Courses:

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This page presents the required listening for the course.

• A few selections are offered in their entirety via links to WGBH Radio's Art of the States Web site.
• Sixty-second samples of most other selections are provided by links to Amazon.com. Click on a recording title and scroll down to "Listen to Samples."

Course listenings.

LEC #	LISTENING
1
Prelude: 1900-1960
2	Schoenberg, Arnold. "Pierrot lunaire." (1912). Jan de Gaetani, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21; The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15. Nonesuch, 1993. ———. "Variations for Orchestra." (1928). Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta. Verklärte Nacht Op. 4; Pieces Op.16/1-5. Decca, 1997. Berg, Alban. "Five Orchestral Songs (Altenberg-Lieder)." (1912). Margaret Price, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado. Lulu Suite, Alternberg-Lieder. ———. "Wozzeck." (1922). Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Pierre Boulez. Wozzek. Sony, 1997. ———. "Lulu." (1935). Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Ulf Schirmer. Lulu. Chandos, 1997. Webern, Anton. "Slow Movement for String Quartet" (1905), "Six Bagatelles for String Quartet." (1913), "Piano Variations" (1936). Various performers. Complete Webern. Deutsche Grammophon, 2000.
3	Stravinsky, Igor. "The Rite of Spring."(1913). Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ozawa. The Rite of Spring. RCA, 1999. ———. "The Rake's Progress." (1951). Dawn Upshaw et al., Lyon Opera Orchestra. The Rake's Progress. Erato, 1996. Ravel, Maurice. "Le tombeau de Couperin." (1917). Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa. Ravel: Orchestral Works. Deutsche Grammophon, 1995. Bartók, Béla. "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta." (1936). Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez. The Miraculous Mandarin; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Deutsche Grammophon, 1996. Messiaen, Olivier. "Quartet for the End of Time." (1940). Richard Stolzman et al. Quartet for the End of Time. RCA, 1985. Varèse, Edgard. "Hyperprism." (1923). Asko Ensemble, Ricardo Chailly. Varèse - The Complete Works. Decca, 1998.
4	Boulez, Pierre. "Structures I." (1952). Alfons Kontarsky, Aloys Kontarsky. Structures pour deux pianos. Wergo, 1993. ———. "Le marteau sans maître." (1954). Ensemble InterContemporain. Boulez Conducts Boulez. Deutsche Grammophon, 2005. Stockhausen, Karlheinz. "Gesang der Jünglinge." (1956). Stockhausen-Verlag CD 3. ———. "Zyklus." (1959). Stockhausen-Verlag CD 6. Varèse, Edgard. "Poème électronique." (1958). Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ricardo Chailly. Varèse - The Complete Works. Decca, 1998. Xenakis, Iannis. "Metastasis." (1954). Ensemble Instrumental de Musique Contemporaine de Paris. Xenakis: Metastasis; Pithoprakta; Eonta. Le Chant du Monde, 1993.
Unit One: Order and Entropy
5	Boulez, Pierre. "Pli selon Pli." (1957-62). Ensemble Intercontemporain. Pli selon Pli. Deutsche Grammophon, 2002. - Required: I. Don (du poème); III. Improv. sur Mallarmé II. - Optional: II. Improv. sur Mallarmé I; IV. Improv. sur Mallarmé III; V. Tombeau. Shapey, Ralph. "Incantations." (1961). London Sinfonietta. Covenant; Incantations. Composers Recordings, 1995. Nono, Luigi. "Canti di vita e d'amore." (1962). Canti di vita e d'amor - Per Bastiana - Omaggio a Vedova. Wergo, 1995. Stravinsky, Igor. "Requiem canticles." (1965-66). Craft, Orchestra of St. Luke's. Igor Stravinsky: The Composer, Volume One. Music Masters, 1991.
