This course will introduce students to the history and repertoires of western classical music. We will cover the basics of how music works and how to listen, and then explore the repertoire of European art music from the Medieval period to the present. The emphasis will be on listening for pleasure, and no technical knowledge of music is required.

Week 1

Introduction to Western music. Tonality. Melody, harmony, rhythm. Forms. The instruments. The voices.

Week 2

Medieval and Renaissance music: The Church. Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame. Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli. Monteverdi’s Orfeo and selected madrigals.

Week 3

Baroque music: The Court. Bach’s B- Mass and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Royal Fireworks Music. Keyboard music of Bach and Scarlatti.

Week 4

Classical music: The patrons. Haydn’s String Quartet op. 76 no. 2. Piano Sonata in E-flat., Hob. XVI:52. Nelson Mass. Mozart’s Symphony no. 40. Don Giovanni. Piano Concerto in A, K. 488.

Week 5

Beethoven. Piano Sonata in C- (“Pathétique”). Symphony no. 3 (Eroica). Fidelio. Symphony no. 9. String Quartet in C-sharp minor, op. 131. Schubert. Songs from Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. String Quartet “Death and the Maiden.”

Week 6

Early Romanticism: The Self. Chopin’s Scherzo no. 1, Piano Sonata no. 3, Polonaises. Berlioz’s Requiem, Symphonie fantastique. Schumann’s Toccata, Carnival, Frauen-liebe und Leben.

Week 7

Late Romanticism. Liszt’s Piano Sonata, Les Préludes. Brahms’s Piano Quintet, Schicksalslied, Piano Pieces op. 119. Wagner’s Ring operas (excerpts), Prelude to Tristan and Isolde. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1, op. 23.

Week 8

The modern era. Selected pieces by Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Webern, Messiaen, and John Adams. Where is “classical” music headed?

Introduction to Classical Music