In modern times, people are not exposed to classical music as much as in the past,
leaving it inaccessible to many, except in popular avenues such as movie music and
commercials. Additionally, classical music can be intimidating to engage with on one's
own, due to its lengthy history, complexity, foreign terms and languages and the length
and profundity of many of its compositions.This course will illustrate the evolution of
classical music from the medieval era through the renaissance, baroque, classical,
romantic, modern, and postmodern eras. There will be a mix of historical and composer
biographical content, explanatory information about classical music forms, genres and
terms, and generous recorded musical excerpts to illustrate themes and concepts. The
goal of the course is to open up the entire history of this art form to students, so as to
enrich their lives, and hopefully act as a springboard to further in-depth learning about
individual genres, eras and composers within the field of classical music.