WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

School of Music

SYLLABUS
MUSIC 4500 - Music Appreciation - The Symphony

3 credit hours

Prof. Igor Fedotov

Office: Rm.: 1706 Dalton Center
Telephone: 387 4638
Email: igor.fedotov@wmich.edu
Catalog description: The course in THE SYMPHONY is a general music course which
presents music for symphony orchestra from the listener's point of view. It deals with
materials, structure, texture, sonority, and style of orchestral music. Music reading ability
not required. MUS 4500 may not be elected by music majors to fulfill General Education
requirements. Not open to graduate music majors.
Goals of this course:
1. To become familiar with representative examples of the symphonic idiom. Through
repeated listening/viewing to video/audio recordings, the student will learn representative
orchestral masterworks "by their sound".
2. For the student to know factual information about many of the composers of the
symphonic repertoire and to know factual information regarding the orchestra and its
repertoire, and the development of the symphony as a musical form.
Course Requirements and Policies:
1. Required materials:
A. MUS 4500 41397 - http://bit.ly/1P6vWeq
Young People's Concerts (Softcover) (Amadeus) Paperback January 1, 2006
by Leonard Bernstein (Author)
Series:Amadeus
Paperback:380pages
Publisher:AmadeusPress;Softcoveredition(January1,2006)
Language:English
ISBN-10:1574671022
ISBN-13:9781574671025

B. Concert tickets, as necessary

2. Students must arrive on time and not depart until class is dismissed. A quiet classroom
environment MUST be maintained. This is extremely important, because much class
time will be spent listening to music which requires quiet classroom
3. Attendance in class and at required events is essential. Students may not miss lessons
unless they produce a university - accepted excuse for absences. Students may not leave
class without prior permission from professor.
4. Each student MUST attend any four (4) symphony concerts/rehearsals of the
WMU Symphony Orchestra (listed below). Every required concert attendance will
be counted as a class attendance. Those four (4) concerts will substitute four (4)
lectures.

WMU Symphony Orchestra

http://www.wmich.edu/music/orchestra/calendar.html

WMU Symphony Orchestra Repertoire 2015-16

October 4, 2015 Sunday 3PM
WMU School of Music Collage Concert
Miller Auditorium
Prelude to Die Meistersinger WWV 96 Richard Wagner

October 11, 2014 Sunday 3 PM

Stulberg Silver Soloist Oliver Herbert, Cello
Miller Auditorium
Prelude to Die Meistersinger WWV 96 Richard Wagner
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in A minor Op 129- R. Schumann (25)
w/ Oliver Herbert, Cello
The Planets Gustav Holst prepared by Imogen Holst and Colin
Matthews (51)

Saturday, October 31
USO dress rehearsal 9 AM - Noon in WMU School, of Music
Recital Hall (RH)
November 1, 2015 Sunday 3:00PM in Recital Hall
Folk Flavors
Dance of the Yao People Liu Tieshan/Mao Yuan (7)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor Op. 95 New World Antonin Dvorak (40)

12/3/15 USO Rehearsal in SoM Recital Hall, observe

to write reaction paper.
December 5, 2015 Saturday 8:00 PM in Recital Hall
MMC Preview
Prelude to Die Meistersinger WWV 96 Richard Wagner (9)
5. Students will be required to write four (4) "Reaction Papers" which will report on their
concert attendance experiences. These papers should report students' observations and
reactions; they are not intended to be exercises in "music criticism." These papers
should be not less than 800 words
All "Reaction Papers must be submitted electronically (WORD or PDF) as an
attachment sent to instructor via e mail igor.fedotov@wmich.edu not later than Monday
12/14 noon.
6. All scores on exams and assignments will be based on 100 points. Your final grade
will be determined by the following formula:
Final Exam
Quizzes
Reaction papers

30%
30%
40%

Grading Scale:
Letter Grade
A
BA
B
CB
C
DC
D
F

Percentage
93-100%
87-92%
83-86%
77-82%
73-76%
67-72%
60-66%
0-59%

Performance
Excellent Work
Very Good Work
Good Work
Above Average Work
Average Work
Below Average Work
Poor Work
Failing Work

7. Any student who requires additional advising for this class may contact the professor
immediately following class to make an appointment to see him.
`
8. You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and
procedures in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs that pertain to Academic
Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple
submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. [The policies can be found at
http://catalog.wmich.edu under Academic Policies, Student Rights and Responsibilities.]
If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be
referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the

charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a
hearing. You should consult with your instructor if you are uncertain about an issue of
academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.
Please check: www.wmich.edu/conduct, www.wmich.edu/registrar and
www.wmich.edu/disabilityservices to access the Code of Honor and general academic
policies on such issues as diversity, religious observance, student disabilities, etc.
MUS 4500
FALL 2015
LESSONS SCHEDULE ( subject to change):
9/8/15

Introduction to the course

ORCHESTRA
9/10/15

CHAPTER 1: History of the Orchestra development. Western musical

instruments., Symphony Orchestra instruments.

9/15//15

CHAPTER 2: The Anatomy of the Symphony Orchestra.

The roles of various sections of the orchestra are revealed by Respighis
The Pines of Rome. L. Bernstein analyzes each of the works four
movements, and conducts piece in its entirety.

9/17/15

No Class since concert attendance is required. All reaction papers alone

could be submitted to the professor starting with the next lesson following
the concert, but not later than Monday 12/14/15 noon.

9/22/15

CHAPTER 3: What is Orchestration?

How might you arrange music for a whole orchestra to play? This program
shows you the rich variety of choices you face. You need to know what all
the instruments can do, and how to handle the instruments alone and
together. You need a sense of style, too. (film)
1d QUIZ CHAPTER 1 & 2

9/24/15

CHAPTER 4: What makes music Symphonic? Unlike pop music,

Symphonic music takes simple musical themes and then develops themthat is, changes and expands them in a dazzling variety of costumes. To
dress up music symphonicaly the composer may rearrange the notes,
add chords, change the pitch, modify the tempos, plan one them against
another. The possibilities are endless

9/29/15

CHAPTER 5: What is Sonata form? A typical sonata movement is an

expanded version of everyday song. Once you can hear the three basic

sections and the drama of changing keys, youll be an expert on sonata

form What makes music Symphonic? Cont. (film)
2nd QUIZ CHAPTER 3 & 4
MUSICAL ATOMS
10/1/15

CHAPTER 6: Musical Atoms: A Study of intervals

An atom of music is not a single note at all, but at leas two notes. That
two note relationship, or interval, is the heart and soul of music. In this
program youll that intervals work to create tow quite separate
phenomena: melody and harmony. If you grasp just these two points, there
is nothing in music you wont be able to understand.
What is melody? A tune is a simple piece you can hum or sing.
Symphonic music often starts not with tune, but with several shorter
fragments, which are then woven into melody. An orchestra may also play
two different melodies at the same time, yielding a fascinating tapestry of
sound known as counterpoint.

10/6/15

CHAPTER 7: What is Mode? Much of the music we love best is based on

ancient musical scale called modes Each of the eight modes imparts its
own distinctive sound (film dorian) What is Mode? Cont. (film)
3d QUIZ CHAPTER 5 & 6

10/8/15

CHAPTER 8: Does Orchestra Has Its Own Sound, film. The Sound of an
orchestra. A great orchestra should not have its own sound, piece after
piece, year after year. What makes an orchestra great is its ability to
change at will. Works by Haydn, Brahms, Debussy, Stravinsky, Gershwin,
and Copland

10/13/15

CHAPTER 9: The sound of the Hall. Acoustics and the acoustic properties
of the Philharmonic Hall. Film.
4th QUIZ CHAPTER 7 & 8

THE BAROQUE (1600 -- 1750) & CLASSICAL PERIOD (1740 -- 1825)

10/15/15

CHAPTER 10: Observation of Baroque (1600-1750), early musical

instruments and orchestra development. Opera and Choral music with
orchestral accompaniment.

10/20/15

Observation of Baroque cont.

10/22/15

J.S. Bach Transmogrified. Film

10/27/15

CHAPTER 11: Classical Period (1750-1820)

5th QUIZ CHAPTER 10

10/29/15

10/3/15
11/5/15

No Class since concert attendance is required. All reaction papers alone

could be submitted to the professor starting with the next lesson following
the concert, but not later than Monday 12/14/15 noon.
What is Classical Music cont.
Works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn
TBA
6th QUIZ CHAPTER 11

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (1825 - 1900)

11/10/15

CHAPTER 12: Berlioz Takes Trip (Romantic Period 1820-1900)

The Symphonie fantastique, a musical illustration or obsessive, unrequited
love, features a yearning theme of the beloved that keeps returning in
endless forms and shaped.

11/12/15

CHAPTER 13: Nationalism in the Music of XIX Century, American music

What is American Music? U.S. composers give their music certain
characteristic American sounds: the loud optimism of youth; the openspaced loneliness of the Wild West; the sweetness of church hymns; Latin
American color and snap; cool African American syncopation. These
musical accents let you feel what it means to be and American-a
descendant of all the nations on Earth. Works by Gershwin, Dvorak

11/17/15

CHAPTER 14: Impressionism (1880-1920)

The concert pieces of Debussy and Ravel, like the dreamy paintings of
Monet, Degas, and Renoir, draw on the French notion that suggestion can
be more powerful that realism. La Mer (Debussy) plus excerpts from
Daphnis et Chloe (Ravel).
7th QUIZ CHAPTER 12 &13

NEW ERA, XXth. CENTURY MUSIC

11/19/15

CHAPTER 15: The New Music. Tribute to Shostakovich

11/24/15

No Class since concert attendance is required. All reaction papers alone

could be submitted to the professor starting with the next lesson following
the concert, but not later than Monday 12/14/15 noon.

11/26/15

THANKSGIVING, no class

12/1/14

No Class since concert attendance is required. All reaction papers alone

could be submitted to the professor starting with the next lesson following
the concert, but not later than Monday 12/14/15 noon.

12/3/15

8th QUIZ CHAPTER 14 &15

USO Rehearsal in SoM Recital Hall, observe to write reaction paper.

SOLOIST, CONDUCTOR & ORCHESTRA

12/8/15

What is a Concerto? Audiences in the 1700s were fond of

the concerto grosso a piece written for a big orchestra that was
accompanied by a little orchestra. Over the centuries the little orchestra
shrank-right down to a single player. The concerto as we know it today is
often an orchestral piece with a brilliant showoff part for a particular
solo instrument. Famous soloists with orchestra
Arts of Conducting, famous conductors

12/10/15

TBA