160044 UE Musical Analysis: Analysis of 20th Century Music (2024S)

Learning objectives:

Students will be able to

- name various forming principles and processing techniques that characterise the repertoire of the 20th century and identify them in the score.
- describe compositional and formal phenomena in works of the past century.
- understand the logic of a work and analyse its structure on the basis of the compositional strategies learned.

Contents:

- Modality, texture, motifs, ostinato, mixtures, extended chords, third relationships, ABA form.
- Axis system, golden ratio, processing, special chords and folklore elements.
- Polyrhythmics, polymodality, layering and melody formation.
- Twelve-tone technique
- Symmetry and compositional logic
- Modes of limited transposition, isometry and gesture
- Soundscape, canon and formal symmetry
- Klangfarbenmelodie, recourse to older music, variation and symbolism
- Strategies for processing and arranging older models
- Rhythm as an articulating means of form, ABAB form, strategies for composing for percussion and the instrumental connection with live electronics.

Method:

The above-mentioned topics are dealt with by analysing works of the 20th century. Analytical tools are taught for this purpose.