6	Martino, Donald. "Notturno." (1973). Speculum Musicae. Notturno: Music by Donald Martino. Albany Records, 1995. Carter, Elliott. "A mirror on which to dwell." (1975). Speculum Musicae, Schadeberg. The Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 1: Vocal Works. Bridge, 1993. Xenakis, Iannis. "Pléiades." (1979). Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Pleiades. Harmonia Mundi, 1996. Wuorinen, Charles. "Capriccio." (1981). Alan Fienberg. Wuorinen: Third Piano Sonata; Bagatelle; Capriccio / Feldman: Palais De Mari. Koch, 1996.
7	Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Selections from "Saturday from Light." (1981-83). Saturday from Light. Stockhausen-Verlag CD 34. - Greeting - Lucifer's Farewell: Exit Ferneyhough, Brian. "Intermedio alla ciccona." (1986). Ferneyhough: La Chute d'Icare et al. Etcetera, 2000. Boulez, Pierre. "Sur incises." (1996-98). Ensemble Intercontemorain. Sur Incises/Messagesquisse/Anthèms 2. Deutsche Grammophon, 2000.
Unit Two: Mavericks
8	Penderecki, Krzysztov. "Threnody." (1960). Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus. Matrix 5. EMI Classics, 1994. Ligeti, György. "Atmosphères." (1961). Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Ligeti Project II. Teldec, 2002. Lutoslawski, Witold. "Trois poèmes d'Henri Michaux." (1963). Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Krakow Radio Chorus. Lutoslawski: Orchestral Works; Songs; String Quartet. EMI Classics, 2004. Partch, Harry. "And on the seventh day petals fell on Petaluma." (1964). Gate 5 Ensemble of the World. Danlee Mitchell. The Harry Partch Collection, Volume 2. New World Records, 2004. Husa, Karel. "Music for Prague." (1968). Eastman Wind Ensemble. Mark Kellogg, William Williams, et al. Eastman Wind Ensemble Plays Husa, Copland, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith. Sony, 1989. Scelsi, Giacinto. "Khoom." (1962). Frank Lloyd, Arditti String Quartet, and Maurizio Ben Omar. Giacinto Scelsi: 5 String Quartets; String Trio; Khoom. Naive, 2002. - Required: Episodes 1, 2, 5, and 7. - Optional: Episodes 3, 4, and 6.
9	Crumb, George. "Ancient voices of children." (1970). Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Ancient Voices of Children. Nonesuch, 1990. Kurtág, György. "Messages of the late Miss R. V. Troussova." (1980). InterContemporain Ensemble. Adrienne Csengery and Martha Fabian. Pierre Boulez: Schoenberg, Berio, Carter, Kurtág, Xenakis. Elektra/Wea, 1995. Birtwistle, Harrison. "Secret theatre." (1984). London Sinfonietta. Birtwistle: Secret Theatre; Silbury Air. Etcetera, 1994.
10	Nancarrow, Conlon. "Studies for Player Piano: Studies no. 5, 15, 21, 27, 33, 40A, 40B." Studies for Player Piano. Wergo, 2000. ———. "Studies for Player Piano: Study no. 36." (RM). (Listen to a RealPlayer stream of the complete work from WGBH's Art of the States. Ligeti, György. "Etudes for piano solo, Book 1." (1985). Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano. Sony, 1997. 1. Désordre 2. Cordes à vide 3. Touches bloquées 6. Automne à Varsovie "Etudes for piano solo, Book 2." (1988-94) 10. Der Zauberlehrling 11. En suspens Dutilleux, Henri. "Mystère de l'instant." (1989). BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Edward Cervenka. Dutilleux: Metaboles; Concerto for Cello. Chandos, 1997. Birtwistle, Harrison. "Harrison's clocks." (1997-98). - Required: I, III, and IV. - Optional: II and V.
