Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students should be able to:
- name and describe important composers, genres and styles of the period in question and discuss selected aesthetic dimensions of the music
- recognise, analyse and compare selected compositions in terms of their style and origin
- evaluate the relationship between music and its cultural and historical context
- discuss and explain key aspects of each topic in the light of contemporary musicological scholarship
- demonstrate a structured and coherent approach in written presentation skills
- consult and use a wide range of bibliographic sources
Indicative Module Content:
Introduction. Thinking about Early Music: music history vs musicology; how Early Music differs from later European art music; current scholarship and debates in Early Music; approaches to essay writing.
2. Polytextuality in the Medieval Motet;
3. Renaissance Polyphony; compositional techniques; composers; social and cultural contexts.
4. Baroque Opera - the creation of a genre: Monteverdi and beginnings in Italy - what is opera?; The French Connection - Lully, language and power; Handel - a German synthesis in London.