Survey of Western Music

Catalog description

Prerequisite: Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105) or equivalent This course will be a chronological survey of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present. The course will explore the cyclical nature of music that mirrors philosophical and theoretical ideas established in Ancient Greece and how that cycle most notably reappears every 300 years: the Ars nova of the 14th century, Le nuove musiche of the 17th century, and the New Music of the 20th century and beyond. The course will involve reading, listening, and class discussions that focus on significant compositions of the Western musical tradition, the evolution of form, questions of aesthetics, and historical perspective. There will be occasional quizzes in fall; short, written summary papers or class presentations will be required in spring. Required corequisite for students taking Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (