26-A104 Strange New Sounds: Exploring Modern and Contemporary Music – Morteza Abedinifard
$85.00
This course surveys Western art music from the early 20th century to the present, highlighting the key movements that reshaped the sound of modern life. We’ll move from the transition out of Romanticism with Debussy, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg, through mid-century experimentalism and minimalism, to electronic music, postmodernism, and today’s global influences. No background in music theory is required. All necessary concepts will be introduced along the way. Through listening, discussion, and cultural context, students will gain tools to understand why this music often sounds unfamiliar and how it mirrors the artistic, social, and technological changes of the last century.
Instructor: Morteza Abedinifard
Morteza Abedinifard is a musicologist, educator, and musician with interests in the history of Western art music, Persian music, musical modernity, and the philosophy of music. He holds a PhD in Musicology from the University of Alberta and has taught at several Canadian institutions including the University of Alberta, The King’s University, and Douglas College. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University, where his research focuses on the modernization of music in Iran during the middle decades of the 20th century.
