This class focuses on poetry in Old Occitan and Old French, two transregional languages born in medieval Europe and spoken throughout the Mediterranean. We will explore the aural, visual, and tactile nature of medieval poems, whether sung, declaimed, or read silently. We will reflect on questions of death, politics, gender roles, sexuality, and religious sentiment raised by such texts, while also considering the at times off-putting aesthetic experiences they present to our modern sensibilities. Out-of-class activities will allow us to engage with manuscripts and address the performativity and relevance of medievalism in North America.

This team-taught interdisciplinary seminar has the double aim of exploring the themes of music, sound, and the voice in Ovid's epic poem and how later composers in turn gave voice to Metamorphoses through the musical, especially operatic works that it inspired. We will engage in the close study of Ovid's treatment of myths like Marsyas, Orpheus and Eurydice and Echo and Narcissus in relation to earlier versions and then consider the continuities and differences between the poem's soundworld and its musical realizations in works such as Monteverdi's Orfeo, Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, and Strauss' Daphne.

In this course, students will develop and implement a personal philosophy of music ensemble direction. Students will connect practice-based learning with broader theories of art-making, exploring questions about why, how, and with whom people make music. For those who dream of directing a vocal group, conducting an orchestra, music directing a musical, or even inventing a new ensemble, this process-driven course will create an environment for experimentation, risk-taking, and musical and personal growth. A background playing an instrument, singing, conducting, or composing music is required.

Harmony and modality in 3 speeds: fast (chorale); slower (late classical, rock, romanticism) and slow (new modality, minimalism). We will also examine harmony as a result of process (serialism, for instance). We will consider the speeds of harmonic motion, and their effect on the resulting music, both theoretically and creatively through exercises and composition. It is assumed that you have some familiarity with classic tonal chorales and that will inform the bespoke chorales we make to get to grips with underlying harmony. The course is designed to help you analyze existing musical works, and compose your own harmonically rooted music.

We will explore Beethoven's style through composition and analysis, focusing particularly on "schemas": specific routines for handling parallel and contrary motion, important sequences and near-sequences, and a few idioms defying standard analysis. During the semester students will write two sonata-form movements. The first will be composed piecemeal, in small supervised chunks; the second will be written independently. We will also consider how these patterns are embedded in specific Beethoven compositions. Depending on student interest we may experiment with these idioms in classical-style improvisation.

A workshop that fosters individual students' composing within a community of peers. We'll consider familiar musical styles, and we will open our ears as well to non-traditional instruments, collaborative and improvisatory approaches, and technological opportunities. The focus is not on music theory "rules" but on each student's musical imagination, explored through the tools available to us, individually and collectively. Group work and discussion are central. Several short "sketches" during the semester, final composition at the end of the semester.

An introduction to working with digital sound, from capture (microphone techniques), through processing (Digital Audio Workstations and mixing/signal processing techniques), to reproduction (speakers/headphones). Listening and ear training for sound production will be a central theme, with the aim of improving our ability to connect control parameters with perceptual experience. Broader questions about the relationships between production tools and the creative process will also be considered. Approach will be genre-agnostic, and principles and practices should be relevant regardless of aesthetic or application.

The string quartet has served as a significant means of expression for composers since the mid-eighteenth century. This course explores the forces contributing to the string quartet's preeminence in the world of chamber music. After exploring the development of the string quartet up until Beethoven's late quartets, the course will chart a trajectory through select works from the twentieth century up until the present. We will explore how the repertory transformed and how unique artistic voices harnessed innovative sounds and cultural forces to continue a vibrant format of chamber music.

A survey of the major vocal and instrumental literature in the period between 1400 and 1600. Lectures focus on works that illustrate key historical developments in musical style, performance practice, and aesthetics, and contend with the social and material contexts in which this music was made and performed.

