Music History and Literature

​The Department of Music offers a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in Music History and Literature. The degree shares its core requirements with our Music Theory degree, and students are encouraged to take advanced courses in theory as well. The degree provides a rigorous core of courses in the history and literature of Western music and offers opportunities for deeper study in related fields such as literature, anthropology, philosophy and history. The degree culminates with an extended senior thesis under the mentorship of one of our musicology faculty. The Bachelor of Music in Music History and Literature is aimed primarily at students who are preparing to attend graduate school in musicology, although it might be of interest to students who are planning a career in a non-teaching, non-performing area of music such as ensemble management and representation, information sciences or educational media.

​​Students in other music degree programs who have a strong interest in Music History are encouraged to explore opportunities to take advanced courses in the field or to engage in undergraduate research under the guidance of our musicology faculty. Opportunities are available for supported summer research and independent study during the regular school year. We also provide the opportunity for all students to explore the music of the past in our Early Music Ensembles, which give students a chance to perform music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque Era, making use of the department’s extensive collection of period instruments.

Alexandre Abdoulaev

Sarah England Baab

Philip Gentry

Russell E. Murray, Jr. 

Maria Purciello

Sunmin Yoon