History of Western Music: Middle Ages to Baroque · Music
I learned about the first major eras of music in this class--the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. I also learned how to complete musical analyses for assignments.
I learned in this course pretty much everything that I know now about the development of western music from antiquity through the Baroque period. I am now left with a solid understanding of the chronology of different musical styles, the history of western vocal polyphony, its transition into solo singing and later into opera, etc... I can name and recognize different national styles of music from each of these times. Also, crucially, I feel that I can understand the philosophical movements of each musical transition, and I can see the logic which brought people from one aesthetic to another, especially in the context of their society.
Lots about history and how to interpret historical sources
history of music from medieval to baroque. also some focus on art and dance, but mostly music
How Western musical techniques and styles evolved across time and regions, from mathematical origins to medieval religious roots, to widespread polyphony and the Renaissance, to Baroque opera.
knowledge of western classical music from medieval times to Bach. Writing skills.
Tons about early music, most vocal. Major focuses on how Medieval musicians perceived music, development of polyphony in late-medieval and Renaissance music, and techniques used by Baroque composers to more precisely convey emotions.
The course was a seriously deep dive into the historical events with the great influence on music, including theoretical analyses of compositions from the most influential composers and explorations of historical tensions that brought new changes in repertoire, performing, instrumentation, and composition. I thought this course was a fabulous way to delve into music history and balanced a top-down and bottom-up approach to understanding the content. I loved how we would analyze large themes of each relevant time period and then follow them all the way into itty-bitty musical notation examples. Brilliantly organized and communicated.
We learn the history of notation and the correlation of the progress of music from the 12th century to the 18th.
I learned that music from the middle ages is an extremely varied and interesting subject. I gained a baseline ability to listen to Early, Renaissance, and Baroque music, and was exposed to readings and listening assignments from a wide range of historical periods.