A Brief History of Music in Western Culture

PROLOGUE: ANTIQUITY. Music in the Biblical World. Ancient Greece. Music in the Roman Empire. Musical Legacies of Antiquity. I. THE MEDIEVAL ERA. Prelude to Part I. 1. Plainchant and Secular Monophony. Emergence of Plainchant. Elements of Plainchant. Expansion of Plainchant. Secular Monophony. 2. Polyphony to 1300. Organum. Clausula. Motet. Conductus. Mensural Notation. 3. Music in the 14th Century. France: Ars Nova. Italy: Trecento. England. Instrumental Music. II. MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE. Prelude to Part II. Renaissance Humanism. Protestant Reformation. Renaissance Painting and Sculpture. Music in Renaissance Society. 4. Emergence of Renaissance Style. Consonance and Dissonance: Trusting the Ear. Sonority: Contenance Angloise. Texture: Pervading Imitation. Josquin's Ave Maria...virgo serena and the Style of the Renaissance. 5. Genres of Renaissance Music, 1420-1520. Sacred Vocal Music. Secular Vocal Music. Instrumental Music. 6. Music in the 16th Century. Secular Vocal Music. Sacred Vocal Music. Instrumental Music in the 16th Century. Mannerism. III. THE BAROQUE ERA. Prelude to Part III. War, Revolution, and Colonial Expansion. Scientific Revolution. Musical Baroque. 7. New Practice. Searching for the Secrets of Ancient Greek Music. Florentine Camerata. Seconda Prattica. Music in the Baroque Era: A Stylistic Overview. 8. Vocal Music, 1600-1650. Secular Song. Opera. Sacred Music. 9. Vocal Music, 1600-1750. Opera. Sacred Music. Conceptions of the Compositional Process. 10. Instrumental Music, 1650-1750. Instruments of the Baroque Era. Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era. IV. THE CLASSICAL ERA. Prelude to Part IV. Age of Enlightenment. War and Revolution. Industrial Revolution. Music in Enlightenment Society. 11. Art of the Natural. Music and the Idea of Nature. Music in the Classical Era: A Stylistic Overview. Style and Form in the Mid-18th Century. 12. Instrumental Music in the Classical Era. Language of Instrumental Music. Sonata. String Quartet. Cyclical Coherence. Symphony. Concerto. 13. Vocal Music in the Classical Era. Rise of opera buffa. Opera Wars. Gluck and the Reform of Opera. Mozart and the Synthesis of Operatic Styles. Sacred Music. Song. V. THE 19TH CENTURY. Prelude to Part V. Progress and Dislocation. Ideas and Ideologies. Reaction, Reform and Revolution. Musical World of the 19th Century. 14. Age of the Tone-Poet. Romanticism and the New Prestige of Instrumental Music. Composer as High Priest. Originality and Historical Self-Consciousness. New Dichotomy of Absolute and Program Music. Nationalism and Music. Growing Division Between Serious and Popular Music. Music in the 19th Century: A Stylistic Overview. 15. Orchestral Music, 1800-1850. Bigger Halls, Bigger Audiences, and Louder Instruments. Symphony. Concert Overture. Concerto. 16. Piano Music, Chamber Music, Song. Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and String Quartets. Song. Character Piece. 17. Dramatic and Sacred Music. Opera. Operetta. Sacred Music. 18. Orchestral Music, 1850-1900. Music for Dancing and Marching. Ballet. Symphonic Poem. Symphony. VI. THE 20TH CENTURY. Prelude to Part VI. Impact of Recorded Sound. Modernism: the Shock of the New. 19. Growth of Pluralism. Fragmentation versus Diversity. Past versus Present. Recorded versus Live Music. Authenticity. Uses of Music in the 20th Century. Music in the 20th Century: A Stylistic Overview. 20. Search for New Sounds: 1890-1940. Impressionism. Challenges to Tonality. Primitivism. Ragtime, Jazz and Country Music. Nationalism. New Timbres. 21. Beyond Tonality. Atonality. Serial Composition. 22. Tonal Tradition. Neo-Classicism and The New Objectivity. Orchestral Music. Film Music. Ballet. Chamber Music. Song. Musical Theater. 23. New Currents after 1945. Quest for Innovation. Combinatoriality. Integral Serialism. Aleatory Music. Electronic Music. Rock Music. Folk Music. Jazz. Minimalism. Postmodernism. Epilogue: Music at the Beginning of the 21st Century.