Introduction to Western Music
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of Western music from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century, concentrating on late baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist styles between 1700 and 1910. Weekly lectures feature demonstrations by professional performers and set up topics for section discussions, while listening and reading assignments carry most of the actual learning. Major composers and their works are placed in the social and cultural contexts that shaped them, and the course builds listening skills alongside an understanding of musical forms and genres across periods. Materials include lecture notes, assignments, and listening lists as published by MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate involved. It suits anyone wanting a structured grounding in classical music history rather than a performance or theory course.