AUMUS 224: Medieval & Renaissance Music

This course is a historical survey of the major composers, works, and stylistic developments in Western art music from the Middle Ages to the end of the Renaissance era. Our class will begin with the foreign, but exciting sounds medieval music and will conclude with the complexities of polyphonic music of the late Renaissance. We will explore how composers, and their compositional output, interact with relevant social, cultural, theological, intellectual, and political contexts.

Throughout the course, students will develop critical thinking, critical listening, score analysis, and research skills. By the end of the course, students will be able to discuss a variety of definitions of— and approaches to—understanding medieval and Renaissance music. This course is designed as a lecture, though class engagement and discussion is encouraged. I expect each student to come to class prepared and ready to discuss the required readings and musical examples. Your active participation engagement with the class material is crucial for both a vibrant class experience and your overall success.

Core Skill Development:

Students will expand and develop their musical vocabulary by engaging with academic scholarship, primary-source readings, score analysis, and listening skills. Students will develop their analytical, research, and communication skills through written assignments and classroom discussion. Assignments and classroom activity will aid in developing connections between the larger historical contexts and the stylistic changes in music during the medieval and Renaissance periods.

Thinker

  • read, view, listen, and reflect carefully and extensively;

  • engage in course material from historical, cultural, and stylistic perspectives.

Researcher

  • research, analyze, and synthesize concepts and ideas; AUMUS 224: Medieval and Renaissance Music, Fall 2018

  • combine personal understandings and perspective on a topic through argument, presentation, or interpretation; and

  • employ critical thinking and listening skills to assemble and evaluate the most suitable materials.

Communicator

  • clearly convey ideas and research in a scholarly manner, including proper citation style;

  • present information confidently with a command of oral, written, visual, or artistic

    expression;

  • employ effective presentation strategies to specific audiences; and

  • write logically and grammatically.

Terms Taught:

Fall 2018

University of Alberta, Augustana Campus