Music to Your Ears: An Introduction to Classical Music

Contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 What Is Music?
• Introduction
• Music Really Is the Universal Language
• How Music Is Created
• Ancient Music
• Music History Timeline
• The Building Blocks of Musical Sound
• PITCH-How high or low a sound is
• Musical Notation, or how to tell a musician which note to play on the instrument
• DURATION-The length of time that a sound lasts
• DYNAMICS-How loud or soft a musical sound is
• TIMBRE-The kind or quality of a musical sound
• Summary
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 2 Musical Instruments
• Modern Instrumental Families
• The Woodwind Family
• The Brass Family
• The String Family
• The Percussion Family
• Keyboard Instruments and Electronic Instruments
• The Symphony Orchestra
• Other Ensembles
• Summary
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 3 Music of the Middle Ages
• Music History Timeline
• Christianity and Music
• Gregorian Chant
• The Rise of Polyphonic Music
• Secular Music in the Middle Ages
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the
• Middle Ages - 313 - 1450
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 4 The Renaissance
• General Characteristics of Renaissance Music
• The Mass
• The Reformation and the Counter Reformation
• Secular Vocal Music
• Instrumental Music
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the
• Renaissance Period -
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 5 Music of the Baroque
• The Ages of Absolutism and Science
• Major and Minor Modes
• Dynamics, Tempo, and Structure
• From Renaissance to Baroque: Opera
• Baroque Vocal Music: Opera, Oratorio, Cantata
• Baroque Instrumental Music
• The Baroque Orchestra
• The Concerto Grosso
• The Suite
• Baroque Keyboard Forms: Prelude, Toccata, and Fugue
• The End of the Baroque: Rococo
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the Baroque Period - 1600 - 1750
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 6 The Classical Period
• Social Trends
• The Piano
• The Mannheim School
• The Classical Orchestra
• Structure and Symmetry in Music
• The Classical Sonata
• The Symphony and String Quartet
• The Concerto
• Opera in the Classical Period
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the
• Classical Period - 1750 - 1800
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 7 Beethoven and the Transition to Romanticism
• Cultural Overview
• Beethoven's Life
• Beethoven's Music
• Beethoven's Symphonies
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in
• Beethoven's Time - 1770 - 1827
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 8 The Early Romantic Period
• Introduction
• Romantic Thinking
• Cultural Perspective
• Musical Trends
• The Enlargement of Forms
• Rubato
• The Lied
• The Character Piece
• Clara, Fanny, and the Role of Women in the Romantic Period
• Giacchino Rossini: Early Romantic Opera Buffa
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the
• Early Romantic Period - 1800 - 1850
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 9 The Late Romantic Period
• Introduction
• Cultural Perspectives
• Conservatives vs Radicals
• Opera in the Late Romantic
• Symphonic Trends of the Late Romantic Period
• Nationalism
• From Romantic to post-Romantic
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the
• Late Romantic Period - 1850 - 1900
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 10 The Twentieth Century
• Introduction
• Five Major Stylistic Trends in the Twentieth Century
• Impressionism
• Expressionism
• Neo-Classicism
• Neo-Romanticism
• Modern
• Summary
• Historical Events of Note
• Important social, cultural and political events in the 20th Century - 1900 - 2000
• Key Terms
• Review
• Chapter 11 Beyond Classical Music
• Introduction
• From Ragtime to Jazz
• The Big Band Era
• From Bebop to Cool School
• The Blending of Styles in Jazz
• Rock Music and Other Popular Styles
• Summary and Closing Statement
• Key Terms
• Review
• Glossary
• Bibliographic References
• Index