Music in the Age of Empires (900-1750 AD)

Music as a technology of power in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras. Invention of music notation; music and religious authority; songs of Knights and Ladies; music books and instruments as luxury gifts; music puzzles, enigmas, and intellectual virtuosity; soundscapes of diplomacy; battles over song in the Reformations and Wars of Religion; music as magic; technologies of music printing and the amateur consumer; early opera as political spectacle; the rise of instrumental genres and concerts. Composers include Hildegard, Josquin, Palestrina, Strozzi, Monteverdi, and Bach. Hands-on course featuring rare books in Tufts Library Special Collections. No prerequisites.