Unit Three: New Sounds, New Technologies
11	Davidovsky, Mario. "Synchronisms no. 3 for cello and tape." (1965). Matt Haimovitz. The 20th Century Cello. Deutsche Grammophon, 2005. Davidovsky, Mario. "Synchronisms no. 6 for piano and tape." (1970). Aleck Karis, et al. The Music of Mario Davidovsky, Vol. 3. Bridge, 2005. Berio, Luciano. "Sequenza III." (1965-66). Cathy Berberian. Berio: Circles; Sequenzas 1, 3 & 5. Wergo, 1993. Babbitt, Milton. "Phonemena." (1969-70; tape version 1975). Lynne Webber, and Jerry Kuderna. Milton Babbitt: Philomel. New World Records, 1995. Background Selections, Not on Quiz Stockhausen, Karlheinz. "Gesang der Jünglinge." (1956). Etude: Studie I and II, Gesang der Jünglinge, Kontakte. Stockhausen-Verlag CD 3. Cage, John. "Aria." (1958). Leipzig String Quartet and the Avantgarde Ensemble. Salome Kammer. Cage: Music for Eight. MP&G Records, 1996. Varèse, Edgard. "Poème électronique." (1958). Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Varèse - The Complete Works. Decca, 1998.
12	Lansky, Paul. "Six fantasies on a poem by Thomas Campion." (1978-79). Fantasies and Tableaux. Composers Recordings, 1995. Boulez, Pierre. "Répons." (1981-84). Sections 1, 2, 5, and 6. InterContemporain Ensemble. Frederique Cambreling, Florent Boffard, Dimitri Vassilakis, Vincent Bauer, Michel Cerutti, and Daniel Ciampolini. Pierre Boulez: Répons. Deutsche Grammophon, 1999. Benjamin, George. Antara (1985-87) London Sinfonietta. Richard Blake, Sebastian Bell, Ishiro Nodaira, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. A Mind of Winter. Nimbus Records, 2000. Davidovsky, Mario. "Synchronisms no. 9." (1988). (RM) (Listen to a RealPlayer stream of the complete work from WGBH's Art of the States.)
13	Saariaho, Kaija. "Noa noa." (1992). Camilla Hoitenga. Saariaho: Private Gardens. Ondine, 1998. Harvey, Jonathan. "Song offerings." (1985). London Sinfonietta. Penelope Walmsley-Clark. Jonathan Harvey: Song Offerings; Madonna of Winter and Spring. Nimbus Records, 2000. Murail, Tristan. "Allégories." (1989). Ensemble Fa. Dominique Vidal, Nicolas Piguet, Patrice Bocquillon, Francoise Pillie, Patrice Petitdidier, Veronique Marin, and Bruno Lhuissier. Tristan Murail: Allegories; Vues aeriennes; Territoires de l'oubli. Accord, 1995. La Barbara, Joan. "Shamansong." (1992). Erika Duke Kirkpatrick, and Joan La Barbara. Shamansong. New World Records, 1998. Oswald, John. "Ace Sob Unit: Pocket." (1987). "Dally Proton: Pretender." (1988). "Randall Hero: Rainbow." (1989). "Sushi Dart Scar: X24." (1993). "Data Gel Freud: Fold." (1995). Plunderphonics. Plunderphonics 69/96. Seeland Records, 2001. Reference: Twin, Aphex, (Richard D. James). "Cock/Ver10." (2001). Drukgs. Sire/London/Rhino, 2001. ———, arr. Stefan Freund. "Cock/Ver10." (2005). Alarm Will Sound. Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin. Cantaloupe, 2005. Reference: ——— (Richard D. James). "Meltphace 6." (2001). Drukgs. Sire/London/Rhino, 2001. ———, arr. Payton MacDonald. "Meltphace 6." (2005). Alarm Will Sound. Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin. Cantaloupe, 2005.
Unit Four: Quotation and Polystyle
14	Stockhausen, Karlheinz. "Hymnen." (1966-67). Region II. Aloys Kontarsky, Alfred Alings, Rolf Gehlhaar, Johannes G. Fritsch, Harald Bojé, and K. Stockhausen. Hymnen. Stockhausen-Verlag CD 10. Berio, Luciano. "Sinfonia." (1968-69). Orchestre National de France, Swingle Singers, and Regis Pasquier. Berio: Sinfonia; Eindrücke. Erato, 1992. Davies, Peter Maxwell. "Eight songs for a mad king." (1969). Julius Eastman, Alan Hacker, Jennifer Ward Clarke, Fires of London, Stephen Pruslin, Duncan Druce, and Judith Pearce. Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King for male voice & chamber; Miss Donnithorne's Maggot. Unicorn, 1993.
