ID:
508840
Duration (hours):
60
CFU:
9
SSD:
MUSICOLOGIA E STORIA DELLA MUSICA
Located in:
CREMONA
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Annualità Singola (29/09/2025 - 12/06/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
At the end of the first part of the course (Modality), students will
(1) be able to understand and analyse the tonal organization of monodic and polyphonic repertories prior to the practical and theoretical definition of the harmonic tonality, with special regards to the classical vocal polyphony of the late sixteenth century;
(2) become familiar with the musicological debate that has developed over the last fifty years concerning the organisation of the tonal space of Renaissance music.
By the end of the second module of the course (Analysis), students will
(1) be able to analyse and identify the main forms of the classical instrumental repertoire;
(2) know the leading theorists in the history of classical form theory (Formenlehre) of the past as well as the theoretical debates that have developed in recent decades.
(1) be able to understand and analyse the tonal organization of monodic and polyphonic repertories prior to the practical and theoretical definition of the harmonic tonality, with special regards to the classical vocal polyphony of the late sixteenth century;
(2) become familiar with the musicological debate that has developed over the last fifty years concerning the organisation of the tonal space of Renaissance music.
By the end of the second module of the course (Analysis), students will
(1) be able to analyse and identify the main forms of the classical instrumental repertoire;
(2) know the leading theorists in the history of classical form theory (Formenlehre) of the past as well as the theoretical debates that have developed in recent decades.
Course Prerequisites
Reading music scores in modern and ancient clefs. Knowledge of scales, intervals, music theory, fundaments of tonal harmony. Ability to follow the performance of a piece of music from the score.
Teaching Methods
Lectures; guided analyses of the tonal organisation of Renaissance polyphonic compositions; group exercises; readings of theoretical texts with critical commentary; guided listening and score analysis of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven compositions.
Assessment Methods
The knowledge acquired in the modality section will be tested by means of a three-hour written examination consisting of (1) an analysis of the tonal space (tonal type, mode and cadential plan) of a Renaissance motet or madrigal; (2) open and closed questions designed to test understanding of the course topics and familiarity with the reference bibliography.
The knowledge acquired in the analysis module will be tested in three stages. Ten days before the written exam, the student has to submit a paper, the aim of which is to verify the acquisition of the theoretical apparatus and the analytical skills required for the exam. The examination itself consists of a written and an oral test. The paper will consist of an analysis of a movement of your choice from the piano sonatas of classical composers (excluding late Beethoven). Examples from outside this repertoire must be agreed with the teacher. The paper may be submitted by email (including a scanned copy of the score with analytical notation) to antonio.calvia@unipv.it. The written examination will consist of the analysis of one movement from a piano sonata by a classical composer, to be completed in three and a half hours, with repeated listening. The oral test consists of a discussion of the written work, the musical examples discussed and analysed during the course (a full list of which will be provided on Kiro) and the bibliography.
The final mark will be the weighted average of the modality test (weight 40%) and the written and oral analysis tests (weight 30% each).
The knowledge acquired in the analysis module will be tested in three stages. Ten days before the written exam, the student has to submit a paper, the aim of which is to verify the acquisition of the theoretical apparatus and the analytical skills required for the exam. The examination itself consists of a written and an oral test. The paper will consist of an analysis of a movement of your choice from the piano sonatas of classical composers (excluding late Beethoven). Examples from outside this repertoire must be agreed with the teacher. The paper may be submitted by email (including a scanned copy of the score with analytical notation) to antonio.calvia@unipv.it. The written examination will consist of the analysis of one movement from a piano sonata by a classical composer, to be completed in three and a half hours, with repeated listening. The oral test consists of a discussion of the written work, the musical examples discussed and analysed during the course (a full list of which will be provided on Kiro) and the bibliography.
The final mark will be the weighted average of the modality test (weight 40%) and the written and oral analysis tests (weight 30% each).
Texts
Modality:
– M. T. ROSA BAREZZANI, voce Modalità, in Dizionario Enciclopedico Universale della Musica e dei Musicisti,
sez. I, Il Lessico, vol. III, Torino, UTET, 1984, pp. 156-162.
– F. WIERING, La concezione interna ed esterna dei modi, “Rivista di Analisi e di Teoria Musicale”, 10/1,
2004, pp. 95-116.
– M. MANGANI, Le “strutture tonali” della polifonia. Appunti sulla riflessione novecentesca e sul dibattito
attuale, “Rivista di Analisi e di Teoria Musicale”, 10/1, 2004, pp. 19-37.
– M. MANGANI - D. SABAINO, “Modo novo” or “modo antichissimo”? Some Remarks about La-Modes in
Zarlino’s Theoretical Thought, in Early Music. Context and Ideas, International Conference in Musicology,
Kraków 18-21 September 2003, Institute of Musicology, Kraków, Jagellonian University, 2003, pp. 36-49.
