MUSIC 261Survey of Music History I

3 credits · Music · Penn State

The course is a survey of music history from antiquity through the Baroque period, with readings, listening, and lecture. The principal objectives are: to acquaint students with important musical works from this period of European and American history; to place these works in their larger social, cultural, economic, and intellectual contexts; and to introduce analytical methods useful for describing technical musical features and relating those features to extra-musical concerns. As the second course in the music history sequence designed for music majors and minors, Music 261 forms a part of the core music curriculum required for advanced (400-level) study in the discipline. Assignments and evaluation methods are designed to help students develop their critical faculties and communication skills, through listening, reading, in-class discussion, examinations, and writing. There is significant emphasis on intercultural and international competence through study of music from a range of European countries. Musical analysis is integrated with consideration of the historical, social, cultural, religious, and economic circumstances of the works' production. The course stresses development of criteria of aesthetic judgment, with respect to musical style (deployment of the various musical elements: melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, timbre) and the relationship of style to non-musical historical factors.