MUSC 1035 - Enjoyment of Classical Music

Credits: 3
Hours/Week: Lecture None Lab None
Course Description: Enjoyment of Classical Music is a survey of Western classical music from the Middle Ages in Europe to the present in Europe and North America. The course explores various musical styles and forms, including orchestral, choral and chamber music. There is an emphasis on focused listening, with the purpose of enhancing the ability to understand and appreciate music. Note: Attendance at a classical concert outside of class time may be required.
MnTC Goals
6 Humanities/Fine Arts

Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Recommendation: None

Major Content

1. Baroque era
   1. Sacred music (cantatas, oratorios)
   2. Secular music (orchestral music, concerti, opera)
   3. significant composers and their works (ex. Bach, Handel, Purcell)
2. Classical era
   1. development of the symphony, sonata and string quartet
   2. development of specific forms (sonata form, minuet form, rondo form, theme and variation form, etc.)
   3. opera in the classical era d.significant composers and their works (ex. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven)
3. Introduction to Western Classical Music
   1. structural elements of music (rhythm, harmony, melody, texture, etc.)
   2. mediums of performance
   3. the development of the Western classical orchestra
   4. historical and social contexts in Western classical music
   5. cross-cultural connections in Western classical music
4. Medieval and Renaissance eras
   1. Sacred music (Gregorian chant, organum, masses, motets)
   2. Secular music (dance music, love songs, madrigals)
   3. significant composers and their works (ex. Hildegard, Leonin, Perotin, Machaut, Palestrina)
5. Modern (20th Century) Classical music to the present
   1. innovation as a style characteristic
   2. atonality and twelve tone composition
   3. impressionism
   4. American nationalism
   5. modern opera
   6. Aleatoric construction
   7. electronic music
   8. minimalism
   9. significant composers and their works (ex. Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ives, Copland, Cage)
6. Romantic era
   1. developments in orchestral composition (ex. expansion of orchestra and forms)
   2. programmatic music, exoticism, nationalism
   3. piano music in the romantic era
   4. art song
   5. opera and music dramas in the romantic era
   6. significant composers and their works (ex. Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Puccini, Wagner)

1. Describe the interrelationships between music, composers, musicians, cultures and societies
2. Identify musical styles, characteristics, genres and specific compositions of the various eras of Classical music.
3. Describe the structural elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, etc.).
4. Identify examples of the structural elements of music.
5. Analyze music they hear through an application of the structural elements of music, knowledge of social and historical context, and knowledge of specific eras and genres.
6. Describe how specific composers of various eras use musical traditions and innovation.

06. 02. Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context.

06. 03. Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.

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