History of Music in the European Tradition

ESSAY INFORMATION: 100 Years of the Middle Ages The student should select one century of the Middle Ages about which to write. The selected century should begin on a multiple of 50, and should not precede 800 CE. This essay is an exploration of what was happening musically during a given century. Therefore, the information included in the essay should be of greater specificity than what is found in the textbook or any other similar historical overview. An advisable first step is to identify who the most significant composers of the selected century were via basic online research. Then, find in­depth resources on those composers, primarily at the Berklee library. Since historical documentation prior to the high middle ages is scarce, it may be that selecting an earlier century will yield an essay richer with specific ideas rather than specific composers. In order to instigate preliminary research, here are a few basic questions which a successful essay will likely address: ● In what countries or regions was the leading music being composed? ● Who were the primary or most well­documented composers? ● What was the music like? How does it relate to material covered in class? ● What was occurring in both sacred and secular music? ● What were the major non­musical historical events, and how did they shape the musical landscape, if at all? This essay should conform to the following: ● 1250 words long (circa 5 pages) ● 11 or 12 point font ● 1 inch margins ● double spaced ● have sources cited regularly with MLA in­text citations (guide to in­text citations) ● include a works cited page, in MLA style