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MUSA 326 & 327: Music History and Literature I & II: Home

Suggested sources to use for Music History research.

What is music history?

Music history is the occurrence of events in music from its early beginnings to the present time.  It is the story of how music has been expressed over time.  Traditionally it has been divided into historical periods established by cultural and political history. 

Periods of Music History

Ancient  pre 500

Medieval  500-1430

Renaissance  1430-1600

Baroque  1600-1750

Classical  1750-1820

Romantic  1820-1920

Modern  1920-present

Paul Bekker

"Music has not developed . . . each period becoming better than the past.  Music instead is a metamorphosis, a transformation."

Richard Rodgers

On composers:

"Essentially, we are a breed of men and women concerned with the arrangement of the same seven notes."

Brahms

In referring to the masters of the 18th century, Brahms said:  "They are the gods, we are the human beings."

Joseph Addison

"Music, the greatest good that mortals know."

Josef Hofmann

"Music is the most expressive of all noises."

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