Piano Literature & Performance: 1900 - P

This course will explore the piano repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with a focus on performance. The course consists of four modules: European piano music prior to WWII, the American pioneers, multiplicity of directions and cultural identities in piano music 1945-present (prepared piano, indeterminacy, integrated serialism, minimalism), and the piano music of Columbia University composers (including electronic music at the Computer Music Center, spectral piano, Center for United States-China Arts Exchange, microtonal music). We will explore the constantly evolving
musical notation and performance practices. Through lectures, discussions, reading, listening, analysis, and performance projects, students will gain an understanding of the aesthetic of a wide array of keyboard literature, notation, and performance techniques.