History arises from a natural impulse to understand ourselves, our families, our state, our nation, our cultural heritage, our world ... and the human condition. This impulse is as old as humankind itself. Even a brief look at ancient cultures reveals the importance attached to the elders, shamans, or priests who served as keepers of a people’s history—often in the form of sacred stories and songs—a history that gave people a sense of identity, meaning, and strength.

In the U.S. today, those respected guardians of the old stories and songs have mostly traded their religious positions for educational ones, but they retain the same teaching function they served long ago, borne of a need to “pass the torch” to the next generation. So it is no surprise to find these “keepers of the flame” in academic institutions, from local elementary schools to the world of higher education. Many of you will serve such a role in the near future, and courses that ask you to wrestle with an understanding of history are becoming ever more important in today’s world.

This wrestling is important. Your identity as a musician and student of music in the early twenty-first century has been shaped in powerful ways by music history. In that sense this course is a voyage of self-discovery. As a distinguished scholar and teacher put it, we are not studying the forgotten music of a vanished past. We are looking at music that is still alive and well, thank you, as our recordings and a lively concert & recording tradition around the globe suggest. This music is capable of inspiring, moving, and entertaining contemporary audiences just as it did in centuries past. Music is, after all, the divine art, and musical expression is capable of cutting across nations, cultures, and time periods. Encounters with these vibrant traditions serve several important purposes:

• They broaden our knowledge of music literature, introducing many unfamiliar and wonderful musics that we can still enjoy and perform
• They challenge us to find new and broader understandings of the nature of music and culture
• They permit a glimpse into the processes that govern change in music and musical styles
• They provide new ideas that can inspire new compositions or change the way we perform music
• They encourage us to find our place in the web of historical relationships and interconnections
• They enrich and deepen our understanding of the music we know and love

In music history courses, the “old stories and songs” remain the basic object of study—the “primary source” material. These materials do not give up their secrets easily, however. (That is why you are here!) Together, we will wrestle to discover their meanings, a careful process of study and interpretation some call “making history.” Interpretation of primary sources is more than a matter of opinion or speculation; it is important to “get it right.” The scholarly method used by musicologists today borrows aspects of the lawyer’s “rules of evidence” and of modern scientific method. We can take nothing for granted unless the eyewitnesses and other evidence are credible, and our ideas and interpretations (hypotheses) must be tested by the scholarly community.

In this course, our primary sources include all musical scores written and/or published in Western nations before 1750 as well as any historical documents (books, manuscripts, scrolls, letters, criticism, programs, advertisements, instruments, music dictionaries, works of art, buildings, etc.) that provide firsthand (eyewitness) information about the music and about composers, performers, instruments, performance venues, music education, music business, patrons, and any other aspect of music in society.

Course Goals

1. to acquire basic research skills and information literacy as you gather, evaluate, and interpret primary and secondary sources
2. to communicate your research using varied styles (written and oral) and media appropriate to the purpose and the audience
3. to study major Western musical styles, composers, and works (up to 1750) through readings, score study, and aural analysis
• to develop listening skills & critical descriptive prose necessary for stylistic analysis
4. to engage in various types of historical analysis appropriate for music research
5. to explore events and cultures that influenced musical styles and composers
• to discover how the past touches and influences the present

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Materials you will need

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Course Requirements

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Elmhurst College Integrated Curriculum Historical Analysis Area of Knowledge Requirement (HA AoK)

Successful completion of this course satisfies the HA AoK in the college’s Integrated Curriculum (ECIC) program. As the course goals above suggest, historical analysis is and always has been an essential part of this course. Just as in the History Department, it is crucial in the study of music history to find what you need, assess its significance and credibility, piece the important findings together in their historical context, create a narrative that makes sense of your findings, and present your conclusons using formats accepted by music scholars. 

Following college guidelines for the HA AoK, your coursework is designed so that by the end of the semester you will be able to:

• Acquire a broad knowledge of the past, extending over a substantial period of time, and understood on its own terms
• Use such knowledge to understand the past and its relevance to the present
• Exercise appropriate interdisciplinary methods and tools for the interpretation of appropriate sources
• Assess primary sources by means of critical analysis, and place them in historical context

Your six Encounters with their group presentations, paper preparation activities, and other exercises will give you many opportunities to engage in historical analysis as you acquire the skills needed to satisfy this graduation requirement. The final paper brings together all of the goals for HA AoK, and your instructor will use this paper as a final assessment of your success in achieving the goals for the HA AoK.

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Elmhurst College Integrated Curriculum Information Literacy Requirement (IL “Tag”)

Successful completion of this course satisfies the Information Literacy “Tag” in the college’s Integrated Curriculum (Gen Ed) program. Back in the day, information literacy was called “research skills.” In the study of music history it has always been crucial to find what you need, assess its significance and credibility, and present it using formats accepted by music scholars. An especially nice feature of the ECIC skills tags is that they are discipline-specific; you “learn it where you use it.” For the IL tag, you get to learn about research in your own major department—and you have practicing music scholars showing you how professionals in your field do it.

