MUSIC223B

The course will present post-1945 works with timbre serving as an organizing principle or compositional metaphor, in the context of historical works in which timbre plays a structural role. Composers considered may include: Alvin Lucier, Pauline Oliveros and other American experimentalists; Scelsi and his influence on the French Spectral school; the first and subsequent generations of French Spectralism; and contemporary composers of experimental music such as Peter Ablinger. Topics will include: process and form; timbre in relation to time and space; harmonicity and noise; and the influence of analog and digital technology on instrumental composition. This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit for AII.