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A survey of western classical music. This course teaches students how to listen to music intelligently and make informed judgment on the musical style, the historical background and influences.
The course will start with the Greek doctrine of ethos in music leading into the periods of the Medieval and the Renaissance. It continues with the various style periods of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic where the solid foundation of western classical music was firmly established. The masterpieces written by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, etc will be introduced and discussed as relating to their socio-cultural background. Moving into the diversified 20th century, different styles such as Nationalism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Minimalism, Abstract Art and pop culture in the western world will also be discussed.
This book introduces the history, development and theory of music. The book begins with three chapters on the materials of music, including elements (pitch, rhythm, harmony, key, etc.), musical instruments (voice, strings, wind instruments, percussion, etc.) and the structures of music. The main part of the book, Chapters Four to Ten, discusses the music of seven different eras in chronological order, including the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque Era, the Classical Era, the Romantic Era, the Turn of the Century, and Modern Times. The final chapter discusses the tradition of popular music.
This book introduces the cultural and historical context that shaped music. With its main focus on Europe and America, this book presents 109 characteristic works in the chronological order, including the ancient and medieval world, the age of the Renaissance, the seventeenth century, the eighteenth century, the nineteenth century/The Age of Romanticism, the twentieth century and today. This book includes features that place musical works in a memorable context, such as At the Time Boxes that introduces contemporaneous political cultural, and scientific developments; In Performance Sidebars that highlights issues including ornamentation, continuo realization, tempo rubato, and improvisation; etc.
