UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
MUSIC HISTORY & LITERATURE I
MUH 3211 (Fall 2009)
Instructor: Dr. Kathleen Sewright

SECTION 1 (Class Nbr: 80914) - Class Meetings: M-W-F 10:30 am -11:20 am
Location: Visual Arts Building (VAB) 146


This web page and its associated links serves as a communications site for MUH 3211 at the University of Central Florida. Posted here are various information pages, assignments, study guides, and links to useful web sites. Students in MUH 3211 are free to print any of these pages for their own use in the course.

Syllabus - Overview of the course, grading policies, etc.

Schedule - Tentative list of reading & listening assignments

Assignments - Instruction Sheets for MUH 3211 out-of-class projects

Supplemental and Reserve Items

A list of items in the UCF Library for use as supplemental materials or as reserve items.

Wright & Simms Companion Site, Music in Western Civilization, Media Update

The publisher-maintained web site that provides supplemental study materials, including chapter outlines, practice quizzes, and listening guides keyed to Wright & Simms, Music in Western Civilization, Media Update (2010 edition)

General Music and Miscellaneous Reference Web Sites

Libraries and Search Tools

UCF Library
Home page of the UCF Library, with full access to the online catalog. On-campus users and those with a UCF ISP may also have access to the online versions of the following electronic databases:
The Library of Congress
Home page of the largest library and largest music library in the world. Search its catalog via the link near the top of the page.
Biblegateway
An excellent source for locating biblical passages, searchable by Book, Chapter and Verse, or by text fragments. It indexes 9 different translations of the Bible. (EX. To locate the story of Carissimi's "Jephte": type "Judges 11:29-40" in the "passage" block and click "look up.")

Useful Web Sites for Early Music

Antiquity

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
A "virtual" encyclopedia of the Ancient world, including links to many important documents in English translation.

The Middle Ages

Internet Medieval Sourcebook
A "virtual" encyclopedia of general information about medieval Europe (history, literature, the church, etc.), including numerous links to full-text sources and innumerable links to other web sites.
Medieval Music - OnLine Reference Book
An outstanding web site devoted exclusively to early music. Its contents include:

Gregorian Chant Notation
A web site that explains how to read and transcribe chant notation.
“Chant Links”
A general web site with extensive links to other web pages on chant.
“Gregorian Chant”
A web site at Indiana University that describes chant and its usage in the Mass and Offices.
“The Story of Gregorian Chant”
A web site maintained by the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes, the monastery responsible for the restoration of Gregorian Chant in the 19th Century.
Douay-Rheims Bible
An authoritative English-language translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which was the first translation of the Bible from its original Greek and Hebrew texts by St. Jerome in the late 4th/early 5th centuries. The Bible may be searched by texts or by going directly to a numbers chapter and verse. The original Latin Vulgate Bible is also available with the same search functions via the link at the top left of the page.

Latin Vulgate.Com

A Bible website that will display parallel passages of the Latin Vulgate Bible with those of the Douay-Rheim and King James translations.
Crosswalk.com
A website with information about and links to literally dozens of different translations of the Bible, including Latin.

BibleGateway.com

An online Bible that allows searches in over 100 languages (but not in Latin).

Cantus

"CANTUS is a database of Latin ecclesiastical chant....The CANTUS database is intended to assist scholars in their study of the chants of the Office." Read the "About page for more information about this important scholarly project, and use the search functions to find information on specific chants.

Biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past
A page with background information about important figures in Church history, written from the standpoint of a general historian, i.e., these essays often say little about the musical activities of these people. Many of the listed individuals are not always thought of as "church figures," e.g., the poet Dante and the playwright Shakespeare. Included are sketches of the following individuals important to the earliest years of the church:
Hildegard of Bingen
An extended web page on Hildegard and her music.

"Guidonian Hand"
A brief explanation of mnemonic device used by Guido d'Arezzo to teach solmization in the Middle Ages.
"The Hand of Guido"
A brief explanation of solmization in the Middle Ages.

Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris (Links) International Machaut Society
A page with numerous links to information on Guillaume de Machaut and related topics.

"Sumer is icumen in"
An excellent full-color facsimile of this important example of early English polyphony (c. 1250). It is possible to read the notation, if you look carefully at the clefs (note the B-flat in the signature). Also, the two supporting parts, the Pes, who participate in voice-exchange, are visible at the bottom of the leaf.
"Dufay's Synthesis of Ars Nova and Renaissance Techniques in Nuper Rosarum Flores"
A detailed musical analaysis of Du Fay's important isorhythmic motet.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence (Links)
Images and information on the church where Du Fay's Nuper rosarum flores was first performed at the church's consecration in 1436.

The Renaissance

A Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments

A web site maintained by the early music ensemble at Iowa State University.

A Brief History of the Harpsichord

Just what the title says, including illustrations.

Sounds of Harpsichords and Related Instruments

A page of web links to brief sound files that illustrate the general sonic characteristics of different types of harpsichords and other instruments.

Martin Luther

A web site devoted to the life and work of Martin Luther. Click on the "Timeline" in the Guide at the left and follow the individual links for detailed information about Luther and what he believed.

The Baroque Era

The Church of St. Mark's (San Marco), Venice (Links)

The most important and prestigioius church for music in the Early Baroque era. They employed Monteverdi, the Gabrielis, and numerous other important musicians
Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music
An online journal devoted to the music of the early Baroque era. One of the better such electronic publications.
J.S. Bach Archive and Bibliography
A major web site for all kinds of information about J.S. Bach and his music. It includes a good-sized bibliography, but an even more extensive one is accessible by a link from this site.

Updated 23 September 2009