15	The Beatles. "Lucy in the sky with diamonds," "Fixing a hole," "She's leaving home," "Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite," "A day in the life." (1967). Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Capitol, 1990. Bernstein, Leonard. "Mass." (1971). Alan Titus, Norman Scribner Choir, and Berkshire Boy Choir. Mass. Sony, 1997. I. Devotions before Mass IV. Confession V. Meditation no. 1 XIV. Sanctus XV. Agnus Dei Gruber, H. K. "Frankenstein!!" (1971-78). London Mob Ensemble and Salzburg Camerata Academica. H. K. Gruber. HK Gruber: Frankenstein!!. Angel Records, 1998. Bolcom, William. "Songs of experience." (1981-84). University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Christine Brewer, Ilana Davidson, et al. William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Naxos, 2004. Part III: The Clod And The Pebble The Little Vagabond Holy Thursday A Poisin Tree The Angel The Sick Rose To Tirzah
16	Schnittke, Alfred. "String quartet no. 3." (1983). Kronos Quartet. Schnittke: Complete String Quartets. Nonesuch, 1998. Harbison, John. "November 19, 1828: Hallucination in Four Episodes for piano and string trio." (1988). Atlanta Chamber Players. Conversations: A 20th Anniversary Salute To American Composers. ACA Digital, 1996. Zorn, John. "Cat-o'-nine-tails." (1988). Cartoon S&M. Tzadik, 1999. Golijov, Osvaldo. "Ayre." (2004). The Andalucian Dogs. Dawn Upshaw. Golijov: Ayre. Deutsche Grammophon, 2005.
Unit Five: The Minimalist Impulse
17	Riley, Terry. "In C." (1964). In C: 25th Anniversary Concert. New Albion, 1995. Reich, Steve. "Music for 18 Musicians." (1976). Pulses, Sections 1-IV Jeanne LeBlanc, Evan Ziporyn, et al. Music for 18 Musicians. Nonesuch, 1998. Glass, Philip. "Einstein on the beach." (1976). Richard Peck, Milton Glaser, Jon Gibson, Iris Hiskey, and Richard Landry. Einstein on the Beach. Sony, 1990. Act IV, Scene 1: Building, Train Act IV, Scene 2: Bed Act IV, Scene 3: Spaceship Philip Glass Ensemble. Adams, John. "Shaker loops." (1978). Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. John Adams: Shaker Loops; The Wound-Dresser; Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Naxos, 2004. King Crimson. "Frame by frame," "Discipline." Discipline. Caroline, 2001. Anderson, Laurie. "From the air," "O Superman (for Massenet)." (1981). Big Science. Warner Bros / WEA, 1982.
18	Górecki, Henryk. "Symphony no. 3." (1976). London Sinfonietta. Dawn Upshaw. Henryk Gorecki: Symphony 3 "Sorrowful Songs". Nonesuch, 1992 I. Lento - Sostenuto tranquillo ma cantabile. Andriessen, Louis. "De Staat." (1973-76). Arnold Schoenberg Choir. De Staat. Nonesuch, 1992. Pärt, Arvo. "Berlin Mass." (1990). Christopher Bowers-Broadbent. I Am The True Vine: Arvo Part. Harmonia Mundi, 2000. Adams, John. "Nixon in China." (1985-87). St Luke's Chorus, St Luke's Orchestra. Sanford Sylvan, James Maddalena, et al. Nixon in China. Nonesuch, 1999. Act I, Scene 1: "Landing of the Spirit of '76," "Your flight was smooth, I hope?," and "News has a kind of mystery." Act III: "You won at poker," and "I am old and cannot sleep."
