Western Music History

Author: Zhu Jingxiu
Publisher: Henan University Press
Book Description:
Music is an important component of the cultural heritage of human society. In the early stages of human civilization, music emerged as one of the primal cultural phenomena, accompanying the development of human society through the ages. It has evolved into the vibrant and diverse modern music of today's high-tech era, accumulating a rich and valuable cultural legacy.
Western music is one of the vital branches of human musical culture. Over centuries of learning, it has achieved remarkable accomplishments and made invaluable contributions to the cultural world. Every professional music worker should earnestly study and research Western music to promote the development of music in their own country and nation. Therefore, "A History of Western Music" has become one of the mandatory courses for music students. This book aims to comprehensively and systematically elaborate on the historical process and achievements of Western musical culture, enabling readers to understand the styles of composers from different periods, countries, and schools, familiarize themselves with their works, broaden their artistic horizons, and enhance their artistic appreciation skills. Thus, it seeks to elevate our levels of composition, performance, and singing.
The study of music history should be grounded in an in-depth understanding of the social backgrounds of different periods and involve research into the overall cultural atmosphere, capturing its era-specific characteristics. This approach helps in comprehending the stylistic features of various musical schools, as well as the artistic styles of individual composers, performers, and singers. Additionally, it is essential to focus on the inheritance and development relationships between different periods and schools, striving to grasp the historical trajectory of musical art comprehensively and systematically. Learning music history should not merely involve rote memorization of knowledge and theories but should instead, under the guidance of systematic theory, involve listening to a vast array of musical works to experience and internalize the styles of different schools and individuals in practice. This transforms music history into a vivid and dynamic play, turning abstract theories into concrete musical experiences.
This book serves as a textbook for music programs in ordinary universities while also providing a wealth of musical knowledge and detailed historical information for the general music-loving public.
Table of Contents:
Preface to the "Teaching Series for Music Majors in Higher Education"
Preface
Chapter 1: Ancient Music
Section 1: Ancient Greek Music
Section 2: Ancient Roman Music
Chapter 2: Medieval Music
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Gregorian Chant
Section 3: Secular Music and Instrumental Development
Section 4: The Emergence and Development of Polyphony
Section 5: The Ars Nova Movement
Chapter 3: Music of the Renaissance
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: English Music
Section 3: The Burgundian School
Section 4: The Franco-Flemish School
Section 5: National Style Music and Secular Music
Section 6: Protestant Music
Section 7: Catholic Music
Section 8: The Venetian School
Section 9: Instrumental Music of the Renaissance
Chapter 4: Baroque Music
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Italian Opera
Section 3: French Opera
Section 4: English and German Opera
Section 5: Cantatas and Oratorios
Section 6: Development of Instrumental Music and Music Theory
Section 7: Handel
Section 8: Bach
Chapter 5: Classical Period Music
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Development of Comic Opera
Section 3: Gluck's歌剧 reforms
Section 4: The Development of Sonatas and Symphonies
Section 5: Haydn
Section 6: Mozart
Chapter 6: Beethoven
Section 1: Beethoven's Life and Creative Path
Section 2: Beethoven's Works and Creative Style
Chapter 7: Romantic Music
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Weber
Section 3: Schubert
Section 4: Mendelssohn
Section 5: Schumann
Section 6: Chopin and Polish Music
Section 7: Berlioz
Section 8: Liszt and Hungarian Music
Chapter 8: 19th-Century French and Italian Opera
Section 1: Early 19th-Century French Opera
Section 2: Grand Opera in France
Section 3: Upper 19th-Century Italian Opera
Section 4: Mid- and Lower 19th-Century French Opera
Section 5: Lower 19th-Century Italian Opera
Chapter 9: Mid- and Lower 19th-Century German and Austrian Music
Section 1: Wagner
Section 2: Brahms
Section 3: Austrian Light Music
Chapter 10: The Rise and Development of National Music in the 19th Century
Section 1: Overview of Russian Music in the 19th Century
Section 2: Glinka
Section 3: Dargomыжsky and Anton Rubinstein
Section 4: The Mighty Handful
Section 5: Tchaikovsky
Section 6: Czech Music
Section 7: Music Cultures of Norway and Finland
Chapter 11: Music Culture at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Section 1: French Music
Section 2: Music Cultures of Austria and Germany
Section 3: Russian Music Culture
Section 4: Italian Music Culture
Chapter 12: 20th-Century Music (Part 1)
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Nationalist Music
Section 3: Expressionist Music
Section 4: Neoclassical Music
Section 5: Soviet and British Music
Section 6: Microtonal and Noise Music
Chapter 13: 20th-Century Music (Part 2)
References