This course will concentrate on music in the classical tradition written since 1900. We will start with the German-Austrian tradition before World War II, move on to modernism in other countries, and conclude with the avant-garde and post-war developments. We will study both composers generally considered to be at the center of the canon of modern music and composers and traditions that have been excluded from it.

Our theme will be the problems that twentieth-century composers face and the strategies they adopt to solve them. We will start with Arnold Schoenberg, using his music and writings in a case study of the situation of a modernist composer. As we encounter other composers, we will see in what ways the problems they face and the strategies they pursue are like those of Schoenberg and in what ways they differ.

1. By the end of the semester, you should have a framework for understanding what composers did in this century, why they did it, and how their music was constructed.
2. As part of the framework, you should be able to summarize the mainstream of modernist music in these years, distinguish it from other contemporary streams, and show how it differs from other periods.
3. As part of the what, you will be expected throughout the term to be able to identify the works we study by sight or by ear, up to a reasonable level of proficiency, and to discriminate between the styles of the composers we concentrate on. You should also be able to identify composers, pieces, and other important names and terms we encounter, to summarize the careers of major composers, and to show a general knowledge of major events and trends of the century.
4. As part of the why, you will be expected to be able to synopsize and critique writings by composers about music, including their own.
5. As part of the how, you will be expected to be able to understand and summarize analyses of pieces from this period that behave in ways unlike music written earlier.
6. Finally, you should be able to take new facts and plug them into the framework you have learned, showing that you can apply a general view of twentieth-century classical music in your future work.

There is no "textbook" per se for this course. The main "text" is the music itself, and the secondary "text" is a series of readings, including composers' writings about their own and others' music, a few articles that will serve as starting points for discussion, and some articles by me that present material I would otherwise present in lecture. Some of the readings are in the following collection of readings, available from the bookstores:

• Morgan, Robert P., ed. The Twentieth Century. Vol. 7 of Strunk's Source Readings in Music History, rev. ed. Leo Treitler. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.

I strongly recommend that you study together. Talk with each other about issues raised in class or in the readings. Share hints about what to listen for in the music. Compare notes from class or the readings. Are you getting the same main points out of an article or class session? If you do not understand something, ask a classmate to explain it to you. If you know something well, find someone who does not understand it and teach it to them; by the time you are done, you will either know it inside out or will realize that you do not know it as well as you thought (both common experiences among teachers!).

Remember, the goal is to learn the material. The more you share your knowledge with others, and the more you listen to what they have to say, the more you will learn. If you do not learn more from your classmates than you do from me, I will be very surprised.

Much of your study time will be devoted to listening. Listen to each piece at least twice, perhaps before and again after it is treated in class.

Listening cannot be hurried, so allow enough time for it. Ask yourself how the piece is put together, how it is like other pieces you know and how it is different, and how it fits into the traditions we are studying.

Remember that the music is more important than all the talk about it, even what is said in class. Try not to approach music you have never heard through the fog of what others have said about it (even what is said in class or what the composer says!), for much of what is said and written about music can be misleading until you know the music itself. This is one reason for listening to the music and writing about it in your journal before we discuss it in class.