MUSI 303 Outline

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

COURSE NUMBER:

MUSI 303

COURSE TITLE:

History of Baroque Music

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Charles Stolte

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 1 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

An overview of Western Classical music in its Baroque period with weekly seminars on special topics.

Prerequisites: MUSI 216, 217, 306

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Taruskin, Richard and Gibbs, Christopher. The Oxford History of Western Music. College Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


Exam #1, written and listening	25%
Exam #2, written and listening	25%
Chapter Listening mini-exams (4)	20%
Short Papers (3)	30%

	100%

COURSE OUTLINE:

Introduction and review
5 January
Chapter 7: Humanism and the Birth of Opera

[Camerata and Intermedii; monody and figured bass, Caccini; stile recitativo; Orfeo and Euridice, Peri and Monteverdi; prima and seconda prattica; stile recitativo, concitato. rappresentativo; the genius idea; castrati; L’incoronazione di Poppea]

10—24 January [18 January: Interdisciplinary Conference—No class]

Chapter 8: Musical Travels: Trends in Italy, Germany, France and England

[Organists, Frescobaldi and Sweelink; partita, toccata, passacaglia and chaconne; Samuel Scheidt; Heinrich Schütz; oratorio and cantatas, Carissimi and Strozzi; Lully and French opera; Rameau; Purcell]

26 January—7 February [20—24 February: Reading Week—No class]

Chapter 9: The Height of Italian Dominance: Opera Seria and Italian Concerto Style

[Da capo aria; Alessandro Scarlatti; Opera reforms; Metatstasio; Corelli and tonality; Vivaldi and the concerto; The Four Seasons]

9—28 February

Chapter 10: Class of 1685 (I): The Instrumental Music of Handel and Bach

[Handel and Bach careers; the chorale prelude; the fugue; The Well-tempered Keyboard; the suite; ornamentation; The Brandenburg Concertos; The Water Music; Music for the Royal Fireworks]

2—21 March

Chapter 11: Class of 1685 (II): The Vocal Music of Handel and Bach; Domenico Scarlatti

[Handel’s operas and oratorios, Giulio Cesare and Messiah; J.S. Bach’s Cantatas and Passions, Christ lag in Todesbanden, St. John and St. Matthew Passions]

23 March—11 April

13 April: Review

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.