My wife is a professor of music history. She has, unfortunately, been roped into teaching a completely misbegotten freshman survey course. (The curriculum is in flux and the current “grand plan” is being replaced with a different “grand plan” next year leaving this year’s classes in a strange limbo.)
Basically, for reasons that are too complicated to go into, she needs to cover the entire history of Western music from chant to the 20th century in 7 classes. The lectures aren’t a problem. Although her specialty is medieval music, this is a freshman-level course so she could easily teach every class just talking off the top of her head (although, of course, she’ll still prepare proper notes).
The problem she’s running into (and where you guys can help) is the pieces that will constitute homework. There will be assigned listening for each class. This will give the students something to talk about in their sections, and something to write about in their papers. The listening for the classes on early music are easier to come up with. It’s in my wife’s specialty, and the repertoire is smaller. But how do you boil down the entire 18th Century (for example) into two pieces?
(Did I mention that this class was misbegotten?)
So … the question is: If you had to pick six pieces to embody the last 300 years of western music, what would they be? We’re talking 2 from the 18th Century, 2 from the 19th Century, and 2 from the 20th Century. The idea is not just to pick pieces that are pretty or nice to listen to, but ones that are significant or emblematic. And, of course, for the 20th century we’re talking “art” music, not popular music. Pop music is covered in a different class.
Of course, I could probably come up with 10 different lists, none of which repeat any of the same pieces! Best of luck to your wife. I’ve taught the survey of music history course at 5 different universities, and faced nothing as ridiculous as she is. My personal worst was two smaller schools in which the music appreciation courses were the same course as the music history majors take as their survey. That was interesting.
First big drag is that the last 300 years covers four distinct periods - Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern. I’m going on the (possibly erroneous) assumption that your wife already has the Baroque period covered. I’d then say
Mozart Symphony # 40, though any of the late Mozart would do.
Beethoven Symphony # 3 , ‘Eroica’
Yeah, my wife knew this was insanity when the plan was first put forward by the higher-ups. It’s part of a grand scheme to organize the introductory courses around different scholarly approaches spanning historiography, ethnomusicology, and critical theory. Unfortunately, no one involved in planning the thing paid attention to repertoire. So there are lots and lots of classes about how to think *about *music, but no systematic discussion of important pieces. (Except for my wife’s little segment.) It’s already obvious that it’s not working, but they’re stuck with it for the rest of the academic year.
