18th CENTURY COUNTERPOINT (FALL 1998)
Professor: Stephen
Peles Office: 252-A Moody
Music Building
Office phone: 348-1472 Office
Hours: by appointment
Materials (bring with you to all classes)
Textbooks: Counterpoint Based on Eighteenth Century
Practice, Kent Kennan (hereafter
"Kennan") – required
A
Practical Approach to Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint, Robert Gauldin optional
but recommended
Other: music paper, note paper, pencils.
Grading
The final grade for this course will be determined as follows.
Homework assignments
and quizzes: 50%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 30%
In accordance with University of Alabama grading
policy, final letter grades are assigned according to the following scale.
A+ = 97-100 A = 93-96 A- =
90-92
B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- =
80-82
C+ = 77-79 C = 73-76 C- =
70-72
D+ = 67-69 D = 63-66 D- =
60-62
F = 0-59
Course material is
presented in three forms: textbook
readings, handouts, and lectures. You are
responsible for all material, regardless of the medium of presentation. A great deal of course content is presented only through the lectures. It is therefore of utmost importance that you bring note paper
and music paper to class and take notes. In the event that you are absent for a
lecture, be sure to get the notes for that class from a classmate.
Attendance Policy:
Students will be
allowed 5 unexcused absences.
Students will be excused for the following
reasons only:
(1) a death in the
family
(2) illness
accompanied by a doctor's excuse indicating that the student was too ill to
attend class
(3) a recognized
departmental or university function
One percentage point
shall be deducted from the final grade for each unexcused absence in excess of
five.
Any student who misses
more than 20% of the total number of classes is advised to withdraw from the
course. Failure to do so will result in
a grade of F.
Schedule*
UNIT I: Introduction; Characteristics of the Single
Melodic Line
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIT II: A Simplified Model of Elementary Tonal
Behavior: Species Counterpoint
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIT III: Harmonic Practice at the End of the Baroque
Era
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIT IV: The Synthesis of Harmony and Counterpoint in
the Baroque Era
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIT V: Motivic Considerations/Introduction to
Imitation
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIT VI: Aspects of Form