Music History 1: Western Music from Antiquity to 1750

Music 381 Syllabus, Fall 2009

Course Description

This course is the first in a two-semester survey of music in Western culture.

The course has two goals: (1) it will trace a narrative history of significant
developments in musical style, institutions, performance practices, and theory
from antiquity to the late Baroque; (2) through close readings of representative
works, students will learn how to analyze music in diverse styles and genres.
Certain recurring issues and themes will mark each stage of this history. These
issues include the social and cultural role of the composer and performer,
transformations in musical style, the sources of musical transmission (oral
versus literate practices, manuscript versus print culture), changing conceptions
of music theory and the relationship of theory to musical practice, the
economics of musical production (patronage and the market), and the history
of music aesthetics.
Prerequisite: MUSC 247 or permission of the instructor.

Instructor
Classes
Office Hours
Office
Contact

Dr. Blake Stevens

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:25-10:40 am
Monday and Wednesday, 10:00 am - noon, and by appointment
Simons Center for the Arts 323
Office Phone: (843) 953-8220; Email: stevensb@cofc.edu

Course Requirements

Regular attendance is required, as is careful study of the text, the works

included in the anthology of scores, and the accompanying recordings. Plan to
spend a minimum of two hours in preparation for each class meeting; think
through the issues presented in the assigned reading, develop insights of your
own, and take time to gain an understanding of the assigned repertory.
Several recent and important musicological studies are on reserve at the library
to supplement the material in the required textbook and anthology. These texts
include a history of music aesthetics (Lippman), a recent narrative history on a
monumental scale (Taruskin), and collections of primary texts (Strunk, Weiss,
Taruskin). For students desiring more information on a given topic, these texts
should offer a useful point of departure. Also useful is the New Grove Dictionary
of Music and Musicians, the standard reference work in English.
Recordings of works by Machaut, Josquin des Prez, and J. S. Bach are also on
reserve. These items include a complete mass setting from each of the style
periods studied in the course, as well as Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier. Find
time to listen to each of these recordings, following along with a score if
possible, by the end of the semester.

Music History 1 Syllabus, Fall 2009

Required Materials
J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 8th edition
(New York and London: W. W. Norton, 2010)
J. Peter Burkholder and Claude V. Palisca, Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1: Ancient to
Baroque, 6th edition (New York and London: W. W. Norton, 2010)
Optional Materials
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1: Ancient to Baroque, 6 Compact Discs (New York
and London: W. W. Norton, 2010)
Note: all course materials are available at the bookstore.
Recommended Supplementary Readings on Reserve
Lippman, Edward A. A History of Western Musical Aesthetics. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1992. [ML3845 .L565 1992]
Source Readings in Music History. Edited by Oliver Strunk. Revised edition edited by Leo Treitler.
New York and London: W. W. Norton, 1998. [ML160 .S89 1998b]
Taruskin, Richard. The Oxford History of Western Music. 6 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
[ML160 .T18 2005]
Volume 1: The Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century
Volume 2: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Volume 3: The Nineteenth Century
Volume 4: The Early Twentieth Century
Volume 5: The Late Twentieth Century
Volume 6: Resources: Chronology, Bibliography, Master Index
Weiss, Piero, and Richard Taruskin. Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. New York:
Schirmer Books, 1984. [ML160 .M865 1984]
Recordings on Reserve
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Das Wohltemperierte Klavier [The Well-Tempered Clavier], BWV 846893.
(1) Kenneth Gilbert, harpsichord. Hamburg: Archiv Produktion, 1984. [CD 2189]
(2) Andrs Schiff, piano. London, England: London, 1986-87. [CD 298 and 302]
______. Mass in B minor, BWV 232. Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner,
conductor. Hamburg: Archiv Produktion, 1985. [CD 2191]
Josquin des Prez. Missa Pange lingua. Choir of Westminster Cathedral; James ODonnell, conductor.
London: Hyperion, 1992. [CD 717]
Machaut, Guillaume de. Messe de Nostre Dame. Ensemble organum; Marcel Prs, conductor. Arles:
Harmonia Mundi France, 1996. [CD 420]

Music History 1 Syllabus, Fall 2009, page 2

Grading Procedures

The course is divided into four parts. Each part will conclude with a short
exam based on the readings and music studied during that section. In place of
a final exam, students will complete a term project based on their interests
and specialization: possible projects include a research paper, an extended
musical analysis, or a performance-based project. To ensure a common focus,
these projects should be based on Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier or Mass in B
minor. Specific topics should be chosen in consultation with the professor by
the middle of the term.
Short writing projects (including brief essays and directed reading questions)
will be assigned periodically to encourage careful preparation for class meetings
and to help students develop effective techniques for writing about music.
Since lectures will not merely duplicate the material in the textbook, regular
attendance is required. After two unexcused absences, five percentage points
will be deducted from the attendance grade for each unexcused absence.

