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Syllabus
for:
The American
Avant Garde
(MUSIC 145 and MUSIC 220)
University
of California, Irvine
Winter Quarter, 2003
course outline
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Note: Reading assignments and listening
assignments (to be announced) should be completed by the
dates for which they are listed. |
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| week |
date |
topic |
reading(s) |
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| 1 |
Jan. 7 |
introduction,
definitions, terminology |
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Jan. 9 |
basic
concepts |
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Nyman,
pp. xi-14. |
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| 2 |
Jan. 14 |
concepts
(cont.), influences |
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Nyman,
14-30.
David W. Patterson, “Cage and Asia: history and
sources,” in Nicholls, pp. 41-59.
Rockwell, “The American Experimental Tradition & Its
Godfather,” pp. 47-59. |
| |
Jan. 16 |
John
Cage and 4’33” |
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| 3 |
Jan. 21 |
backgrounds
and contexts |
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Nyman,
31-49.
Cage, “History of Experimental Music in the United
States,” in Silence, pp. 67-75.
Holmes, pp. 107-116. |
| |
Jan. 23 |
experimental
music, 1890-1940 |
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| 4 |
Jan. 28 |
the
avant garde at mid-century |
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Nyman,
pp. 50-71.
Cage, “On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work,”
in Silence, pp. 98-108.
David
Nicholls, “Towards infinity: Cage in the 1950s and
1960s,” in Nicholls, pp. 100-108. |
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Jan. 30 |
"
" " |
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| 5 |
Feb. 4 |
the
Fluxus movement, etc. |
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Nyman,
pp. 72-88.
Holmes, pp. 117-141.
Rockwell, “Post-Cageian Experimentation & New Kinds
of Collaboration,” pp. 96-108. |
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Feb. 6 |
mid-term
exam |
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| 6 |
Feb. 11 |
electronic
systems |
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Nyman,
pp. 89-109.
Holmes, pp. 141-154.
Rockwell, “Electronic & Computer Music & the
Humanist Reaction,” pp. 133-144. |
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Feb. 13 |
"
" " |
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| 7 |
Feb. 18 |
the
1960s and ‘70s |
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Nyman,
pp. 110-138.
Dick Higgins, “Boredom and Danger,” in Battcock, pp.
20-27.
Tom Johnson, “Notes on New Music,” in Battcock, pp.
28-37. |
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Feb.20 |
"
" " |
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| 8 |
Feb. 25 |
Minimalism,
etc.; in-class projects and presentations |
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Nyman,
pp. 139-171.
Rockwell, “Environmental Composers & Ambient
Music,” pp. 145-153. |
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Feb. 27 |
"
" " |
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| 9 |
Mar. 4 |
ideologies;
in-class projects and presentations |
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Mertens,
pp. 87-124.
William Brooks, “Music and society,” in Nicholls, pp.
214-226. |
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Mar. 6 |
"
" " |
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| 10 |
Mar. 11 |
summaries;
in-class projects and presentations |
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Alastair
Williams, “Cage and postmodernism,” in Nicholls, pp.
227-241.
Kyle
Gann, “No escape from heaven: John Cage as father
figure,” in Nicholls, pp. 242-260.
Thomas DeLio, “Avant-Garde Issues in Seventies Music,”
in Battcock, pp. 254-271. |
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Mar. 13 |
"
" " |
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| March
17-21 |
final
exam, as scheduled. |
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