Comparative Music History: Listening and Music in Cross Cultural Perspective

Catalog description

This course is meant to introduce students to thinking about music history globally. It does so in two ways: first, by approaching comparative sets of practices of musicking and listening across cultures. This means we explore practices such as singing the sacred, court music, the rise of recorded music, large ensembles, the use of the voice, what is a musical instrument, etc. across cultures. Thus what is compared is not a chronological period but a musical practice, even if it comes from different historical moments. Second, this course proposes a global comparative perspective that explores the interconnected aspects of changing music histories, exploring the colonial, the rise of a global recording music industry, and other global changes and how they affect specific music genres and practices of listening. Grading is based as much on writing as on being able to develop listening skills.