Weekly Class Assignments

26 JANUARY 12

1. Review your reading on "The Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy" (pp. 38-39 in Schulenberg and the excerpt in Strunk's Source Readings, Item # 2, pp. 18-26.)
2. [NEW] Read Monteverdi's response to Artusi in Strunk's Source Readings, Item # 3, pp. 27-36.
3. For next week, read Chapter 3 of Schulenberg (pp. 41-60). In particular, focus on the following points):
   • What are the traits of the new sound that is emerging around 1600?
   • What is basso continuo, and how does it work (in general terms)?
   • What are some of the primary instruments associated with the sound of Baroque music? [see especially the links to YouTube demonstrations of some instruments added to the web page with other Anthology recordings.]
   • What is monody and when, where, and how did it arise?
4. [NEW] Read Bardi's letter describing the Florentine Camerata in Strunk's Source Readings, Item # 1, pp. 15-17.
5. Be prepared to work on and discuss the following pieces:
   • Caccini, Sfogava con le stelle (Anthology 5). There is a link to a streaming recording of this item via the "Recordings for Schulenburg, Anthology (2nd ed.)" web page.
   • Caccini, streaming audio examples from Le nuove musiche [Not in the anthology, but available as sound on the course web page.]
6. Instructions for the Major Paper have been updated. Read and be prepared to ask any questions that you might have at the next class meeting. Meanwhile, begin to formulate a project topic, according to these instructions.
7. The ambitious should continue reading into Schulenberg, Chapters 4-5, for the following weeks.

19 JANUARY 12

1. If you have not yet done so, send me an EMAIL from your official UCF account, and in that message indicate that you have READ and UNDERSTAND the course syllabus.
2. For next week, continue reading Chapter 2 of Schulenberg (pp. 15-40). In particular, focus on the following points (partially discussed last week):
   • How is the Baroque era defined? (In the technical terms of its sound? In the philosophical underpinnings?)
   • What issues or "problems" in Late Renaissance music lead to the Baroque? (What is "Musical Rhetoric" and how does this relate to "text painting" and related issues?)
   • How does the "sound" (in all its technical aspects) of various experimental works in the later 16th century differ from the Renaissance ideal (a cappella equal-voiced imitative polyphony)?
   • How (and why) does the modal system of the Medieval-Renaissance eras begin to break down?
3. Be prepared to work on and discuss the following pieces:
   • Gesualdo, Beltá, poi che t'assenti (Anthology 3)
   • Monteverdi, Luci serene (Anthology 4)
   • Monteverdi, Cruda amarilli (download or print a copy from CPDL or other sources)
4. To expand the section on "The Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy" (pp. 38-39 in Schulenberg), read in Strunk's Source Readings, pp. 18-36. In particular, look at the specific complaints by Artusi and defended by Monteverdi as you find them in "Crdua Amarilli."
5. Finish reading Schulenberg, Chapter 3 (p.41-60)
6. Look especially at Caccini, Sfogava con le stelle (Anthology 5). There is a link to a streaming recording of this item via the "Recordings for Schulenburg, Anthology (2nd ed.)" web page.
7. Read the article on "Baroque" in "Grove Music Online" (UCF Library Articles and Databases).
8. The ambitious may continue reading into Schulenberg, Chapters 4-5, for the following weeks.

12 JANUARY 12

1. Locate the Course web site at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~swarfiel/MUH54355/5435home.html and bookmark this site for future reference.
2. Read the course syllabus carefully to make sure that you understand what we will be doing.
3. Send me an EMAIL from your official UCF account, and in that message indicate that you have READ and UNDERSTAND the course syllabus.
4. Start to become conversant with a few of the basic electronic resources for this course, including:
   • The Course Web site itself, including links to external resources.
   • Look especially at the UCF Library web page. Learn how to access "Classical Music Library" and "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians II". (follow the links on the course home page).
   • Learn how to use "Choral Public Domain Library" and the "IMSLP." (link on the course home page)
   • Look at the List of "Recordings for Schulenberg's Anthology, 2nd ed., and also the "Schulenberg Discography and Downloadable Recordings". Note how these items relate to one another, so that you can locate recordings as you need them.
5. Read the article on "Baroque" in "Grove Music Online" (UCF Library Articles and Databases).
6. Start reading Chapters 1-2 of Schulenberg (pp. 1-40). In particular, focus on the following points:
   • How is the Baroque era defined? (In the technical terms of its sound? In the philosophical underpinnings?)
   • What issues or "problems" in Late Renaissance music lead to the Baroque? (What is "Musical Rhetoric" and how does this relate to "text painting" and related issues?)
   • How does the "sound" (in all its technical aspects) of various experimental works in the later 16th century differ from the Renaissance ideal (a cappella equal-voiced imitative polyphony)?
   • How (and why) does the modal system of the Medieval-Renaissance eras begin to break down?
7. Be prepared to work on and discuss the following pieces:
   • Palestrina, Dum complerentur (Anthology 1)
   • Lassus, Timor et tremor (Anthology 2)
   • Gesualdo, Beltá, poi che t'assenti (Anthology 3)
   • Monteverdi, Luci serene (Anthology 4)
   • Monteverdi, Cruda amarilli (download or print a copy from CPDL or other sources)

These last two items are suggested, but not required, because we may not get this far. If you do not get these done, don't panic, but even a bit of reading or study here may be useful.

8. To expand the section on "The Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy" (pp. 38-39), read in Strunk's Source Readings, pp. 18-36.
9. For the ambitious, continue reading into Schulenberg, Chapters 3-4, for the following weeks.

(updated 16 JANUARY 12)