The teacher or a pupil should study the subject of the Renaissance in
a history of literature and also of art, and then present to the class
an abstract of the study, to show the spirit of the movement and its
influence on art, especially music.
Use the paragraph heads in each chapter with the important sentences in
the paragraphs to make an outline of each lesson. This is a great help
in fixing the lessons in the mind in preparing for examination.
Sum up Monteverde and his work, his relations to predecessors and
successors.
Why did the centre shift from Florence to Venice?
Give a sketch of Scarlatti, his life and contributions to music.
If time will permit, some pupil should prepare a short account of such
composers as Pergolesi, Porpora, Piccini and Paisiello.
Give a summary of the development of the art of Singing.
A pupil should consult Grove’s “Dictionary” and make a paper on the
great singers of the olden times, their personality; also interesting
anecdotes.
Compare the Italian Opera with the form developed by Lully and Rameau.
In what respects did the English Opera differ from the Italian and
French form?
State the characteristics of the German Opera.
Handel’s work in Opera, especially in England, will make an interesting
study for a short paper to be read before the class by some member of
it.
Gluck’s career is full of interest and incident and his growth is
clearly a matter of experience. A pupil can, to advantage, study his
life in some biography or in Grove’s Dictionary and present an abstract
to the class.
In what respects did Mozart’s and Beethoven’s operas show differences
from the conventional Italian form?
A study of Rossini’s life and works is full of interest, on account of
his strong personality and striking characteristics.
What is “Passion Music”? Why is it specially suited to the German
Protestant Church?
Compare Handel’s, Haydn’s, Spohr’s and Mendelssohn’s work in Oratorio.
Excellent results will be obtained by having pupils prepare charts
which are filled up from lesson to lesson. Take a large sheet of paper,
divide it into columns, each column into quarter sections, each column
representing a century, each section, twenty-five years. Add dates of
birth and death of the great musicians, marking each name I, F, G, to
show nationality (Italian, French, German, etc.). Another chart should
show the various national schools, France, Germany, Italy, etc., by
centuries and quarter centuries; another the development of such phases
as opera, oratorio, singing, sonata, etc.
A very valuable chart is one showing contemporaries, in musical and
general history, also parallel events, for example, the musicians who
lived in a certain century, famous kings, statesmen, explorers, poets,
scientists, discoveries (such as America, printing, etc.), famous
battles, events in Biblical and American history, and other political
events of the same century. Credit should be given in class standing
for these charts.