Following college guidelines for the IL tag, your coursework is designed so that by the end of the semester you will be able to:

Your 6 Encounters with their group presentations, paper preparation activities, and other exercises will give you opportunities to explore various souces important for music research.and acquire the skills needed to satisfy this graduation requirement. The final paper brings together all of the goals for this tag, and your instructor will use this paper as a final assessment of your success in achieving the five goals for the IL tag.

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Elmhurst College Integrated Curriculum Writing 300/400 Requirement (W “Tag”)

Successful completion of this course satisfies the Writing “Tag” in the college’s Integrated Curriculum (ECIC) program. IL tag activities for this course provide an introduction to research skills. Building on those skills, the W tag takes it to the next level, and you will undertake various writing assignments in preparation for a final paper that asks for both creative and analytical writing. As with the IL tag, you get to learn the methods and techniques musicians use in doing various kinds of scholarly writing—and you have practicing music scholars showing you how professionals in your field do it.

Following college guidelines for the W tag, your coursework is designed so that by the end of the semester you will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of writing as a process involving critical thinking by submitting evidence of prewriting, interim drafts, and final writing with obvious revisions;
• Produce multiple writing assignments and a range of types of writing for appropriate purposes and audiences such as short, informal, ungraded works and longer, more formal documents;
• Utilize academic and disciplinary conventions correctly, including appropriate language, audience accommodations, formatting, citations, and so forth.

Your six Encounters contain group presentations, paper preparation activities, and other exercises. These will give you opportunities to explore various writing styles used by music scholars as they address different audiences, thus helping you acquire the skills needed to satisfy this graduation requirement. The final paper brings together all of the goals for this tag, and your instructor will use this paper as a final assessment of your success in achieving the three goals for the W tag.

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Course Delivery Mode

Course Credit

Mask Policy

Academic Integrity

Learning Center: Academic Support

Because of social distancing measures related to COVID-19, only staff and peer tutors will be physically in the Learning Center during Fall 2020. All tutoring will be online. To sign up for peer tutoring and workshops, go to My Tutoring, located on the portal. Students coming to meet with Learning Center staff are required to make an appointment in advance via email. For more information, contact Emmi McAdams, Tutoring Coordinator, at emmim@elmhurst.edu, or Susan Roach, Learning Center Director, at susan.roach@elmhurst.edu.

Access and Disability Services

Office of Student Affairs Statement on Support Resources and Supporting Fellow Students in Distress

As members of the Elmhurst University community, we each have a responsibility to express care and concern for one another. If you come across a classmate whose behavior concerns you, whether in regards to their well-being or your own, we encourage you to refer this behavior to the Director of Student Support Services and Intervention in the Office of Student Affairs through the Student of Concern referral form on the University website. Based upon your report, staff in the Office of Student Affairs reach out to students to make sure they have the support they need to be healthy and safe.

Additionally, we want to support you in your overall wellness. We know that students sometimes face challenges that can impact academic performance (examples include mental health concerns, food insecurity, homelessness, personal emergencies). Should you find that you are managing such a challenge and that it is interfering with your coursework, you are encouraged to contact the Director of Student Support Services and Intervention through studentaffairs@elmhurst.edu for support and referrals to campus and/or community resources. For any emergencies, call Public Safety at (630) 617-3000 or call 911.

Other University Resources

• Further information about the Academic Integrity Policy, the Statement on Community Standards, the Code of Conduct, and other university policies and procedures can be found in the Elmhurst University Student Handbook
• Elmhurst University Non-Discrimination/Non-Harassment Policy

Netiquette Statement

• Be respectful—You are communicating with real people. The perceived anonymity of the online environment makes it easy to forget this. Be sensitive to the fact that others will have different cultural backgrounds, linguistic traditions and different political and religious beliefs.
• Use correct spelling and grammar—This is an academic course, so proper composition, punctuation and grammar are expected. Avoid texting shortcuts, acronyms and informal slang.
• Use appropriate language, style and tone—Maintain a fair and objective tone and avoid making disagreements personal. Don’t use all capital letters as this may be regarded as shouting, impolite or aggressive. Swearing and profanity should be avoided. Don’t say anything you might regret later.
• Be credible—Evaluate your sources for accuracy and credibility. Always cite your sources where appropriate.
• Proofread before you send—Electronic communications may outlive the duration of the course. Proofread and review your writing before you post or send.
• Be forgiving—In face-to-face conversation you can read a person’s body language and figure out if they’re being straightforward, facetious, or playful. Without these nonverbal cues, misunderstandings are more likely. Be sure to communicate and work through any concerns before things boil over.

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