Overview
Welcome to MUSIC 268: Classical Music: A Historical Introduction. The principal aim of this course is to review the fundamental elements of Western art music. We begin by obtaining a good grasp of the key elements of music, and it is equally important to become comfortable with the meaning and use of the musical vocabulary introduced.
Outline
This course is divided into the following fifteen units.
- Unit: 1 The Elements and Origins of Music
- Unit: 2 Medieval Music
- Unit: 3 Music in the Renaissance Era
- Unit: 4 Baroque Era I: Early and Middle Baroque
- Unit: 5 Baroque Era II: Late Baroque
- Unit: 6 The Classical Period I: Style and Composers
- Unit: 7 The Classical Period II: Forms, Genres, and the Transition to Romanticism
- Unit: 8 Early Romantic Music
- Unit: 9 Opera in the Nineteenth Century
- Unit: 10 Musical Nationalism
- Unit: 11 Late Romanticism
- Unit: 12 The Modernist Revolution I: Verismo, Impressionism, Exoticism/Expressionism, Neo-Classicism, and Serialism
- Unit: 13 The Modernist Revolution II: Eastern Europe, Russia, England and the USA
- Unit: 14 Postmodernism in Late Twentieth-Century Music
- Unit: 15 After Postmodernism: A Return to Nature and Religion
Evaluation
To receive credit for HUMN 268, you must complete and submit the following five components. In order to pass the course, you must achieve a course composite mark of at least D (50 percent), and obtain a minimum of 50 percent on the final examination. The recommended weighting of the five components of that composite mark are as follows.
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| 15 posts to the unit discussion boards | 15% | Due at the end of each unit |
| 15 completed self-tests | 15% | Due at the end of each unit |
| Written assignment 1: short essay | 20% | Due after Unit 7 |
| Written assignment 2: long essay | 25% | Due after Unit 15 |
| Final examination | 25% | |
| Total | 100% | |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Wright, Craig. Listening to Western Music, 7th edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Schirmer, 2014.
Other Resources
The online course materials include the following:
MUSIC 268: Classical Music: A Historical Introduction. Course Information. Athabasca University, 2014.
MUSIC 268: Classical Music: A Historical Introduction. Study Guide. Athabasca University, 2014.
Student Manual. Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the HUMN 286 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least C- (60 percent)on the online challenge examination. The two parts of the exam must be completed on the same day.
Challenge for credit course registration form