Music History
Bringing the musical past alive, The Department of Music History, Literature and Criticism guides students through the evolution of music. From broad interest survey courses to in-depth special topic courses on the symphony, the history of musical instruments, and Bach and Handel, both majors and non-majors gain a comprehensive understanding of all periods of music. At the undergraduate and masters levels, students may choose either an emphasis in research or performance practices. Hartt's collection of early instruments, including recorders, shawms, sackbuts, Renaissance lutes and flutes, as well as three harpsichords, a clavichord, a positiv organ and several baroque bows, helps to create an active learning atmosphere.
The Music History Forum, founded in 1987, has brought accomplished musicologists such as Joshua Rifkin, who has visited Hartt twice since 1998. Other participants have included John Daverio, Barbara Heymen and Walter Frisch. The program provides students a chance to learn about the latest in musicological research. Work of invited participants has appeared in The Journal of the American Musicological Society, The Musical Quarterly and Nineteenth Century Music.
Members of the Music History department faculty have dual careers as professional performers and active scholars. Their research has been published in journals such as Music and Letters, Bach, Journal of Musicological Research, Music Analysis, The Musical Times, MLA Notes, and Händel-Harhbuch.
Major in Music History — Scholarship and Research Emphasis (129.5 credits)
First Year |
Subject Code
| Course Title
| Credits | Credits |
| Sem. 1 | Sem. 2 |
| All-University Curriculum
| 3 | 3 |
| APC 122-123 | Piano-Keyboard Class | 2 | 2 |
| TH 111-112 | Diatonic-Chromatic Harmony | 2 | 2 |
| TH 120-121 | Elementary Ear Training I -II | 2 | 2 |
| RLC 110 - 111 | Rhetoric and Writing I - II | 3 | 3 |
| HLM 020 | Information Literacy in the Performing Arts | 0 | 0 |
| Foreign Language | 3 | 3 |
| MUS 110, 111 | Paranov Performance Hour | .5 | .5 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 16.5 | 16.5 |
Second Year |
HIS
| European History
| 3
| 3
|
| APC 222-223 | Piano-Keyboard Class | 2 | 2 |
| TH 210-211 | Tonal Form — Post-Tonal Form | 2 | 2 |
| TH 220-221 | Intermediate Ear Training I-II | 2 | 2 |
| HLM 212 | Music History - Perspectives of Music History
| 3 | - |
| HLM 213 | Music History - Classicism to the Present | - | 3 |
| Foreign Language | 3 | 3 |
| MUS 110, 111 | Paranov Performance Hour | .5 | .5 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 16.5 | 16.5 |
Third Year |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 2 | 2 |
| HLM 316 | Music History - Medieval through Baroque | 3 | - |
| Music Literature Course | - | 3 |
| HLM | Advanced Music History Courses | 3 | 3 |
| TH 420 - 421 | Modal Counterpoint - Tonal Counterpoint
| 3 | 3
|
| TH 332 | Continuo Realization | - | 1.5 |
| ART 210/211/212 | History of Western Art | - | 3 |
| AUC | All-University Curriculum | 3 | -
|
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 15 | 16.5 |
Fourth Year |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 2 | 2 |
TE 440
| Senior Essay
| - | 2 |
| HLM | Advanced Music History Courses | 6
| 6
|
PHI 110
| Introduction to Philosophy
| 3
| -
|
ENG 140
| English Literature
| 3
| -
|
| Mathematics Elective | -
| 3
|
| AUC | All-University Curriculum | -
| 3 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 15 | 17 |
Major in Music History — Performance Practices Emphasis (137.5 credits)
First Year |
Subject Code
| Course Title
| Credits | Credits |
| Sem. 1 | Sem. 2 |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 4 | 4 |
| APC 122-123 | Piano-Keyboard Class | 2 | 2 |
| TH 111-112 | Diatonic-Chromatic Harmony | 2 | 2 |
| TH 120-121 | Elementary Ear Training I -II | 2 | 2 |
| RLC 110 - 111 | Rhetoric and Writing I - II | 3 | 3 |
| HLM 020 | Information Literacy in the Performing Arts | 0 | - |
| Foreign Language | 3 | 3 |
| MUS 110, 111 | Paranov Performance Hour | .5 | .5 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 17.5 | 17.5 |
Second Year |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 4 | 4 |
| APC 222-223 | Piano-Keyboard Class | 2 | 2 |
| TH 210-211 | Tonal Form — Post-Tonal Form | 2 | 2 |
| TH 220-221 | Intermediate Ear Training I-II | 2 | 2 |
| HLM 212 | Music History - Perspectives on Music History
| 3 | - |
| HLM 213 | Music History - Classicism to the Present | - | 3 |
| Foreign Language | 3 | 3 |
| MUS 110, 111 | Paranov Performance Hour | .5 | .5 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 17.5 | 17.5 |
Third Year |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 2 | 2 |
| HLM 316 | Music History - Medieval through Baroque | 3 | - |
| Music Literature Course | - | 3 |
| HLM | Advanced Music History Course | 3 | - |
| TH 420 or 421 | Counterpoint | 3 | - |
| TH 332 | Continuo Realization | - | 1.5 |
| HIS | European History | 3 | 3 |
| ART 210/211/212 | History of Western Art | - | 3 |
| AUC | All-University Curriculum | 3 | 3 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| Total Credits | 18 | 16.5 |
Fourth Year |
| Instrumental/Vocal Study | 2 | 2 |
| Secondary Instrumental/Vocal Study | 2 | 2 |
| CON 314 | Conducting Fundamentals | 2 | - |
| HLM 473 | Seminar in Performance Practice | - | 3 |
| HLM | Advanced Music History Courses | 3 | 3 |
| Academic Elective | - | 3 |
| Mathematics Elective | 3 | - |
| AUC | All-University Curriculum | 3 | 3 |
| Collegium Musicum, Early Music Ensemble, or other Performing Organization | 1 | 1 |
| REC 440 | Recital | - | 0 |
| Total Credits | 16 | 17 |
Note: Music history majors are required to maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 within their major courses.