Music in the Classical Period

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Music in the Classical Period focuses on European music and culture of the long eighteenth century (1690–1810). It takes the shape of a broad study covering musicians (some known, many not), politics, society, and significant cultural issues such as revolution, colonization, the global economy, enslavement, and literary traditions. The course is designed to help students develop critical listening skills of eighteenth-century music, the ability to write about the repertoire and to evaluate historical sources and narratives. Orchestral, chamber, and vocal genres (opera, the symphony, string quartet, concerto, and sonata, among others) will be studied and form the basis for discussion and analytical investigation. The course also examines diverse perspectives on music and music-making as expressions of socio-cultural and political contexts within the musical capitals of Western Europe. Representative musicians include J.C. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Johann Stamitz, Ignatius Sancho, Joseph Bologne, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.