Spring 2020

Music 2632, Composition Seminar: Music and Text

Eric Moe
307 Music
Office hours by appointment
412-979-7411
emoe@pitt.edu

We will explore text and its relation to music - to composition in particular. Topics will include:

• the acoustic characteristics of speech

• cognitive differences and similarities between music and linguistic syntax
• perceptual differences in spoken vs. sung language
• text as a visual experience
• self-referentiality
• subversive text setting
• musical setting of poetic and non-poetic text (prose, found text, etc.)
• narrative and anti-narrative text, narrative and anti-narrative music

Weekly coursework will alternate between short compositional and short analytical assignments;
a brief final analytical paper and final compositional project are required. Non-specialists (i.e.,
non-composers) are welcome.

Pieces to be discussed (partial list):

György Ligeti, Nonsense Madrigals
Judith Weir, Consolations of Scholarship
Peter Maxwell Davies, Eight Songs for a Mad King
Peter Ablinger, Voices and Piano
Paul Lansky, various pieces
Charles Dodge, He Destroyed Her Image
Kate Soper, IPSA DIXIT
Alban Berg, Wozzeck
Arnold Schoenberg, Moses und Aron
Mathew Rosenblum, Maggies
Ruth Crawford, Two Ricercare
Gustave Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde
Olly Wilson, Sometimes
Charles Wuorinen, It Happens Like This
Benjamin Britten, Curlew River
Igor Stravinsky, Cantata
Mike McNabb, Dreamsong; Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Trevor Wishart, Three Women, Fox Five
Michael Alcorn, Old Woman of Beare, Outman
Christopher Trapani, Waterlines
Readings
Aniruddh Patel, Music, Language, and the Brain
Alfred Corn, The Poem’s Heartbeat

Schedule
1/08 [no class]

Introduction
1/15 acoustic features of spoken and sung language
1/22 language and music
[1/25 TAK concert]
1/29 language and music (continued)

Written and spoken text

2/05 poetry and rhythm
[2/8-2/9 Duo Cortona]
2/12 poetry and music

Visual text
2/19 visual text (print) - Barbara Weissberger, guest prof.
2/26 visual text (video) – Aaron Henderson, guest prof.

Visual and textual music

3/04 graphic and verbal scores
3/11 [no class – spring break]

Uses of text
3/18 narrative, weird narrative, non-narrative (Rosenblum, Maggies)
3/25 text and opera
4/01 self-reflexivity
4/08 social practice and protest
4/15 presentations
4/22 presentations, concert

Disability Resource Services

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are
encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services,
140 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890, as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and
Services will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.
For more information, visit www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/drsabout.

Academic Integrity Policy

Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the University of
Pittsburgh Policy on Academic Integrity, noted below, will be required to participate in the
outlined procedural process as initiated by the instructor. A minimum sanction of a zero score
for the quiz, exam or paper will be imposed. (For the full Academic Integrity policy, go to
www.provost.pitt.edu/info/ai1.html.)

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Aspiring to create a learning environment in which people of all identities are encouraged to
contribute their perspectives to academic discourse, The University of Pittsburgh Gender,
Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program provides guidelines and resources regarding gender-
inclusive/non-sexist language (http://www.gsws.pitt.edu/node/1432). Following these guidelines
fosters an inclusive and welcoming environment, strengthens academic writing, enriches
discussion, and reflects best professional practices.
Language is gender-inclusive and non-sexist when we use words that affirm and respect how
people describe, express, and experience their gender. Just as sexist language excludes
women’s experiences, non-gender-inclusive language excludes the experiences of individuals
whose identities may not fit the gender binary, and/or who may not identify with the sex they
were assigned at birth.
Identities including trans, intersex, and genderqueer reflect personal descriptions, expressions,
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between biological sex and gender expression. Students, faculty, and staff may share their
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