Eric Idle and John Cleese had it all wrong. Gregorian chants were not sung by monks walking around in a trance bashing their heads with stone tablets, as they did in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
They were actually melodic prayers sung by monks that were first set in permanent form during the papacy of Pope Gregory I at the end of the fifth century.
While most University of Memphis students may be unaware of this little piece of music trivia, students in Mona Kreitner’s Western Music History course learned it the first day of class.
“I hope that students leave this course with the ability to listen to a piece of music and know if it is Bach or Mozart,” Kreitner said.
Although the course serves different purposes for different students, Kreitner said a background in all types of music is necessary for students hoping to have a career in music.
“I want students to understand that regardless of the genre of music they are interested in, music is music, Kreitner said.
While the course begins with chants, it moves quickly through the Middle Ages to the baroque period, on to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven ending up in the 21st century with American music.
Although it may seem that the course covers a lot of information quickly, the course focuses on Western art music.
“This course is actually a narrow slice of music history focused on the music of Western culture, both vocal and instrumental,” Kreitner said.
Unlike music appreciation courses where students get a general overview of a broad range of music, Kreitner gives students an opportunity to develop a feel for music back when it was written.
She encourages students to analyze music through listening and seeing it as it was originally written.
Students regularly receive copies of written music, often in its original notation, to look at as they listen to various compositions.
“I have had music history classes before, but nothing like this. I’ve never been given sheet music to follow,” said Michael Peremba, a senior recording technology major.
Kreitner also introduces the students to early musical instruments such as the lute, early versions of the trombone and the harpsichord.
“Music, unlike other art forms, is typically taught through filters. Most often when we hear this music it is in modern notation and played on modern instruments, and we aren’t given the opportunity to hear the music as it was performed when it was originally written,” Kreitner said.
Because people are not able to hear the original music of composers like Bach, there is sometimes a sense of detachment between the listener in the present-day and the composer who may have written the piece in the 1600s, according to Kreitner.
Kreitner began teaching the course in fall 2001. It is a 3000-level course designed for commercial music majors, but it is also open to non-music majors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music therapy, a master’s degree in vocal performance and literature and is close to receiving a doctorate in musicology.