An introduction to modern music, beginning with its origins in late Romanticism, up to World War II. Composers considered include Mahler, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, and Berg. Topics range from urban centers for modern music (Paris and Vienna), the relationship of musical modernism to contemporary literature and visual arts, music and politics, to the impact of recording technology and cinema on musical arts. Prerequisite: any music course, some classical music background, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one precept.

We will explore the rich and diverse rhythms, music, and dance traditions of the African Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean. Reading materials, videos, and audio samples will be used to introduce aspects of people's lives, music, dance, rhythms, drums, and religious practices in these regions, and to provide a true knowledge and authentic cultural experience. Each topic will be followed by an in-class Practicum, where students demonstrate their understanding through the discussion and presentation of original work. This course is open to musicians of all backgrounds and genres.

A performance course in West African contemporary bass drumming technique with a focus on Dundun drumming. Taught by composer and master drummer Olivier Tarpaga, the course provides hands-on experience on Manding traditional and contemporary bass drumming rhythm. Students will acquire performance experience, skills and techniques on the Kenkeni, Sangban and Dundumba drums. Students will learn about the culture of the griots and the history of the ancient Manding/Mali empire.

This course explores the phenomenon of cultural appropriation through a wide lens. We analyze film, television, and music, with additional attention to "everyday" examples such as fashion, advertising, and cuisine. We scrutinize the familiar claim that respectful intentions negate power imbalances, and we explore questions of identity, ownership, representation, and authenticity.

Music can get your feet tapping, trigger a cascade of memories, mire you in nostalgia, or leave you with an earworm. What happens when tools drawn from cognitive science are applied to understanding these experiences? What can music tell us about the human mind, and what can psychology and neuroscience tell us about music? This course will provide an introduction to music cognition, emphasizing the potential and the challenges that characterize work at the intersection of science, the humanities, and the arts. Students will gain experience posing their own questions at this intersection, and identifying appropriate methods to answer them.

This course will examine the musical, historical, and cultural aspects of jazz throughout its entire history, looking at the 20th century as the breeding ground for jazz in America and beyond. During this more than one hundred year period, jazz morphed and fractured into many different styles and voices, all of which will be considered. In addition to the readings, the course will place an emphasis on listening to jazz recordings, and developing an analytical language to understand these recordings. A central goal is to understand where jazz was, is, and will be in the future, examining the musicians and the music keeping jazz alive.

A survey of American popular music in the 1920s to 1960s. We will start with the early history of three major streams of music: Country & Western, Rhythm & Blues, and Popular music. The critical year in that history was 1954, when the streams fused into a volatile mixture that detonated with the birth of Rock 'n' Roll. From the beginning this was a story about race, politics, money, generational divides. The songs themselves will guide us on our path. And this course aims to guide our ears to a deeper understanding and appreciation of them.

A composition seminar and workshop class, focusing on the modern studio and electronic music production. Emphasis will be on the student's creative work, composing both electronic and electroacoustic pieces to be presented in class. Application deadline is November 25, 2024. Application form: https://tinyurl.com/MUS316app. Presentation is May 1, 2025. Final Assessment due on date scheduled by Registrar. MUS 316 fulfills the M&M department requirement.

This class will explore how to create live electronic music as a group. Participation in the Princeton Laptop Orchestra will be part of the course, and students will also study readings and performance documentation of live electronic music. This particular instance of the class will focus on electronic music and the body, looking at how dance can interact with music, as well as techniques like somatic sensing and gesture-to-sound mapping. Students will create their own pieces for the class to play for a final performance.

An examination of the technical and expressive characteristics of the individual instruments of the orchestra and approaches to combining them. Notation programs (such as Sibelius) will be used to approximate ensemble and orchestral arrangements with special attention given to the ways in which such notation programs can be both helpful and misleading.

