A number of electives in Performance are offered on a regular basis. They include:
Music 220/221: The Performance of Chamber Music I and II
Professor Wendy Sharp
A course for instrumentalists, including pianists, that emphasizes the development of ensemble skills, musical preparation of chamber music masterworks, and analysis through performance. Weekly coaching sessions and rehearsals are supplemented by monthly studio classes and performances. Admission by audition only; individuals and pre-formed groups are encouraged to audition.
Music 222: The Performance of Vocal Music.
Professor Richard Lalli
A course for singers and pianists that emphasizes the analysis and musical preparation of classical solo song and operatic repertoire. Examination of structure (poetic, harmonic, motivic), discussion of style, exploration of vocal techniques, and introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet. Staged performance of madrigals by Monteverdi in conjunction with the Yale Baroque Opera Project; performance of lieder by Schubert and Schumann. Students are strongly encouraged to supplement the course with individual voice instruction.
Music 225: Sacred Harp and American Hymnody
Professor Ian Quinn
Introduction to the unaccompanied congregational hymn-singing practice known as Sacred Harp. Origins in Puritan New England, migration to the post-Reconstruction rural South, and contemporary revival in American urban communities. Musical forms and singing styles, analysis of hymn texts, and social and religious meanings of Sacred Harp practice. Students participate in the weekly Yale-New Haven Regular Singing (YNHRS), a traditional-style Sacred Harp singing group. No previous singing experience required.
Music 228/229: Performing and Directing Musical Theater I and II.
Professor Annette Jolles.
A study of the structure and meaning of traditional and contemporary musical theater repertoire. Focus on ways to read a work, decipher compositional cues for character and action, facilitate internalization of material, and elicit lucid interpretations. For singers, pianists, and directors.
Music 238: Contemporary Chamber Music Performance.
Maiaini da Silva
Contemporary chamber music ensemble that emphasizes collaborative workshopping methods for the performance of recent professional repertoire and pieces written by student and faculty composers. Students learn about musical analysis through performance, extended techniques, and the instrumentalists’ role in bringing to life a new piece.
Music 240: The Performance of Early Music.
Professor Grant Herreid.
A study of musical styles of the twelfth through early eighteenth centuries, including examination of manuscripts, musicological research, transcription and score preparation, and performance. Students in this class form the nucleus of the Yale Collegium Musicum.
Music 340: Analyzing, Directing, and Performing Early Opera
Professor Grant Herreid
Study of a seventeenth-century Venetian opera, with attention to structural analysis of text and music. Exploration of period performance practice, including rhetorical expression, musical style, gesture, dance, Italian elocution, and visual design. Production of the opera in conjunction with the Yale Baroque Opera Project.
Music 449: Jazz Improvisation
Professor Wayne Escoffery
In this course students study basic, intermediate, and advanced concepts of improvisation and learn the essentials for the Jazz Language through solo transcription and analysis.