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Undergraduate Programs

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, Bach and Handel, both majors and non-majors alike 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

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 Reading 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 17.5 17.5

Second Year


Instrumental/Vocal Study 4 4
APC 222-223 Piano-Keyboard Class 2 2
TH 210-211 Tonal Form-Modern Techniques 2 2
TH 220-221 Intermediate Ear Training I-II 2 2
HLM 212 Music History - Late Baroque through Classical Period 3 -
HLM 213 Music History - Romanticism 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 Early 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


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 Reading 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 17.5 17.5

Second Year


Instrumental/Vocal Study 4 4
APC 222-223 Piano-Keyboard Class 2 2
TH 210-211 Tonal Form-Modern Techniques 2 2
TH 220-221 Intermediate Ear Training I-II 2 2
HLM 212 Music History - Late Baroque through Classical Period 3 -
HLM 213 Music History - Romanticism 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 Early 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.

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