MU207 HW1 Dr. A. Schloss

(384-322 BC) Aristotle philosopher
(427?-347 BC) Plato philosopher
(470?-399 BC) Socrates philosopher
(? -497?BC) Pythagoras philosopher/math/music
(480-524) Boethius music theorist
(900) Arabic instruments introduced into Europe  
(ca. 997-1050) Guido of Arezzo music theorist
( 1098-1179) Hildegard von Bingen composer
(ca. 1400- 1474) Guillaume Dufay (Sta Maria di Fiore) composer
(1452-1519) Leonardo da Vinci everything
(1473-1543) Copernicus, Nicolai astronomer
(ca. 1526-1594) Palestrina, Giovanni Perluigi composer
(1517-1590) Zarlino, Gioseffo music theorist
(1561-1626) Bacon, Francis philosopher/scientist
(ca. 1567-1643) Monteverdi, Claudio composer
(1571-1630) Keppler, Johannes astronomer
(1588-1648) Mersenne,Marin mathematician/philosopher
(1596-1650) Descartes, Rene mathematician/philosopher
(1642-1727) Newton, Sir Isaac physicist/mathematician
(1653-1716) Sauveur, Joseph acoustician
(1683-1764) Rameau, Jean-Phillip music theorist
(1685-1750) Bach, Johann Sebastian composer
(1732-1809) Haydn, Josef composer
(1756-1791) Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus composer
(1768-1830) Fourier, Joseph mathematician
(1770-1827) Beethoven, Ludwig van composer
(1777-1855) Gauss, Karl F. mathematician/astronomer
(1797-1828) Schubert, Franz composer
(1794-1881) Boehm, Theobald inventor
(1813-1883) Wagner, Richard composer
(1821-1894) Helmholtz, Hermann L.F. scientist
(1833-1897) Brahms, Johannes composer
(1840-1893) Tchaikovsky, Peter I. composer
(1847-1931) Edison, Thomas A. inventor
(1856-1943) Tesla, Nicola inventor
(1862-1918) Debussy, Claude composer
(1885-1947) Russolo, Luigi artist/inventor/composer
(1874-1949) Schoenberg, Arnold composer
(1866-1944) Kandinsky, Wassily artist
(1879-1955) Einstein, Albert physicist
(1881-1945) Bartok, Bela composer
(1882-1971) Stravinsky, Igor composer
(1883-1945) Webern, Anton composer
(1883-1965) Varese, Edgar composer
(1887-1979) Boulanger, Nadia composer/music theorist
(1899-1972) Bekesy, Georg von scientist
(1901-1976) Heisenberg, Werner physicist
(1896-1993) Leon Theremin inventor, physicist
(1908-1992) Messiaen, Olivier composer
(1910-1995 ) Schaeffer, Pierre composer
(1912-1992) Cage, John composer
(1918-1988) Feynman, Richard physicist
(1920- 1996) Claude Shannon mathematician
(1922-2001) Xenakis, Yannis composer
(1925-2004) Berio, Luciano composer
(1925- 2016) Boulez, Pierre composer
(1926-2011 ) Mathews, Max scientist, engineer, inventor
(1933- ) Subotnick, Morton composer
(1934- ) Chowning, John composer
(1934-2005) Moog, Robert engineer
(1936- ) Reich, Steve composer
(1938- 2018) Hawking, Steven physicist
(1942-1970) Jimi Hendrix guitarist/composer



Pick five people from this chronology and connect their work in the context of music, technology, theory or aesthetics. (Note that this is or, and not and ). What impact did they have on each other? On the development of music and/or culture and/or technology as we know it today? You can add one or more people to your paper who are not on this list, but make a case for his or her historical importance. In particular, minor figures in popular culture are in general difficult to justify, so check with me if it's someone you really admire and want to add. Then you can try to create a possible history that allowed this person to do what they do.
Four to six pages (double-spaced) should be enough.


NOTE: This is not a book report! In other words, I am not interested in a sequence of short biographies of the people you choose. A small amount of biographical information is fine, but I am much more interested in how you connect the people you choose, in your ideas and your thoughts, even if they don't seem as solid as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I am much more interested in your ability to tell a story that connects the people you chose. Be creative!

Here's an example of the kind of paper that I enjoyed reading, from a student in a different year of the MUS 207 class: HW1 example

Yes, you can use google or wikipedia to get quick information about your choices, especially when you are first exploring and deciding who or what you would like to write about, but I expect your bibliography to include at least a couple of books and articles as well as your web references. The exact format of your bibliography is not important, but should list all sources that you looked at in preparing your paper. Also, if you cite a source in the body of your paper, refer to it when you cite it, not only at the end of the paper. That is to say, the reader should know where you got your information from. So just having a list at the end is not sufficient -- the reader should be able to tell while reading your paper where your ideas and information came from.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! YOU WILL FAIL THIS ASSIGNMENT

A student commits plagiarism when he or she:

Policy on Academic Integrity