– M. MANGANI - D. SABAINO, Tonal types and modal attribution in late Renaissance polyphony. New
observations, “Acta Musicologica”, 80/2, 2008, pp. 231-250.
– D. SABAINO, La modalità come strumento esegetico: Zarlino, Lasso, Ingegneri e il responsorio “Si bona suscepimus”, “Musicalia” 10, 2013 [published 2021], pp. 1-56.
Analysis:
– A. SCHÖNBERG, Elementi di composizione musicale, revisione di G. Strang e L. Stein, trad. it. di G. Manzoni, Suvini Zerboni, Milano 1969.
– W. E. CAPLIN, Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Function for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Oxford University Press, New York – Oxford 1998.
– C. DAHLHAUS, Frase e periodo: per una teoria della sintassi musicale, traduzione italiana di Alice Verti, in “Musica/Realtà”, 109 (2016), pp. 81- 99. (Ed. orig. Satz und Periode. Zur Theorie der musikalischen Syntax, "Zeitschrift für Musiktheorie", IX/2 (1978), pp. 16-26).
– E. RATZ, Einführung in die musikalische Formenlehre: über Formprinzipien in den Inventionen und Fugen J. S. Bachs und ihre
Bedeutung für die Kompositionstechnik Beethovens, Wien, Universal Edition, 1973, pp. 17-39 (la traduzione italiana è fornita come materiale didattico su Kiro).
– E. RATZ, Analysis and Hermeneutics, and Their Significance for the Interpretation of Beethoven, in “Music Analysis”, 3/3 (1984), pp. 243-254.
– G. SANGUINETTI, Le sonate per pianoforte di Beethoven. Genere, forma, espressione, LIM, Lucca 2020.
Other specific readings will be introduced and commented during lessons and provided on Kiro, together with other didactical materials, scores, and lesson slides.
– M. T. ROSA BAREZZANI, voce Modalità, in Dizionario Enciclopedico Universale della Musica e dei Musicisti,
sez. I, Il Lessico, vol. III, Torino, UTET, 1984, pp. 156-162.
– F. WIERING, La concezione interna ed esterna dei modi, “Rivista di Analisi e di Teoria Musicale”, 10/1,
2004, pp. 95-116.
– M. MANGANI, Le “strutture tonali” della polifonia. Appunti sulla riflessione novecentesca e sul dibattito
attuale, “Rivista di Analisi e di Teoria Musicale”, 10/1, 2004, pp. 19-37.
– M. MANGANI - D. SABAINO, “Modo novo” or “modo antichissimo”? Some Remarks about La-Modes in
Zarlino’s Theoretical Thought, in Early Music. Context and Ideas, International Conference in Musicology,
Kraków 18-21 September 2003, Institute of Musicology, Kraków, Jagellonian University, 2003, pp. 36-49.
– M. MANGANI - D. SABAINO, Tonal types and modal attribution in late Renaissance polyphony. New
observations, “Acta Musicologica”, 80/2, 2008, pp. 231-250.
– D. SABAINO, La modalità come strumento esegetico: Zarlino, Lasso, Ingegneri e il responsorio “Si bona suscepimus”, “Musicalia” 10, 2013 [published 2021], pp. 1-56.
Analysis:
– A. SCHÖNBERG, Elementi di composizione musicale, revisione di G. Strang e L. Stein, trad. it. di G. Manzoni, Suvini Zerboni, Milano 1969.
– W. E. CAPLIN, Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Function for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Oxford University Press, New York – Oxford 1998.
– C. DAHLHAUS, Frase e periodo: per una teoria della sintassi musicale, traduzione italiana di Alice Verti, in “Musica/Realtà”, 109 (2016), pp. 81- 99. (Ed. orig. Satz und Periode. Zur Theorie der musikalischen Syntax, "Zeitschrift für Musiktheorie", IX/2 (1978), pp. 16-26).
– E. RATZ, Einführung in die musikalische Formenlehre: über Formprinzipien in den Inventionen und Fugen J. S. Bachs und ihre
Bedeutung für die Kompositionstechnik Beethovens, Wien, Universal Edition, 1973, pp. 17-39 (la traduzione italiana è fornita come materiale didattico su Kiro).
– E. RATZ, Analysis and Hermeneutics, and Their Significance for the Interpretation of Beethoven, in “Music Analysis”, 3/3 (1984), pp. 243-254.
– G. SANGUINETTI, Le sonate per pianoforte di Beethoven. Genere, forma, espressione, LIM, Lucca 2020.
Other specific readings will be introduced and commented during lessons and provided on Kiro, together with other didactical materials, scores, and lesson slides.
Contents
Part 1: Modality
(Daniele Sabaino)
The eight-mode system in Medieval and Renaissance theoretical tradition and musical practice.
