20th and 21st Century Analysis: Timbre, Orchestration, and Genre Since 1920

Music analysis traditionally prioritizes melody, harmony, and form as primary metrics for uncovering musical structure and meaning. However, one of the most compelling, and often times, the most immediate reactions one has towards a musical composition is how it sounds— that is, the sound of a singer, instrument, ensemble, or sound object; the feeling of textural and/or rhythmic changes; the flow of a musical line, form, improvisation, rap, or soundtrack. This course surveys methods for analyzing various types of twentieth- and twenty-first-century music, with a focus on sound organization, orchestration analysis, and the study of genre. The twentieth century features some of the most exciting and diverse music, sounds, and composers. By prioritizing sound advancements of this period alongside traditional analytical techniques, which traditionally teach students how to label melodic and harmonic events, we can develop a deeper understanding of how to discuss and analyze the most captivating, yet somewhat neglected parameters of sound.