A historical and analytical survey of Russian music from the seventeenth century to the present. Topics of discussion and analysis include the liturgical and folk traditions, nationalism and imperialism, Russian pianism, the relationship between composers and poets of the Russian Symbolist era, the World of Art movement and the Ballets Russes, Soviet film music, Soviet arts doctrine, popular music and outlaw music.

This intensive workshop explores performance as a site for an evolving, transdisciplinarity that is in mindful relationship with artistic movements, cultural continua, contemporary resonances, and individual agency. Rather than fetishize the urgent development of a legible, "authentic", or (impossibly) unique artistic identity, we will instead strive toward a practice of radical honesty, fluid curiosity, fierce courage, intentional consumption, and rigorous reflection. To that end, students will regularly create, perform, and document original solo & group work that syncretizes multiple disciplines.

MUS 415 explores the design and creation of audio-based artmaking practices. Classes will combine hands-on practical learning with creative presentations from faculty, students, and guest artists. Projects include designing synthesizers, microphones, speakers, pickups, analog effects, and self-led designs. Using the resources of StudioLab, we will develop skills in electronics, physical computing, and the use of tools such as laser cutters, 3D printers, breadboards, and soldering. Additional topics will be led by student interest and expertise. This class will be valuable for any students who use sound in their research or artistic practice.

MUS 510 is for students in the department who wish to gain experience of central importance to their area of study by working outside of the University capacity. For composition students, this might include working with theater companies, dance troupes, or other relevant organizations. For musicology students this might include archival research or performance. Course objectives and content are determined by student's adviser in consultation with the external institution. Students submit monthly progress reports including goals and progress to date, and any evaluations received from host institution or published reviews of the final product.

The seminar covers the history of mensural notation from about 1250 to 1350. This includes motet notation up to the 1310s, and the notation of the moderni up to the 1350s. There are weekly transcription exercises. Composers include Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, as well as countless anonymous figures. There is a special focus on three theorists: Anonymous IV (c.1280), Franco (c.1280), and the enigmatic Jacobus (c.1320). Since music theory in this period was steeped in the philosophy of Aristotle, we engage with the latter's teachings on measurement, time, form, matter, classification, and other things.

Once rarely performed because of their presumed lack of dramatic viability, Handel's operas have become a staple of the standard repertory, inspiring inventive productions in major opera houses, featuring superb singing and playing, as popular-arguably-as they were in Handel's London. Taking into account the libretto conventions, the singers, productions, and performance practice (then and now), the social, political, and economic circumstances in eighteenth-century London, this seminar will explore the narrative, musical, and dramatic features of Handel's London operas.

Emphasis is placed upon the individual student's original work and upon the study and discussion of pieces pertinent to that work.

Electronic Music Studio: Focusing on using the electronic music studio as a central hub for composition and recording with a particular emphasis on controlling hardware instruments and devices. The course first focuses on different electronic instruments and "outboard" gear such as synthesizer (such as our newly acquired Buchla 200e and eurorack modular synth instruments), drum machines, samplers and guitar pedals. Each week we study an instrument and find a way to have it in dialogue with the studio and with other instruments.

Collaborations with varied ensembles and performers from around the world and here at Princeton, presented in concert on the Princeton Sound Kitchen concert series.

In this course we explore the use of AI and other algorithmic techniques in composition and image generation. The course is hands-on and practice based.

Under the direction of a faculty member, and in collaboration with an interdisciplinary group of students, visitors, and postdocs, the student carries out a one-semester research project chosen jointly by the student and the faculty. Open to any graduate student in Music, this course provides a hands-on opportunity to learn the tools, skills, methods, and perspectives of music cognition research.

STC 209 examines 'transformations' within and between visuals, sound, structure and movement as art and engineering forms. The course explores generative art and design that leverages parallels and interplay between design processes in engineering and the arts. Students will learn to work as artist-engineers, and will create ambitious open-ended design projects exploring these themes. Taught by faculty from CST, COS, MUS, CEE along with visiting artists, and guest faculty from the Lewis Center for the Arts.