Catalog Description

Advisory: Completion of MUS 10 with grade of "C" or better
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Study of the history of Western art music from antiquity through the early Baroque Era including the influences of the Catholic Church, stylistic developments, contributions of various personalities, and analysis of music within its historical and social contexts. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Analyze philosophies of music, beginning with ancient Greece and drawing connections through subsequent eras in European music history.
  • CSLO #2: Compare and contrast musical styles and literature from Antiquity to 1750, understanding the roles of major composers, musical trends, and the cultures from which they came.
  • CSLO #3: Describe the evolution of musical notation in vocal and instrumental music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era.
  • CSLO #4: Aurally analyze and identify the works of prominent European composers from Antiquity to 1750.

Effective Term

Fall 2025

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

Lecture Objectives:
1. Understand stylistic innovations, key genres, geographical regions, and pivotal composers in the Medieval and Baroque eras of European music history. 

2. Analyze the Doctrine of Ethos as it relates to music in the culture of ancient Greece and subsequent musical eras.
3. Compare examples of musical instruments and their place of origin in:
a) ancient Greece
b) the Middle Ages
c) the Renaissance
d) the Baroque Era
4. Compare and contrast the liturgical and nonliturgical music of the Renaissance.
5. Compare the relationship between a recitative and an aria in Baroque opera, cantata and/or oratorio.
6. Differentiate the sections of a Bach fugue focusing on the sectional Expositions and Episodes.
7. Trace the development of polyphony as represented by various preserved manuscripts from late Middle Ages through the Baroque.
8. Discuss the intersections of musical composition and performance with politics, religion, and social life throughout European history.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Fine Arts
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C1 Arts
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • Cal-GETC 3A - Arts
  • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
    • IGETC - 3A Arts

Articulation Information

  • CSU Transferable
  • UC Transferable

Methods of Evaluation

  • Essay Examinations
    • Example: Write an essay on one of the selected topics given in class such as: Discuss the relationship between compositional approaches to polyphonic music and the evolution of music notation systems between the years 900 and 1300.
  • Objective Examinations
    • Example: 1.Instructor will design a listening examination covering compositions from the Middle Ages asking students to identify specific compositions’ name of the piece, composer, genre, style features. Instructor will assess the accuracy of answers. 2. Students will take a multiple choice, true or false, matching, short answer exam covering each historic era. For example: Multiple choice: The composer of Ordo virtutum is: a. Adam St. Victor d. St. Benedict b. Hildegard of Bingen e. Wipo of Burgundy c. Notker Balbulus True or False: Troubadours were men and trouvères were women. (False)
  • Projects
    • Example: Deliver an in-class presentation examining how the French operas and opera-ballets of Rameau continued the tradition of Lully and how they differed. The instructor will create a grading rubric for evaluating accuracy of content, use of technology in presentation and thoroughness in comparing specific details of the two composers' work.

Repeatable

No

Methods of Instruction

  • Lecture/Discussion
  • Distance Learning

Lecture:

  1. Lecture/Discussion: 1) In class or via video-lecture on Canvas, the Instructor will guide the class through a recording of a Bach fugue, pointing out its sections and identifying the Subject Entries and Episodes. Students will then listen to another Bach fugue to identify Subject Entries and Episodes. 2) In class or via lecture-video on Canvas, Instructor will introduce various genres of vocal music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras through both listening and score reading. Students will discuss various musical distinctions, differences and similarities from the Renaissance to the Baroque in vocal music and instrumental accompaniments. In the Distance Learning setting, students will write a midterm essay on the distinctions between Renaissance and Baroque musical styles.

Distance Learning

  1. 1) In class or via video-lecture on Canvas, the Instructor will guide the class through a recording of a Bach fugue, pointing out its sections and identifying the Subject Entries and Episodes. Students will then listen to another Bach fugue to identify Subject Entries and Episodes.

Typical Out of Class Assignments

Reading Assignments

1. In the chapter covering Ancient Music, read and discuss in class the uses for music in Mesopotamian cultures particularly in comparison to 21st century uses for music in the United States. 2. Research a selected topic, for example: compare and contrast a Baroque opera with an oratorio and discuss in class.

Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

1. Write a analysis of Monteverdi's opera "L'Orfeo" showing how it represents the standards of composition, libretto, and plot of early Italian opera. 2. Discuss the various methods of composing, notating, and playing figured bass in the Baroque Era in a class presentation.

Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

1. Prepare a research paper of at least five pages (typed, double spaced, including works cited) which creates a cohesive narrative of the evolution of European music through the Medieval and Baroque eras (~800-1750AD), discussing particular innovations, genres, composers, and compositions.

Required Materials

  • A History of Western Music
    • Author: Burkholder, Grout, Palisca
    • Publisher: W. W. Norton
    • Publication Date: 2018
    • Text Edition: 10th
    • Classic Textbook?: No
    • OER Link:
    • OER:
  • Concise History of Western Music
    • Author: Barbara Russano Hanning
    • Publisher: W.W. Norton
    • Publication Date: 2020
    • Text Edition: 5th
    • Classic Textbook?: No
    • OER Link:
    • OER:

Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.