Solmization and mode transposition.
The cadence in the polyphonic repertoire: function and taxonomy.
The twelve-mode system and the changes in tonal space between 16th and 17th century.
Interpretations of modality in contemporary musicology.
Modality as ermeneutical tools in the analysis of Renaissance music.
Theoretical lectures will be complemented by modal analyses of compositions by Ingegneri, Josquin, Lasso, Marenzio, Morales, Mouton, Palestrina, Rore, Victoria, Willaert and other Renaissance musicians.
Part 2: Analysis
(Antonio Calvia)
The lessons will introduce some key concepts, exploring the tradition from the 18th century 'theory of form' to the synthesis of Arnold Schoenberg and his students (especially Erwin Ratz). Constitutive elements of musical form (from phrase, motive, etc. to larger thematic structures); 'tight' and 'loose' structures; the main formal procedures (fragmentation, liquidation, intensification); the compositional techniques of variation, development and variation in development will also be discussed.
All these categories will be observed through the analysis of instrumental works from the Classical period, with particular attention to the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
(Daniele Sabaino)
The eight-mode system in Medieval and Renaissance theoretical tradition and musical practice.
Solmization and mode transposition.
The cadence in the polyphonic repertoire: function and taxonomy.
The twelve-mode system and the changes in tonal space between 16th and 17th century.
Interpretations of modality in contemporary musicology.
Modality as ermeneutical tools in the analysis of Renaissance music.
Theoretical lectures will be complemented by modal analyses of compositions by Ingegneri, Josquin, Lasso, Marenzio, Morales, Mouton, Palestrina, Rore, Victoria, Willaert and other Renaissance musicians.
Part 2: Analysis
(Antonio Calvia)
The lessons will introduce some key concepts, exploring the tradition from the 18th century 'theory of form' to the synthesis of Arnold Schoenberg and his students (especially Erwin Ratz). Constitutive elements of musical form (from phrase, motive, etc. to larger thematic structures); 'tight' and 'loose' structures; the main formal procedures (fragmentation, liquidation, intensification); the compositional techniques of variation, development and variation in development will also be discussed.
All these categories will be observed through the analysis of instrumental works from the Classical period, with particular attention to the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Students who are unable to attend classes are invited to contact the teachers as soon as possible to arrange individual additions to the programme.
Students not attending Part 1 (Modality) should in any case read B. Meier, The Modes of Classical Vocal Polyphony, New York, Broude Brothers, 1988, pp. 23-234 (or in the original German, Die Tonarten der klassischen Vocalpolyphonie, Utrecht, Oostoek Scheltema & Holkema, 1974, pp. 19-219 or in the Italian translation I modi della polifonia vocale classica, LIM, Lucca, 2015, pp. 11-233).
Due to its highly practical nature, the Analysis part of the course includes numerous exercises that can be done with the help of the professor and/or the course tutor. All students are invited to make use of all the resources available for a gradual and systematic learning.
Students who are unable to attend classes are invited to contact the teacher as soon as possible (at least two months before the exam) to discuss and evaluate their possible prior knowledge and to arrange further reading.
The final exams of Part 1 can also be taken "in itinere". From the summer session, students may take the final examination of each part separately, provided that both parts of the examination are completed within a maximum of three examination sessions.
Students who fall into one of the categories defined by the University and who wish to make use of the inclusive teaching methods provided may also make use of podcast recordings of lectures and related slides for the Modality part, in the manner communicated by the teacher upon request. On the other hand, the methods for assessing learning will remain the same as those foreseen for attending students.
Students not attending Part 1 (Modality) should in any case read B. Meier, The Modes of Classical Vocal Polyphony, New York, Broude Brothers, 1988, pp. 23-234 (or in the original German, Die Tonarten der klassischen Vocalpolyphonie, Utrecht, Oostoek Scheltema & Holkema, 1974, pp. 19-219 or in the Italian translation I modi della polifonia vocale classica, LIM, Lucca, 2015, pp. 11-233).
Due to its highly practical nature, the Analysis part of the course includes numerous exercises that can be done with the help of the professor and/or the course tutor. All students are invited to make use of all the resources available for a gradual and systematic learning.
Students who are unable to attend classes are invited to contact the teacher as soon as possible (at least two months before the exam) to discuss and evaluate their possible prior knowledge and to arrange further reading.
The final exams of Part 1 can also be taken "in itinere". From the summer session, students may take the final examination of each part separately, provided that both parts of the examination are completed within a maximum of three examination sessions.
Students who fall into one of the categories defined by the University and who wish to make use of the inclusive teaching methods provided may also make use of podcast recordings of lectures and related slides for the Modality part, in the manner communicated by the teacher upon request. On the other hand, the methods for assessing learning will remain the same as those foreseen for attending students.
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