THYU 429T Music of James Tenney and Morton Feldman
The course will introduce theoretical writings by James Tenney, focussed on a phenomenology of Twentieth-Century musical materials, and an innovative approach to the study of musical form as proposed in Tenney's treatise Meta/Hodos. Students study and apply analytical techniques to non­linearity and modular organization in Tenney's musical works based on the principles of auditory perception, cohesion and segregation. The class will engage in building perceptual models of the excerpts from musical works based on the morphology of music material. After examining theories and music of James Tenney, the class will shift the attention to Morton Feldman's music, the embodiment of modularity and non-linearity of the 20th century. Driven by the composer's intuitive approach to the organization of musical materials and works by Abstract Expressionist painters, the selected works by Morton Feldman will be examined using Tenney's analytical techniques and perceptual models. At the end of the course, the students will engage in comprehensive analysis of Feldman's late works.
Cross Listed Courses
THYG 529T