Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  Music History: Baroque

• Unit Code

  MUS2508

• Year

  2016

• Enrolment Period

  2

• Version

  2

• Credit Points

  10

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  

Description

This unit explores the history of music in Western Europe, both sacred and secular, from 1600 to 1750. Representative musical works will be contextualised within general trends of musical style, as well as within the social, religious, and cultural framework of the day. Particularly attention will be paid to the history of performance practices, and the problems associated with performing this music today. Students will extend their skills in critical listening, score study, and basic musicological research.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 units from MUS1516

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Discuss the conventions of Baroque performance practice.
2. Explain important musical concepts, ideas, and terms as they apply to the music of the Baroque period.
3. Recognise, by listening and/or score study, the elements of Baroque music.
4. Situate musical works within a cultural context.
5. Use primary sources to construct a historical narrative.

Unit Content

1. Handel and the oratorio.
2. Lutheran church music: Bach.
3. Performance practice issues.
4. The French Baroque: Instrumental and vocal music.
5. The Italian Baroque: Instrumental and vocal music.
6. The rise of monody.
7. The study of representative works of significant Baroque composers, and the cultural milieu in which they are situated.
8. Venetian splendour.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Lectures, Tutorials, Individual Listening, Reading, and Score Study.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

* Assessment item identified for English language proficiency

Text References

• ^ Burkholder, P.J. et. al. (2014). Norton anthology of Western music, volume 1, ancient to Baroque. (7th ed.). New York, NY: Norton.
• ^ Burkholder, P.J. et. al. (2014). Norton anthology of Western music, volume 1, ancient to Baroque. (7th ed.). New York, NY: Norton.
• ^ Burkholder, P.J. et. al. (2014). A history of Western music. (9th ed.). New York, NY: Norton. Note: Seminal Reference.
• Heller, W. (2013). Music in the Baroque, Western music in context. New York, NY: Norton.
• Schulenberg, D. (2008). Music of the Baroque. (2nd ed.). USA: Oxford University Press. Note: Seminal Reference.
• Taruskin, R. (2005). The Oxford history of Western music, volume 2, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Note: Seminal Reference.
• Weiss, P., & Taruskin, R. (2008). Music in the Western world, a history of documents. (2nd ed.). USA: Thomson. Note: Seminal Reference.
• Hill, J. W. (2005). Baroque music, music in Western Europe, 1580-1750. New York, NY: Norton. Note: Seminal Reference.

Website References

• Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au
• Naxos Music Library http://www.ecowan.naxosmusiclibrary.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.an

^ Mandatory reference