19	Monk, Meredith. "Atlas." (1987-91). Atlas. ECM, 2000. Torke, Michael. "Adjustable wrench." (1987). London Sinfonietta. Javelin: The Music of Michael Torke. Polygram Records, 1996. Ruehr, Elena. "Shimmer." (1994). Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. Metamorphosen Performs Chamber Orchestral Works. Albany Records, 1996. Wolfe, Julia. "Lick." (1994). Classics. Cantaloupe, 2002. Ziporyn, Evan. "Partial truths." (1997). This is not a Clarinet. Cantaloupe, 2001. Adams, John. "On the transmigration of souls." (2002). New York Philharmonic. Sam Adams, Philip Smith, Deborah L. O'Grady, Morgan Staples, Ditsa Pines, Preben Antonson, and Emily Adam. On the Transmigration of Souls. Nonesuch, 2004. Robison, Brian. "The Congress of the Insomniacs." (2003). MIT Wind Ensemble. Waking Winds. Innova Records, 2004.
Unit Six: The Persistence of Tonality
20	Shostakovich, Dmitry. "String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, op. 110." Manhattan String Quartet. Judith Glyde. Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 6, 7, 8. Essay, 1994. Britten, Benjamin. "War requiem." (1961). II. Dies irae London Symphony Orchestra and Melos Ensemble of London. Simon Preston, Peter Pears, Galina Vishnievskaya, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Britten - War Requiem. Decca, 1990. Rochberg, George. "String quartet no. 3." (1972). Part C: IV. March; V. Finale Concord String Quartet. Rochberg: String Quartets Nos. 3-6. New World Records, 1999. Tower, Joan. "Petroushskates." (1980). (RM) (Listen to a RealPlayer stream of the complete work from WGBH's Art of the States. ———. "Fanfare for the uncommon woman no. 1." (1986). "Fanfare for the uncommon woman no. 4." (1992). Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Tower: Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman. Koch Int'l Classics, 1999. Del Tredici, David. "Final Alice." (1976). Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Sir Georg Solti, and Barbara Hendricks. Final Alice. 33 rpm LP. London, 1981.
21	Harbison, John. "Mirabai songs." (1982). Orchestra of St. Luke's. Dawn Upshaw. Knoxville Summer. Nonesuch, 1990. Albert, Steven. "Symphony: RiverRun." (1983). 20th Century Consort. Lucy Shelton. Albert: Symphony RiverRun/To Wake the Dead. Delos Records, 1992. III. Beside the rivering water IV. RiversEnd Piazzolla, Astor. "Hora cero [Zero hour]." (1965). Sexteto European. The Lausanne Concert. Milan Records, 2006. ———. "Sex-tet." (1989). Sexteto European. The Lausanne Concert. Milan Records, 2006. Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe. "Quintet for clarinet and string quartet." (1990). Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Ida Kavafian, Fred Sherry, and Paul Neubauer. Five American Clarinet Quintets. Delos Records, 1998. Corigliano, John. Symphony no. 1. (1990). Stephen Hough, and John Sharp. John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1. Erato, 1991. I. Apologue: Of rage and remembrance Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
22	Larsen, Libby. "Marimba concerto." (1992). Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Marin Alsop. Larsen: Solo Symphony; Marimba Concerto: After Hampton. Koch Int'l Classics, 2001. Kernis, Aaron Jay. "Still movement with hymn." (1993). San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Carter Brey, Christopher O'Riley, Paul Neubauer, and Pamela Frank. Aaron Jay Kernis: Colored Field/Still Movement With Hymn. Decca, 1996. Tan, Dun. "Ghost opera." (1994). Kronos Quartet. Donald Hamilton, Wu Man. Ghost Opera. Nonesuch, 1997. Higdon, Jennifer. "running the edgE." (1996). Lesbian American Composers. Composers Recordings, 1998. Child, Peter. "Fantasia." (2003) Mark Kroll. The Contemporary Harpsichord. Albany Records, 2004. A longer 2 minute sample is also available at Peter Child's Compositions page. Shadle, Charles. "The penny ballad of Elvious Ricks." (2005). No recording available.
Unit Seven: Agora
23-26	Klein, Guillermo. "Con Brasil adentro - Fuga X," and "La última." Los Guachos III. Sunny Side, 2002. ———. "Intercambio moral." Live in Barcelona. FS New Talent, 2005.