Metaphors of Ritual: Music by Stravinsky, Britten, Birtwistle, and Others

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Metaphors of Ritual: Music by Stravinsky, Britten, Birtwistle, and Others

MUMH 6770, Spring 2016

Dr. Notley, Room 295 Music Building

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:50

Office: Room 319; Phone: 565-3751; E-mail:

Hours: Tues. 2-3, Thurs. 11-12, and by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

Little of the canonic music from the past two centuries was intended to serve ritualistic purposes, in contrast to Western music from before then and music that forms part of other cultures. A sizable portion of highly regarded concert music from the twentieth century nonetheless seems ritualistic in tone, formal design, content, or some other respect. Stravinsky, Britten, and Birtwistle have frequently been singled out in this regard, the two later composers often seen as having taken Stravinsky as a model.

This is not a class about ritual; rather it is about metaphors of ritual that have been used in reference to a significant body of music written for modern halls. The metaphors may have originated with the composers or with critics. Many of the works were composed with staged performance in mind, but others were conceived as purely instrumental.

The objectives, then, are

1. To explore a prominent yet elusive aspect of twentieth-century music and some of its sources and consequences

1. To understand the ramifications ofapplying a metaphor, in this case music as ritual or as ritual-like (hieratic, ceremonial, etc.)

1. To think more critically about how we conduct our own work.

MATERIALSI’ll provide copies of some materials and place others on Blackboard or on reserve in the Union. Other materials will be on the carrel for this class (and MUMH 5020), 404.

EXPECTATIONS The distribution for the final grade is as follows:

Attendance: 6 %

Participation:14 % (1/2 point per class)*

(*may include short writing assignments)

Leading class discussion twice10 % (5 % + 5 %)

One short paper10 %

Final paper and presentation:60 % (10 % for presentation, 50 % for paper)**

LEADING CLASS DISCUSSION Each student will lead class discussion with another student. I’ll prepare detailed assignments for each class, but I’ll expect the students leading class discussion to take the assignment further. I’ll expect all other students to participate fully.

SHORT PAPER The purpose is to help students consolidate their understanding of a particular topic and to provide early guidance in the writing of a thesis-driven paper.

FINAL PROJECTS The final project will involve an oral presentation and a written paper. Final papers must be 12 to 20 pages long; the presentations are to last 20 minutes. I’ll divide the 50 % allotted for the paper into several stages of writing. **This may include the writing of several short papers that will feed into the final paper. I must receive paper copies of all final papers by 5 p.m. on Monday, 9 May.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

1.A seminar works only if all students attend class and participate regularly in the discussions: you learn from preparing for class and engaging in discussion. Students are therefore expected to be present and prepared for each class. The six attendance points are there for each student to keep or lose!

2.A student will lose two (2) points from his or her grade (100 points to begin with) for each unexcused absence and will be dropped from the roll with a WF after four (4) unexcused absences. The university recognizes only two types of absences as excused: those for religious holidays or for school-sponsored activities. I must receive proper documentation if you want me to consider an absence excused. Absences for auditions and other important events may count as excused: you must check with me first. The university does not recognize illness as a reason for an absence to be excused.

3.An absence from any one of the classes devoted to final presentations will result in the subtraction of five (5) points from the student's final grade.

4.A late arrival or early departure counts as a half or full absence, depending on how much of the class the student misses.

5.I’ll take notes each week on students’ participation. Make sure that you prepare for and participate in each class. Again, this is essential for a seminar. *Please note: I may make short written assignments to ensure that each student participates. If you want to avoid the extra writing, prepare well and participate vigorously from the beginning.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES POLICY

It is the area’s policy that students must refrain from using electronic devices—laptops, tablets, cell phones, and audio players—during class. All electronic devices must be placed out of sight during class.

Approximate Weekly Schedule (subject to revision)

WeekTopics

1 (1/19)Introduction

2 (1/26)Introduction, continued

3 (2/2)Ancient Greece as Model

4 (2/9)Ancient Greece as Model

5 (2/16)Ancient Greece as Model

6 (2/23)Memorial Pieces (1)

7 (3/1)Sacred Texts and Genres Adapted to the Concert Hall

8 (3/8)Sacred Texts and Genres Adapted to the Concert Hall

Week of March 15SPRING BREAK

9(3/22)Ritual-like One Act Opera/Music Theater

10 (3/29)Memorial Pieces (2)

11 (4/5)Secular Rituals

12 (4/12)Secular Rituals

13 (4/19)Final presentations

14 (4/26)Final presentations

15 (5/3)Final presentations

I must receive paper copies of all final papers by 5 p.m. on Monday, 9 May. The final exam time for this class is Thursday, 12 May, 10:30-12:30. We are required to do something as a class during that time. Perhaps we can meet and discuss your papers and also have a party.

Special Notices from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the COM

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will fail the course.The incident will also be reported to the Dean of Students, who may impose further penalty. According to the UNT catalog, the term “cheating” includes, but is not limited to: a. use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; b. dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; c. the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of the university; d. dual submission of a paper or project, or resubmission of a paper or project to a different class without express permission from the instructor(s); or e. any other act designed to give a student an unfair advantage. The term “plagiarism” includes, but is not limited to: a. the knowing or negligent use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; and b. the knowing or negligent unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.

ACCEPTABLE STUDENT BEHAVIOR: Student behavior that interferes with an instructor’s ability to conduct a class or other students' opportunity to learn is unacceptable and disruptive and will not be tolerated in any instructional forum at UNT. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior will be directed to leave the classroom and the instructor may refer the student to the Dean of Students to consider whether the student's conduct violated the Code of Student Conduct. The university's expectations for student conduct apply to all instructional forums, including university and electronic classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. The Code of Student Conduct can be found at deanofstudents.unt.edu/conduct

ADA STATEMENT: UNT makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide you with an accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your specific needs in a course. You may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. For additional information see the Office of Disability Accommodation website atdisability.unt.edu. You may also contact them by phone at (940) 565-4323.

Spring Semester Academic Schedule (with Add/Drop Dates)

- spring_2016

Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT)

Student feedback is important and an essential part of participation in this course. The student evaluation of instruction is a requirement for all organized classes at UNT. The short SPOT survey will be made available April 18th – May 1st to provide you with an opportunity to evaluate how this course is taught. For the spring 2016 semester you will receive an email on April 18th (12:01 a.m.) from “UNT SPOT Course Evaluations via IASystem Notification” () with the survey link. Please look for the email in your UNT email inbox. Simply click on the link and complete your survey. Once you complete the survey you will receive a confirmation email that the survey has been submitted. For additional information, please visit the spot website at or email .