Undergraduate Course: Understanding Music History 1: Critical Approaches to Art Music in Europe, c800-1800 (MUSI08084)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers a critical perspective on art music in Europe from the Middle Ages to the late Eighteenth Century within its wider cultural, political, economic, and philosophical contexts.
The lectures and tutorials explore major theoretical and aesthetic systems, and issues of transmission, representation, cultural norms, performance practice, and music historiography.
You will study analytical methods and the ways in which music reflects the time period in which it is created. |
| Course description |
This course takes a critical and historiographical approach to the study of Art music in Europe from the Middle Ages to the late Eighteenth Century. It explores the emergence and development of new styles of music through this period and the ways in which they develop from and reflect the societies that produced them. It also focuses on the ways in which we have constructed our histories of these periods: what pieces, and what stories about them, are included, and which are not?
Combining close study of a range of representative compositions with readings from primary and secondary literature, the course explores how these developments influenced approaches to music, and contextualises the history of music in terms of wider cultural and philosophical trends. Broadly, the course covers repertoires such as medieval chant, organum, and motets; Renaissance Mass cycles, and madrigals, Baroque opera, oratorio and instrumental music, and Classical opera and symphonies. Within the context of these genres and repertoires, the course explores how common ideas now associated with so-called Western art music, such as 'the composer', 'tonality', or 'musical form' were created, adopted, and adapted.
The course is taught through two one-hour lectures and one one-hour tutorial per week. You will prepare for lectures and tutorials by reading book chapters and articles, studying music scores and listening to assigned pieces of music.
IMPORTANT: The ability to read musical notation and music scores are essential and a prerequisite for this course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | IMPORTANT: The ability to read musical notation and music scores is essential and a prerequisite for this course. |
| Additional Costs | This course does not require any additional costs to be met by the student. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
160 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 components of assessment:
1. Essay, 2,000 words, 50%, weeks 6-8, Learning Outcomes 1-4.
2. Exam, 2 hours, 50%, December exam diet, Learning Outcomes 1-4.
Resubmission Information
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
1. The resubmission task for the essay is an essay, 2,000 words, 50%. Students will write on a different essay topic.
2. The resubmission task for the exam is an exam, 2 hours, 50%.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
You will receive oral feedback on your progress and engagement with course materials via tutorial discussion with your Course Tutor and peers on an ongoing basis. Additionally, you will be able to test your skills and knowledge in short, unassessed quizzes in lectures. You will have the opportunity to submit an essay plan (weeks 5-6).
Summative Feedback
You will receive written feedback on your essay via LEARN. This feedback will not apply directly to the exam; however, it will give you a good idea of the level of your understanding of relevant course topics and serve as feed forward for essays in your honours years.
You will receive your exam mark via LEARN and be offered an opportunity to view the feedback on your exam script and ask questions.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Understanding Music History 1: Critical Approaches to Art Music in Europe, c800-1800 | 120 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | Understanding Music History 1: Critical Approaches to Art Music in Europe, c800-1800 | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Place a piece of music in the context of its historical period and identify representative stylistic characteristics.
- Debate aesthetic theories pertaining to music from the Middle Ages to the late Eighteenth Century.
- Analyse the history of music in terms of its wider cultural and philosophical currents.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the historical process and critical and historiographical debates surrounding the theory and practice of music in the period covered by the course.
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Reading List
Buelow, George J. The Late Baroque Era: From the 1680s to 1740. New York: Macmillan, 1993. Ebook.
Busse Berger, Anne Walters, and Jesse Rodin, eds. The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Ebook.
Hanning, Barbara Russano. Concise History of Western Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. Ebook.
Kirkman, Andrew. The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass: Medieval Context to Modern Revival. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Ebook.
Databases:
NAXOS Music Library
Oxford Music [New Grove] Online |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking: By studying concepts in European music history and analysing music scores across different historical periods you will develop your skill to see wider themes and patterns, evaluate evidence and practice independent thinking.
Curiosity and Inclusivity: Gaining insight into the changing cultural norms and contexts within which music was produced, performed and transmitted will prompt you to ask searching questions, adopt different perspectives and encourage you to be open to different views and perspectives. |
| Keywords | western art music,historiography of music,music criticism,medieval,Renaissance,Baroque,Classicism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr James Cook
Tel: (0131 6)50 2432
Email: James.Cook@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Hollie Gilligan
Tel:
Email: hgilliga@ed.ac.uk |
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