Music

Budding virtuosos with a concert career in mind usually don't come to the University to concentrate in Music. But if you want to learn the grammar and syntax of music, concentration in this field should be perfect for you.

There are six courses required for concentrators. The most basic of these, Music 51, has prerequisites calling for reasonable facility at the piano (including sight reading) and a sense of pitch and rhythm.

Music 51 is tough at first for those who have not had much theory, but the course is generally popular. Professor French, department head, normally teaches it, but he will be replaced by Professor Thompson while on leave next fall. French, always a popular instructor, is noted for his interest in the students.

Besides Music 51, required courses are Orchestration, either Modal or Tonal Counterpoint, Advanced Harmony, Analysis of Musical Form and Introduction to the Historical Study of Music.

No Stress on Lectures

All but the last of these courses aims at the technical side of music. None of them are lecture courses.

As a matter of fact, the only real lecture course offered by the Department is Music I. This is not primarily a course for concentrators, and deals with the history of music on a more or less elementary level. It is always a favorite with auditors.

For the most part, the Music courses are conducted as discussion groups to provide a maximum of contact between the teacher and student--one of the things most concentrators find especially rewarding.

Wanderlust: An Asset

The Music Department goes on the principle that every aspect of music is related to and ouriches every other aspect. This is where the Department is more or less unique: rather than allowing narrow specialization, it encourages diversity of interest.

Honors candidates find that the length of their thesis is strictly up to them. They get tutorial in their senior year; there is none for non-honors concentrators.

The Department can count on an average of 20 new concentrators a year, about one-quarter of whom go on to graduate work. Next year's entrants, though they will miss such attractions as the feelthy pictures on Paino's walls, should have a good time in the field. And if they feel the need for "practical music" there are always the Glee Club and Orchestra.