Western Music: Napoleon to 9/11

This course will focus on some of the more prominent genres, styles, and composers of Western art music (also known as "classical music") and to articulate the ways in which music has interacted both with the other arts, such as drama and literature and with society. The overall theme of the course is expressed in the title: Western Music: Napoleon to 9/11. While it is indeed Western music that will be our focus, the parameters in the title are defined not by musical styles or composers names (such as "Baroque to Modern?" or even "Beethoven to Reich" or something similar) but by larger social events: Napoleon and 9/11. This is because one of our primary concerns will be the way in music impacts and is impacted by the social and political world in which music making takes place. By the end of this course, you will have examined forty pieces of music and you will be able to articulate and discuss the ways in which, for example, Beethoven's music owed as much to Napoleon and his impact on society as it did to Beethoven's own musical aesthetic.

This is an online course that encourages your participation in your learning. You will be doing group work, working on the weekly readings, participating in online discussions, and developing a musical vocabulary with which to discuss the music as we move chronologically from the eighteenth-century to the present day.

Note: Check with the institution regarding start/end dates, prices, and delivery method. These may vary according to the program, section, and/or semester.