MUSA 201 Music Literature in Context I

Previously MUSC 202. This course will blend both theoretical analyses of specific representative musical masterworks with an investigation into the works’ historical and stylistic context from the Ancient Greeks to the late seventeenth-century. To this end, there will be 1) study of specific historical readings and/or an excellent music history textbook, 2) analytical and historical study of certain pivotal masterworks of music and their composers, 3) student analyses of these works with an aim of understanding their architectural and organic lifeblood, how the works functioned within their composers’ oeuvre, and their historical context, and 4) student presentations of their findings. 

Credits

3

Prerequisite

MUSA 124 and MUSA 125, or MUSC 111A and MUSC 111P

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. Identify, define, and organize the elements of Western music.
2. Recognize the composer and composition title of 25-50 major works.
3. Compare and contrast each of the major style periods of Western music history.
4. Discuss the primary philosophical thrusts of each style period and relate those forces to specific musical examples.
5. Discern the form of a composition through either listening or study of the score.
6. Critically analyze and consider the musical and creative aims of the composers in their works and theoretical structure of music of given historical periods to build a foundation in music history.
7. Generate and address styles of major composers from each style period and describe the essence of their approach to composition and/or the uniqueness of their contribution to music.
8. Reflect upon a live musical performance its expressions of contemporary human experience in relation to other time periods and contexts.

Course Objectives

1. Identify, define, and organize the elements of Western music.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Test/quiz

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT1
2. Recognize the composer and composition title of 25-50 major works.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

3. Compare and contrast each of the major style periods of Western music history.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

4. Discuss the primary philosophical thrusts of each style period and relate those forces to specific musical examples.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Writing Assignments
   • Essay

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric
5. Discern the form of a composition through either listening or study of the score.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Exam

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric
6. Critically analyze and consider the musical and creative aims of the composers in their works and theoretical structure of music of given historical periods to build a foundation in music history.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Writing Assignments

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT3
7. Generate and address styles of major composers from each style period and describe the essence of their approach to composition and/or the uniqueness of their contribution to music.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Writing Assignments

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT2
8. Reflect upon a live musical performance its expressions of contemporary human experience in relation to other time periods and contexts.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Writing Assignments

   Critical Thinking

   • CT4