of pitch centricity and pitch source. All three bodies of work often
establish pitch centers without the use of traditional functional patterns
in harmony and melody. All three bodies of music use specific subsets of
the 12-pitch system as pitch sources in nontraditional ways, often shifting
from one pitch source to another as a structural gesture similar to a key
change in Common Practice music.
though. We will discuss, among other things, Bartok's piece-by-piece
establishment of rules of counterpoint, Prokofiev's use of hypermeter to
establish new harmonic functions, and Chicago's use of improvisation.
it'll be on the test), is a group of people with names. I talk about
them collectively because during the period of albums V, VI, and VII,
they apparently worked especially closely, and the composing members
tended to write in similar styles. This fact coupled with the
writing of all the brass arrangements by one member makes the pieces
on those three albums work as a stylistically cohesive whole. We will
study primarily pieces by keyboardist Robert Lamm and trombonist James
Pankow. All the members of the band, however, will be represented.
approaches to Bartok. We will also read in Joseph Straus's
Introduction
to Post-Tonal Theory for information about pitch centricity,
pandiatonicism, octatonic scales, and set theory (which will be used
merely to provide handy names for some of the nontertian harmonies
we will come across in the music). The information about Prokofiev
and Chicago comes from my own research, only some of which has been
published to date.
hear me try to play the piano. (Maybe I'll get to hear YOU play the
piano.) With Chicago, we'll get to play lots of records. And for Romeo
and Juliet, we'll not only get to watch a video of Rudolf Nureyev
dancing, we'll read the play (it's by Shakespeare) and even