Course Description: Analytical and historical studies on the music of Frédéric Chopin, with particular attention to the preludes and ballades. Class meetings will take the form of a seminar. Preparation and readiness to contribute in each class discussion is the student's responsibility.

Course objectives and learning outcomes:

• grounding in writings dealing with analytical approaches to Chopin's music, including phrase rhythm studies, Schenkerian analysis, and semiotic approaches to gesture, topic theory, and musical narrative
• enhanced knowledge of the historical basis of musical styles in Chopin's works
• development of practical tools useful to performers in the interpretation of Chopin's music
• experiences in analysis, research, and writing dealing with music of Chopin

Prerequisite: Upper-level undergraduate standing or graduate standing in music.

Textbooks:

Jim Samson. Chopin: The Four Ballades.(Cambridge University Press, 1992)
Robert Hatten. A Theory of Virtual Agency for Western Art Music (Indiana University Press, 2018)
The Cambridge Companion to Chopin. ed. Jim Samson (Cambridge University Press, 1992). E-book available with UH login.
 
Highly Recommended: Scores for the complete Preludes, Ballades, Mazurkas, and Nocturnes
Other study materials will be available at UH Blackboard

Grading:  First paper                                              30%
                Term paper                                             30%  
                Class participarion and short assignments  40%

Students are expected to comply with UH Policies on Academic Honesty.

Students with disabilities are asked to bring to the instructor's attention any special accommodations they may require. Students will document a disability with the UH Center for Students with Disabilities (phone: 713 743-5400). The CSD will provide recommendations to help the instructor and student accommodate a disability.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) can help students who are having difficulties managing stress, adjusting to college, or feeling sad and hopeless. You can reach CAPS (www.uh.edu/caps/) by calling 713-743-5454 during and after business hours for routine appointments or if you or someone you know is in crisis. Also, there is no appointment necessary for the “Let's Talk” program, which is a drop-in consultation service at convenient locations and hours around campus. http://www.uh.edu/caps/outreach/lets_talk.html.

 
Readings and Works for Analysis  (Subject to change)

1. Historical background; phrase rhythm and tonal architecture

The Cambridge Companion to Chopin: Chronology, Introduction, and Chapter 1 (Janet Ritterman on Piano music and the public concert, 1800-1850)

W. Rothstein. Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music
      Ch 1, What is a phrase? What is Phrase Rhythm UH Blackboard
      Ch 7, Chopin: Nocturnes, Mazurkas, and Etudes UH Blackboard
      Works for close study:
           Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 (1830)
           Mazurka in A flat major, Op. 17, No.3 (1832-33)
           Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3 (1829-32)
           Nocturne Op. 32, No. 1 (1836-37)
           Mazurka in G sharp minor, Op. 33, No.1 (1837-38)
           Mazurka in A minor, Op. 59, No.1 (1845)
           Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2 (1841)
           Nocturne in B major, Op. 62, No. 1 (1846)

The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Chapter 2 (David Rowland on the nocturne)

The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Chapter 4 (John Rink on tonal architecture in the early music)

Robert Hatten. A Theory of Virtual Agency for Western Art Music. Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2
      Be ready to discuss these terms and concepts:
           Gesture (spontaneous, thematic, rhetorical, dialogical, tropological)
           Gestural variation
           Virtual human agency, levels of agency, virtual environments
           Steve Larson's musical forces

Consider connections between the Rothstein and Hatten readings. Be ready to discuss how metrical levels and phrase rhythm might be understood as a musical forces operating within a virtual environment.

Written assignment: Select one piece discussed in class and/or mentioned in the assigned readings. Mark a copy of the complete score in detail, showing all significant aspects of harmony, form, and motivic content. Write a short essay, 1-2 pages in length, in which you provide an interpretive analysis of the piece. Be sure to draw from the assigned readings as you explain your interpretive commentary on the music. Your essay and annotated score is due Tuesday, February 5 (or Wednesday, Feb 6)

Reader response essay: Write a short essay, 1-2 pages in length, on the Robert Hatten reading, Introduction and chapters 1 & 2. Describe a particular aspect of Hatten's methodology in delving into the Schubert and Brahms pieces.

2. Miniatures and fragments; musical gesture

Charles Rosen. The Romantic Generation (Cambridge, 1995), Ch 2, Fragments UH Blackboard
      Works for close study:
           Schumann. Dichterliebe, No. 1, 2, & 11
           Chopin. Nocturne in B major, Op. 32, No. 1
           Chopin. Prelude in A minor, Op. 28, No. 2
           Chopin. Prelude in F major, Op. 28, No. 23

The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Chapter 6 (Jeffrey Kallberg on small ‘forms’)

William Rothstein. “Like Falling off a Log: Rubato in Chopin's Prelude in A-flat Major (op. 28, no. 17)” Music Theory Online 18/4, 2012. http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.05.11.1/mto.05.11.1.rothstein_frames.html

Carl Schachter. "The Prelude in E minor Op. 28 No. 4: autograph sources and interpretation" in Chopin Studies 2. ed. J. Rink and J. Samson (Cambridge, 1994) UH Blackboard

Eugene Montague. “Instrumental Gesture in Chopin’s Étude in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1.” Music Theory Online 11/1, 2005. http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.12.18.4/mto.12.18.4.montague.php

Robert Hatten. Chapters 3 & 4

Written assignment: Write a two-page reader response essay on one of our recent readings (Rosen, Klein, Kallberg, Schachter, Rothstein, Montague). Summarize the most significant aspects of the writer's analytical point of view and methodology, also commenting on how those ideas are applied in discussion of specific musical passages. Due date TBA.

First paper. Write a six-page essay on a Chopin work of your choice. A moderately sized single-movement work is recommended, perhaps a mazurka, nocturne, prelude, or etude. Include a copy of the score with detailed harmonic and formal analysis of the full movement. Your essay should express a clear analytical point of view of the music, with the goal of forming an interpretive analysis of the piece. Clearly explain your methodological approach, drawing on methodologies we have discussed in our readings. Due: Tuesday, March 20.

Discussion of topics for first papers

Meetings with guest speakers, TBA

Beethoven 250 Houston 2020 Festival:
 
          Thursday, February 20 Concert: Formosa Quartet, Asia Society Texas Center, 7:00 PM
          Saturday, February 22 Concert: Formosa Quartet, Dudley Recital Hall, 7:30 PM

TSMT meeting: Friday-Saturday, February 28-29
 
          Guest scholars in residence: Scott Burnham, Robert Hatten, James Hepokoski, William Kinderman, Michael Spitzer
 
          Tuesday, February 25 Concert: University of Houston Wind Ensemble, Moores Opera House, 7:30 PM
          Thursday, February 27 Concert: Moores School of Music Faculty Artist, Dudley Recital Hall, 7:30 PM
          Friday, February 28 Concert: Moores School of Music Faculty Artists, Dudley Recital Hall, 7:30 PM
          Saturday, February 29 Concert: Moores School Symphony Orchestra, Moores Opera House, 7:30 PM

3. The ballades, scherzos, and fantasies; narrative theory

The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Chapter 5 (Extended Forms: The Ballades, Scherzos and Fantasies)

Chopin: The Four Ballades. Chapter 1, Background; Chapter 2, Genesis and Reception