Course description:

In this course, students can learn about the broad historical progress of Western music beginning with the Middle Ages and going until the 20th and 21st centuries from the Hungarian aspect. After a brief overview of the origins of Western music and the early music period, a large portion of the classes will be devoted to the so-called "Common practice", which has a central role in the European concert life. The most important 20th-century and contemporary Hungarian composers (Kodály, Bartók, Dohnányi, Ligeti, & Kurtág) and their works will also be covered in the course as well as the general European context in which they lived and worked.

The aim of the course is to explore the specifically Hungarian musical scene within the broader European context. Students can learn about the most important events and trends of historical and social background of the development of Western music in Hungary, as well as the greatest contribution of Hungarian (and Hungarian-related) composers and musicians to the general history of Western music. Another important goal is to help students experience classical music more consciously and more fully: a great portion of each class will be spent on listening to music and discussing the experience.

Topics include: the Hungarian Gregorian, lute music in the Renaissance, church music in the Baroque, Joseph Haydn's years and life-work in Hungary, the Hungarian national style in the 19th century and foreign composers whom it inspired, as well as the most important and best-known Hungarian composers and musicians in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries (such as Liszt, Erkel, Joachim, Hubay, Kodály, Bartók, Dohnányi, Ligeti, & Kurtág) together with those composers and musicians who had close connections with Hungary or Hungarian music (such as Beethoven, Brahms, & Mahler).