Admission requirements
None.
Description
Music is an ephemeral art. Unlike architecture, painting, and literature, musical works of art do not present themselves steady for enjoyment (or analysis). They are present in a different way than a Greek temple, the Mona Lisa, or a sonnet by Shakespeare: Music resounds in the moment, and the next moment the sounds are gone. For centuries, in fact for millennia, there was only one means of preserving music: memory. Unlike the aforementioned arts, where the ancient civilizations left a rich treasure of objects, buildings, murals and literary testimonies, the history of music lacks sounding examples from that time. We know that music was made, but how the music sounded, we do not know (apart from individual examples). It was not until the Middle Ages that widely used methods of storing music outside of memory were developed. At the same time, musical notation became a means of disseminating music.
The lecture presents the milestones of the development. We begin with the memory aids in the oral music culture of the Middle Ages and continue with the basic principles of early notation and its use. In the 16th century, we encounter an early flowering of music printing, which coincides with a first wave of globalization of music. In the 18th century, the printing market expanded into new dimensions, which enabled and promoted a broad Europe-wide dissemination of music. Another focus is on the arrangement practices of the 19th century. The third drastic event in musical media history, after the development of notation and the invention of music printing, was the invention of sound recording, a technology that developed rapidly from the late 19th century onward. The extent to which the use of the Internet is changing the forms of our music consumption and the structures of the music industry is the subject of the last thematic block.
In a historical run through from the Middle Ages to the present, the same questions are thus answered differently in each case: How can musical pieces be preserved? What is the relationship between notated and orally transmitted music? Why does one want to disseminate music? Who wants it? For whom? What social circumstances give rise to medial changes? And what are the consequences for both society and
music?
Course objectives
General learning objectives
The student can:
1) organise and use relatively large amounts of information
2) reflect critically on knowledge and understanding as presented in academic literature
Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation
- 3) The student has knowledge of a specialisation, more specifically the place of European history from 1500 in a worldwide perspective; with a focus on the development and role of political institutions;.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this specific lecture course
The student:
4) will obtain a better historical understanding of the forms of musical ‘memory aids’ in a long term perspective
5) will be able to reflect on the principal changes in the notation and recording of music
Timetable
The timetables are avalable through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Self-study
Assessment method
Assessment
The course will be assessed through one final test, covering all course objectives:
- Final examination: Written examination with short open questions
Weighing
- Final examination: 100 %
Resit
The resit exam will take place in June.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
Will be communicated later.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudymap is mandatory.
Registration Studeren à la carte en Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte.
Registration Contractonderwijs.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
None.