MUSA 2201 Medieval/Renaissance
Our course surveys music making from Gregorian chant to the High Renaissance. Students explore sacred and secular repertories, notation, instruments, and performance practice, situating works within liturgical, courtly, and civic contexts. Through listening, score study, and primary sources, the class examines composers, improvisation techniques, genres, and cross-cultural exchange across Europe. Music and musicians are studied through the interlocking lenses of society, politics, economics, philosophy, theology, and faith with occasional excursions into art, architecture, and literature. Fulfills one elective in Western Art Music in the major; it fulfills the period course requirement in the pre-Fall 2026 major and minor.
Course overview
- Department
- Music Academic
- School
- MCAS
- Credits
- 3
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Offered
- Periodically in the Spring
Requirements fulfilled
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 4.48 / 5 · Very Good
- Instructor rating
- 4.70 / 5 · Excellent
- Terms evaluated
- 3
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | Margarita Restrepo | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 5.0 | — | 4 of 9 |
| Spring 2024 | Margarita Restrepo | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 1–3 hrs/week | 11 of 11 |
| Spring 2023 | Margarita Restrepo | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 1–3 hrs/week | 8 of 10 |