank, Sr.."(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow." The Original Singles Collection . . . Plus. Mercury, 1992.

Buy at Amazon Shepherd, Elder Charles. "The Day Is Past And Gone." Old Regular Baptists: Lined-Out Hymnody From Southeastern Kentucky. Smithsonian Folkways, 1997.

Buy at Amazon Orbison, Roy. "Crying." 16 Biggest Hits. Sony, 1999.

Buy at Amazon The Shaggs. "Philosophy of the World." Philosophy of the World. RCA Victor, 1999.

Buy at Amazon Ayla, Safiye."Saatlerce Basbasa." Women Of Istanbul. Traditional Crossroads, 1998.

Buy at Amazon Golden Gate Quartet. "Shadrack." Swing Down, Chariot. Sony, 1991.

Buy at Amazon Four songs from Tuva: Voices from the Center of Asia. Smithsonian Folkways, 1990.

Kuular, Anatoli. "Sigit with Igil."
Mongush, Mergen. "Sigit," and "Sigit 'Alash'."
Tau, Fedor. "Steppe Kargiraa."