Tin Pan Opera

Speranza

Larry Hamberlin

 

Associate Professor of Music

Larry Hamberlin teaches courses in Western classical music, American music, jazz, rock, and musical theater. His publications include:

Tin Pan Opera Rag: Operatic Novelties in the Ragtime Era (Oxford University Press, 2011)

“The Beethoven Allusions in ‘Auf dem Strom’ (D.928),” in Unknown Schubert, ed. Barbara Reul (Ashgate, 2008)

“Visions of Salome: The Femme Fatale in American Popular Songs before 1920,” JAMS (2006)

“National Identity in Snyder and Berlin’s ‘That Opera Rag’” American Music (2004)

In 2004 the Society of American Music awarded the Mark Tucker Prize to his paper

“Caruso and His Cousins: Portraits of Italian Americans in the Operatic Novelty Songs of Edwards and Madden.”

Hamberlin has presented several papers, on topics ranging from music at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to Puccini’s influence on American popular song, at meetings of the International and American Musicological Societies, the Society for American Music, and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (U.S. branch), and has been an invited speaker at the universities of Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, and Columbia and at the College of William and Mary.

Hamberlin previously taught as a visiting assistant professor at Williams College and Tufts University.

In the summer he directs the town band and gives pre-concert talks for a chamber music concert series in Rochester, Vermont.

MiddTags:

• harpsichord
• larry hamberlin
• music history
• pianist

Courses

Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]

FYSE 1132 - Beethoven ▲

Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was perhaps the most influential figure in the history of Western music. In this course we will explore Beethoven’s life and work in the context of European political, social, and musical currents in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Through intensive listening, reading, and discussion, we will pursue three related goals: the development of critical listening skills; an examination of the relationship between an artist’s biography and creative work; and the critique of how and whether social and political events shape the development of music and vice versa. No previous musical experience is required.
ART CW EUR
Fall 2012
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MUSC 0101 - Introduction to Western Music ▹

Introduction to Western Music
This course is designed to introduce students to the music created by the men and women of Western civilization. The styles and genres of art music from the Middle Ages to the present will be a focus for the course. The relationship of music to society, historical context, and the other arts will also be examined. Music reading skills are not required. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
ART EUR
Fall 2011, Spring 2013
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MUSC 0130 - Topics in Music

Topic is determined by the instructor - refer to section for the course description.
ART
Spring 2011
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MUSC 0220 - Music History I ▲

Music History I: Music to 1800
In this course we will survey Western art music from the earliest notated Medieval music through the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods. Beginning with Gregorian chant and troubadour song, we will explore Renaissance vocal polyphony, the development of opera and instrumental music in the 17th century, the late Baroque music of Bach and Handel, and the Viennese classicism of Haydn and Mozart. Analysis of the music is supplemented by consideration of the ways in which music relates to the other arts and reflects the history and culture of its time. (Assumes ability to read music.) 3 hrs. lect.
ART EUR HIS
Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Fall 2012
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MUSC 0221 - Music History II

Music History II: Music Since 1800
This course is a survey of the principle genres and forms of Western art music from Beethoven to the present day. The approach of the course is historical, analytical, and cultural; we will try to understand the music both as music and as it reflects its times and the concerns of composers and their audience. (Assumes ability to read music.) 3 hrs. lect.
ART EUR HIS
Spring 2009, Spring 2012
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MUSC 0230 - Topics in Music ▹

Topics in Music History:
Topic is determined by the instructor - refer to section for the course description.

Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013
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MUSC 0232 / AMST 0232 - Music in the United States

Music in the United States
In this course we will examine folk, classical, and popular music in the United States from the 18th century to the present. We will use historical and analytical approaches to gain insight into the music, the musicians, and the social and cultural forces that have shaped them. Students will explore music’s relation to historical events, other artistic movements, technological changes, and questions of national identity and ethnicity. Topics may include music in the British colonies, minstrelsy, American opera and orchestras, the rise of the popular music industry, and the experimentalist composers of the 20th century. (Assumes ability to read music.) 3 hrs lect./disc.
ART NOR
Fall 2010, Fall 2011
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MUSC 0240 - Performing Chamber Music

Performing Chamber Music
Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, composers have sought to express the ever changing sounds of society and describe the accompanying emotions through music. We will focus on the performance and investigation of this body of work by exploring the extended techniques found in the orchestration. We will examine the ever-developing sense of harmony, the wealth of expression possible on the instruments, and the extension of this vocabulary into the realm of electronic music. In the practice rooms we will hold weekly coaching sessions and informal presentations leading to a public concert at the end of the semester. Students may take this course as members of formed ensembles. Choice of repertoire to be discussed with instructor. (Approval required; MUSC 0160 or equivalent; auditions will be held in the first week of November) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
ART
Fall 2008
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MUSC 0400 - Senior Seminar ▲

Topic is determined by the instructor - refer to section for the course description.

Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012
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MUSC 0500 - Independent Study ▲▹

Independent Study
Admission by approval. Please consult published departmental guidelines and paragraph below.
Project and budget proposals for Independent Study and Senior Work should be submitted by the previous April 1 for fall and winter term projects, and the previous October 15 for spring term projects. Budget proposals will not be considered after those dates. Project proposals will be considered after the deadline but are more likely not to be approved due to previous commitments of faculty advisors or other scheduling reasons.

Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013
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MUSC 0704 - Senior Work ▲▹

Senior Work
Senior work is not required of all music majors and joint majors. However, students interested in and eligible for departmental honors (see guideline above, in "Departmental Honors" section) may propose one or two-semester Senior Work projects. Projects may be in history, composition, theory, ethnomusicology, performance, or electronic music, and should culminate in a written presentation, a public performance, or a combination of the two. MUSC0704 does not count as a course toward fulfillment of the music major.
Project and budget proposals for Independent Study and Senior Work should be submitted by the previous April 1 for fall and winter term projects, and the previous October 15 for spring term projects. Budget proposals will not be considered after those dates. Project proposals will be considered after the deadline but are more likely not to be approved due to previous commitments of faculty advisors or other scheduling reasons.

Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013
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MUSC 1008 - Bob Dylan's America

ART NOR WTR
Winter 2009
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MUSC 1017 - Beethoven