Exams and Projects

Sept 10, 2009

Oct 8, 2009
Oct 29, 2009
Dec 3, 2009
Finals Week

Exam 1: Music from Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages

Exam 2: Renaissance and Reformation
Exam 3: Early Baroque Music
Exam 4: Late Baroque Music
Term Project Due

Make-Up Exams

Make-up exams will be given if prior arrangements are made and if absence
from class is unavoidable on the test day; otherwise, make-up exams will only be
offered in the case of documented emergency or illness.

Final Grade

15%
20%
40%
25%

Class attendance
Short writing projects
Exams (four exams, 10% each)
Term Project

Letter Grade

100-94 A
93-90 A-

89-87
86-83
82-80

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to follow the guidelines for academic integrity as stated
in the Honor Code. Students should consult the Student Handbook for more
information:

B+
B
B-

79-77 C+
76-73 C
72-70 C-

69-67 D+
66-63 D
62-60 D-

59-0 F

http://www.cofc.edu/studentaffairs/general_info/studenthandbook.html

Music History 1 Syllabus, Fall 2009, page 3

Course Outline (subject to change)

Part 1

Music from Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages

8/25
8/27
9/1
9/3
9/8
9/10

The Concept of an Origin: The Early History of Western Music

Plainchant: Transmission, Notation, and Theory
The Roman Liturgy: Functions and Types of Plainchant
Songs of the Troubadours and Trouvres
Polyphony at Notre Dame
The Ars Nova and Ars Subtilior; Exam #1

Part 2

Music in Early Modern Europe: Renaissance and Reformation

9/15
9/17
9/22
9/24
9/29
10/1
10/6
10/8

The Late Middle Ages and the Italian Renaissance

Music in England and Burgundy: Dunstable and Dufay
Franco-Flemish Composers (I): Ockeghem and Busnoys
Franco-Flemish Composers (II): Josquin des Prez
The Reformation
The Counter-Reformation
The Italian Madrigal and the French Chanson
Early History of Instrumental Music; Exam #2

Part 3

Music in Early Modern Europe: Early Baroque Music

10/15
10/20
10/22
10/27
10/29

The Concept of the Baroque

Principles of Opera and Drama
The Operas of Claudio Monteverdi
Church and Chamber Music
Seventeenth-Century Instrumental Music; Exam #3

Part 4

Music in Early Modern Europe: Middle and Late Baroque Music

11/3
11/5
11/10

Lully and the Tragdie en musique

Tonality in the Music of Alessandro Scarlatti and Corelli
Concertos of Vivaldi and J. S. Bach

11/12
11/17
11/19

J. S. Bach: Keyboard Music

J. S. Bach: Cantatas and Passions
Issues in Performance Practice

11/24
12/1
12/3

Rameau and the Tragdie lyrique

Handel and Culture of Opera seria
Handel and the English Oratorio; Exam #4

HWM 1 (4-23)
HWM 2 (22-46)
HWM 3 (47-67)
HWM 4 (63-83)
HWM 5 (84-112)
HWM 6 (113-43)

HWM 7 (144-66)
HWM 8 (167-90)
HWM 9 (191-98 only)
HWM 9 (198-210 only)
HWM 10 (211-25 only)
HWM 10 (225-39 only)
HWM 11 (240-63)
HWM 12 (264-85)

HWM 13 (288-306)
HWM 14 (307-16 only)
HWM 14 (316-28 only)
HWM 15 (329-44 only)
HWM 15 (344-53 only)

HWM 16 (354-83)
HWM 17 (384-411)
HWM 18 (414-27 only)
HWM 19 (436-48 only)
HWM 19 (442-46 only)
HWM 19 (448-54 only)
HWM 16 (369-72 only)
HWM 18 (428-30 only)
HWM 18 (430-35 only)
HWM 19 (454-60 only)
HWM 19 (460-67 only)

Finals Week: Term Project Due

Music History 1 Syllabus, Fall 2009, page 4