Music for World History: Bronze Agre Through WW2

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.

The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian.

Lili Marleen in its various incarnations is worth playing. It was massively popular during the World Wars.

“Alexander the Great” by Iron Maiden is quite informative.

“The Accolade” by Symphony X is about the Knights Templar & the Crusades.

“Manhattan Project” by Rush is about, well, the Manhattan Project. :slight_smile:

Springtime for Hitler…and Germany!!

There are some rather fun videos of history-centered parodies of modern pop songs on the historyteachers YouTube channel.

The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete composition.

Damned if that didn’t sound like something by John Denver!

Anyway, for the Mongol invasions, you could use Tuvan throat-singing. Huun-Huur-Tu is a good group to use.

Anne Cessna and Essendon Airport - Talking to Cleopatra

Adam and the Ants - Stand and Deliver (dandy highwaymen)

Boney M - Rasputin

Rolf Harris - Two little boys (American Civil War)

Randy Newman - Sail away (antebellum USA)

The historically themed songs from Horrible Histories cover a lot of ground (personal faves - Charles Darwin singing about evolution sampling (?) Bowie’s Changes and a song about convict transportation to Australia in homage to Kylie Minogue).

Perhaps the sountrack to one of the Civilization computer games? IIRC, they had period-appropriate music as you advanced from ancient times through to the modern era.