MUSIC HISTORY:

AN INTRODUCTION
AND OVERVIEW

Detailed Course Outline

The Baroque Era

Introduction
• Polyphony
• Definition: Baroque, homophonic texture, polyphonic texture
• Basso continuo and figured bass notation
• Basso continuo and figured bass notation (2)
• Definition: figured bass and basso continuo
• Ornamentation in art
• Ornamentation in music
• Definition: ornamentation
• Terraced dynamics
• Definition: terraced dynamics
• Major-minor tonal system
• Definition: major-minor tonal system
• The Affections
• Definition: the Affections

Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

• INTRODUCTION
Il prete rosso
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Ritornello
Programmatic writing
Poetic text
Concerto structure
Concertino and ripieno
Definitions: programmatic writing, concerto, ritornello, ripieno
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early life
Work at the orphanage
Opera houses of Venice
Fine instruments of Cremona
Definition: idiomatic writing
Later Life and Death
Mantua and the Four Seasons
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Structure of “Spring”
First movement
Second movement
Third movement
Definition: ostinato and pedal point
• SUMMARY
Musical style
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
• INTRODUCTION
Something magical
Something magical (2)
Something magical (3)
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Prelude and Fugue in B flat Major
Subject and answer
Countersubjects
Real answers and tonal answers
Definition: subject, answer (real and tonal), countersubject
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early Life
Early influences
Early career
Early career and marriage
Personal faith as source of inspiration
The Little Organ Book
The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier (2)
Definitions: clavier and equal temperament
International styles and German traditions
Brandenburg concertos
The Notebook for Anna Magdalena
Art of Fugue
Bach’s very last fugue
Death
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Prelude
Fugue
• SUMMARY
Musical style

George Frideric Handel: Messiah

• INTRODUCTION
Messiah’s debut
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Oratorio
“Overture”
“There were shepherds” and “Glory to God”
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early years
Hamburg and Italy
French overture
Rinaldo
Patronage
Water music
Royal Academy of Music
Giulio Cesare
From opera seria to English oratorio
Later life and death
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
“Overture”
Definition: French overture
“There were shepherds” and “Glory to God”
Definitions: recitativo secco/accompagnato, word painting, libretto
“Rejoice Greatly”
Word painting versus programmatic writing
Definition: oratorio, melisma, aria
“Hallelujah”
• SUMMARY
Musical style

The Classical Era

Introduction
• 18th-century trends in music
• Sonata form
• Sonata form origin and influences
• Time Travel

Franz Joseph Haydn: “Emperor Quartet”

• INTRODUCTION
Papa Haydn
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Definitions: chamber music, string quartet
String quartet
Sonata cycle
“God Save Emperor Francis”
Second movement
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early years
Freelance musician
Esterházy family
Vienna and first travels
Later years
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Second movement: theme and variations
The unaltered melody
Definition: theme and variations
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

• INTRODUCTION
In the Sistine chapel in Rome
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Serenade and sonata cycle
First movement sonata form
Second movement rondo form
Third movement ternary form
Fourth movement sonata-rondo form
Definition: serenade
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early years
Childhood travels in Europe
Concert master in Salzburg
Germany and Paris
Vienna
Later life
Final year
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
I: Sonata
II: Rondo
III: Ternary form (Menuet and Trio)
IV: Sonata-Rondo
Definitions: rondo form, menuet and trio, sonata-rondo form
Definitions: rocket theme and rounded binary form
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

• INTRODUCTION
A story about Symphony No. 9
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Sonata cycle
Four-note motive and cyclical structure
Definition: symphony, cyclical structure, motive, scherzo and trio
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Childhood years
Learning with Christian Neefe
Teenage years and early adulthood
Travel to Vienna
Influence of Haydn and Mozart
Some anecdotes
First solo concert
Heiligenstadt testament
Early period
Middle period
Late period
Last years and death
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
I: Sonata
II: Two themes with variations
III: Ternary from (Scherzo and Trio)
IV: Sonata
• SUMMARY
Musical style
The Romantic Era

Introduction
• The Wanderer
• Timeline
• Chromatic Harmony
• Definition: Chromatic Harmony
• Time Travel

Franz Schubert: Erlkönig

• INTRODUCTION
The wanderer who wrote art songs
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Storytelling with Music
Definitions: Art song, Lied
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early Years
Young Adulthood
Young Adulthood (2)
Schubertiades
Later Life and Death
Musical Sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Erlkönig
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Frédéric Chopin: Polonaise in A flat Major

• INTRODUCTION
The Summer in the Village
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Bel canto
Rubato
Polonaises, mazurkas, and nationalism in music
Definitions: polonaise, nationalism in music, rubato
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early life
First piano teacher
Influence of Folklore
The secret dedication
Technological advancements
The November 29th uprising
Life in Paris
Georges Sand
Winter in Majorca
Preludes, op. 28
Summers in Nohant
Chopin’s Final Years
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Polonaise in A flat Major, op. 53
• SUMMARY
Musical style
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
• INTRODUCTION
Commotion in the library
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Idée fixe
Definition: idée fixe, Dies irae
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early years
Romantic interests
Prix de Rome
Rome and return to Paris
Life after marriage
Critic and writer
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
5th movement
Definition: program symphony, col legno
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Georges Bizet: Carmen

• INTRODUCTION
Exotic Stories
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Plot
Fate motive
“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Carmen’s aria)
Exoticism in music
Definition: habañera, exoticism
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Overview
Premiere of Carmen
Musical Sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
“Quand je vous aimerai?”
“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Carmen’s aria)
“Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre” (Escamillo’s aria)
• SUMMARY
Musical style

The Modern Era

Introduction
• In Search of a New Musical Language
• Symbolism
• Timeline
• Time travel

Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

• INTRODUCTION
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Symbolism in literature
Impressionism
Introduction to Impressionism in music
Characteristics of impressionism in music
Definition: modal scales, whole-tone scale, pentatonic scale
Symphonic poem
Definition: Symbolism, symphonic poem, impressionism in music
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Childhood and early life
Early life
Prix de Rome and Villa Medici
Paris World Exposition and Javanese gamelan music
Pelléas et Mélisande
Emma Bardac
Later life and death
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

• INTRODUCTION
The most turbulent premiere in history
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Introduction of The Rite of Spring
Ballets Russes
Definition: primitivism, ballet, choreography
Music for Dinosaurs
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Early life
Meeting Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Firebird and Petrushka
About tonality
Definitions: polytonality, atonality, and expanded tonality
Life in Europe
Life in America
Musical periods
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
The Rite of Spring
Introduction
Dance of the Adolescents
Game of Abduction
• SUMMARY
Musical style
Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story
• INTRODUCTION
Breaking down barriers
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
West Side Story
Jazz influence
Definition: musical, jazz
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Overview
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
“Maria”
“America”
Definitions: hemiola, verse-chorus structure
• SUMMARY
Musical style

Alexina Louie: Music for Piano

• INTRODUCTION
West meets East
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Music for piano
Minimalist music
Definition: minimalism in music
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Overview
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Changes
• SUMMARY
Musical style

John Adams
• INTRODUCTION
A Fast Car
• DISCOVERY LISTENING
Experiencing Exhilaration
Fanfare
Minimalist style
Definition: fanfare, minimalism in music
• COMPOSER’S LIFE AND WORK
Overview
Musical sampler
• DETAILED LISTENING
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
• SUMMARY
Musical style
Course Components
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