Augustana Digital Commons

Each year, students in MUSC 311-01: Music Styles and Literature I (formerly MUSC 313—Styles and Literature of Music II) engage in active scholarly research that focuses on music literature and styles and their place in Western culture, 800 to the 19th Century. In groups of three, students choose from topics related to the creation, performance, and influence of the piece in its musical, historical, and cultural context. Topics include religion, liturgy, philosophy, politics, art, theatre, dance, language, crime, and mythology. The goal is to go beyond musical analysis to achieve an understanding of how music is created, accepted in its own time, and in turn influences later musicians. The result is a series of essays published as a monograph we call a Festschrift—a celebration of individual and collaborative achievement in research, questioning, and writing.