Daniel Atwood

This course surveys over 2,000 years of music in Western civilization. Historical, cultural, and social contexts are studied as they pertain to the music. After an introduction to the Greeks (8th century BCE), music such as medieval chants, motets, Renaissance masses, madrigals, Baroque concertos, operas, and Classical symphonies (ca. up to 1800) are studied. Lectures trace the changes from vocal to instrumental practices with closer looks at some representative period instruments. Biographies are used to demonstrate social, educational and geo-political changes, which shaped the final results of composers' creativity: music. European musical centers -- Paris, Venice, and Vienna -- and their musical establishments receive special attention. Students learn a macro-level music vocabulary and are encouraged to use it in their discourse. Each lecture is structured around a composition that exemplifies the most salient features of a particular period. Listening and reading is required before each lecture. Students are assigned two short essays (6 pages each) as well as a midterm and a final exam that focus on listening skills and understanding/usage of music vocabulary.

Selected issues in music and related areas are studied. Topics vary each semester and may include (but are not limited to): musical structure and form, aural literacy, opera studies, music and words, music and the visual arts, history of recorded music, history of the oral tradition, semiotics, communications theory, and others.