Kelly Savage

SIREN Baroque is an all-female baroque ensemble from New York City. Presenting passionate and historically informed performances throughout the States and overseas, the women of SIREN are committed to infusing spirited historical accuracy with a tinge of modern dynamism. Critics praise SIREN Baroque’s “unusual freshness” (Seen and Heard International) and “stylish accompaniment” (New York Times). SIREN Baroque was featured in Chamber Music America.

Opera Feroce is a miniature Baroque opera company. We are a collaborative ensemble of singers and instrumentalists who, in addition to performing the music, act as our own costume designers, edition makers, lighting designers, librettists and administrators. Our works are lively explorations of the Baroque ethos — we make what can be perceived as an arcane and elitist art form entirely accessible and fun for audiences of all ages and backgrounds — while remaining grounded in serious music making. About an Opera Feroce production, The New York Times wrote, “a successful pastiche opera requires a creative chef to blend disparate ingredients into a satisfying whole, like Amor & Psyche.”

The Stanford Community Chorus, directed by Kelly Savage, is a choral ensemble open to the entire Bay Area community, including Stanford students, faculty and staff, and all our neighbors. The group is an opportunity to engage in communal singing in a fun and supportive environment. Chorus members explore many different types of music and singing, including folk, spirituals, popular songs, and traditional choral music.

MMT 112 covers diatonic harmony and elementary structural analysis; we will study triads, seventh chords and their inversions, harmonic function, part-writing, and harmonization of melodic lines. At the end of this course students will be able to harmonize melodies using triads and dominant-sevenths, identify simple motivic constructions and cadences, and analyze the form of a short composition written in simple four-measure phrases.

MMT 113 continues coverage of diatonic harmony and elementary structural analysis; we move onwards into general uses of chords, diatonic modulation, melodic and rhythmic figuration, as well as phrase extensions and periods. By the end of the semester you should be comfortable with both writing and analyzing harmony including diatonic modulation, figuration, and basic chromaticism, as well as analyzing compositions with irregular phrases and periodic structures.

In the third semester of Music Theory, MMT 114, we finish the Aldwell-Schachter text, including modulation and chromatic harmony. In analysis we cover expansions of periods, two- and three-part song forms, and compound song forms.

MMT 115 helps students develop a sense of the overall architecture of a composition through the analysis of the large forms of Western music. Analysis of these forms should ultimately allow students to grasp by ear the entirety of a piece of music after having internalized their particular structures. In the fourth semester of Music Theory, we focus exclusively on the analysis of the larger homophonic forms of Western music. These forms include: First, Second and Third Rondos, Sonata Form, Concerto forms (Ritornello and Double-Exposition), Contrapuntal Forms (Fugue, Canon), Vocal Forms (Aria) and Ostinato and Variation Forms.

Fundamentals of Musicianship is the preparatory course for Musicianship 102-105 and Music Theory 112-115. In the course we cover: basic notation of pitch and rhythm; basic music theory (meter, rhythmic figures, scales, keys, intervals, triads, seventh chords; aural recognition of the above; basics of sight singing and dictation; keyboard work to reinforce these skills.

MMT 102 is the first of a four-semester course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of musicianship and give them the tools necessary for being an active professional musician. The first semester of Musicianship concentrates on building a strong foundation and practice techniques in the following areas: intervals (writing, recognizing and hearing diatonic intervals), chords (basic chords and harmonic functions are covered), rhythm (rhythmic competence, including the dictation of one and two-part rhythmic exercises), sightsinging (both prepared and unprepared sightsinging of melodic material), dictation (the dictation of melodies and simple harmonic progressions), and basic conducting patterns.

MMT 103 is the second of a four-semester course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of musicianship and give them the tools necessary for being an active professional musician. The second semester of Musicianship concentrates on building a strong foundation and practice techniques in the following areas: intervals (writing, recognizing and hearing diatonic intervals), chords (basic chords and harmonic functions are covered), rhythm (rhythmic competence, including the dictation of one and two-part rhythmic exercises), sightsinging (both prepared and unprepared sightsinging of melodic material), dictation (the dictation of melodies and simple harmonic progressions), and basic conducting patterns.

MMT 104 and MMT 105 concentrate on building a strong foundation and practice techniques in the following areas: Solfege incorporating new clefs, various modulations, and melodies outlining chromatic harmonies; rhythm including more advanced polyrhythms and metric changes; dictation skills with an increasing emphasis on modulation and chromaticism; Use of conducting patterns.

MMT 106 and MMT 107 concentrate on building a strong foundation and practice techniques in the following areas: Solfege incorporating chromaticism, medieval music, and 20th century techniques; rhythm up through tempo modulation; Dictation skills with an increasing emphasis on modulation, chromaticism, and chorales; performing choral sections.

MMT 232 is the first semester of a two-semester course, which teaches basic harmonic skills at the keyboard. Upon completing the first semester of Keyboard Harmony, students will build proficiency in playing chord progressions, realizing figured bass, clef reading, harmonizing melodies, transposing, playing comfortably in many keys, and other related skills.

MMT 233 is the second semester of a two-semester course which teaches harmonic skills at the keyboard, including playing chord progressions, realizing figured bass, clef reading, harmonizing melodies, transposing, playing comfortably in many keys, and other related skills. This semester focuses on reading four-part Bach chorales in c clefs, more complex figured bass exercises, chord progressions and harmonizing Schubert songs.

In this practical introduction to keyboard harmony, students learn to play, analyze and improvise chord progressions at the keyboard. Students will deepen their understanding of tonal theory as well as improve their keyboard and improvisational skills. The course covers reading figured bass, playing common chord progressions in all major and minor keys and harmonizing simple melodies at sight. Students also analyze and perform solo repertoire that progresses through the semester from simple pieces to the level of a Bach chorale.

MMT 230 is the first semester of a two-semester course that teaches score reading at the keyboard. The first semester focuses on building fluency with clef reading at the keyboard and getting comfortable with reading scores in up to four parts, both in modern and traditional clefs. The class progresses from works in two parts, to Bach Chorales in four parts, in open score.

MMT 231 is the second semester of a two-semester course that teaches score reading at the keyboard. Upon completing the second semester of Score Reading, students build proficiency in reading transposing parts in scores and playing larger scores at the piano. The class progresses from works in two parts, through String Quartets to full Symphonic scores.

In this course we examine the solo baroque keyboard literature with a special emphasis on the music of J.S. Bach. We study various national styles and genres through representative compositions beginning with the English virginal school and the Italianate toccata style of Frescobaldi and his southern German disciple Froberger. We then examine the transmission of this style to France and Germany. We also learn about the three major figures of seventeenth—century French harpsichord music: Chambonnières, Louis Couperin, and d’Angelbert as well as later French masters François Couperin, Élizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Rameau. In the second half of the class, our main focus is the music of Bach, in an attempt to put his music in context and to understand the various national styles he utilized in his keyboard compositions. The class will also include a survey of the keyboards works of Scarlatti and Handel. Each week we also touch on important performance practice topics relating to the repertoire covered.