This past year, I was teaching high school Economics and Government. Starting next Fall, I’ll be teaching a two-semester World History course, spanning (roughly) the Bronze Age through World War 2.
I’m putting together lessons and Power Points now, and am trying to come up with music that fits the regions and eras we’ll be studying. That COULD mean music composed during the period we study, or songs/pieces written much later that deal with the subject matter.
I’m open to a wide variety of music. So, whaddya got? Give me music/songs that either deal directly with important times and places from World History, or that refleect what was going on at the time they were written.
Some chestnuts and cliches are inevitable (I’ve already thought of many, believe me!).
Among the things I already have:
3400 BC. The earliest known piece of Sumerian “sheet music”
1000 AD “The Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin
16th Century “Conquistador” by Procol Harum
French Revolution & Aftermath: “La Marseillaise,” Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture"
19th Century England: “Victoria” by the Kinks
WW1: “And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda” by Eric Bogle
BTW, the course will cover every continent but Antarctica, so don’t stick to Europe, North America, or “white” music- think internationally! Really, we should avoid most US History.