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Mus 266: History of Western Music II: Alternative Anthology Project

This guide will assist students enrolled in Dr. Harbert's Mus 266: History of Western Music II class.

What is an anthology?

What is an anthology?

According to Grove Music Online, an anthology is a printed or manuscript collection of musical works selected from a particular repertory. Most anthologies contain works by more than one composer. Certain types of collection, which may be anthologies in the broadest sense – folksong collections, tune books, songsters, hymnals, psalters, pasticcios, ballad operas, organ and lute intabulations, and theory or performance manuals with music examples – are not considered in this article, which is confined to printed anthologies of music roughly contemporary with date of publication and containing works by different composers.

Charles, Sydney Robinson. "Anthology." Grove Music Online . Edited by Deane Root. Accessed October 1, 2016. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/.

What makes your anthology alternative?

In your syllabus Dr. Harbert writes: Scholars chose the works anthologized in the NAWM based on certain implicit and explicit value criteria, and they do not represent an objective or unchangeable canon. As Marcia Citron writes, "Canons are flawed imperialistic, and power hungry: is it time to get rid of them?" Can you design an alternative anthology that would shed light on musics and people who are underrepresented in the NAWM?

Your Anthology Should:

  • Give your anthology a title and introduce it with a 2-3 page introductionexplaining the philosophy or ideology guiding your choices.
    • What values motivate your decisions?
    • What does your new anthology section have to offer, and why do you believe it to be necessary or important?
    • How do you believe it to be necessary or important?
    • How do your selections participate in re-writing history of telling a new story?
  • Include five pieces of musicfrom an approximately 30-year period of time (1800-present); none of the pieces in your anthology should included in NAWM.
  • Justify why all  five pieces should be included, why it is significant, and what educational or aesthetic opportunities it has to offer to the new anthology -- as Dr. Harbert states " defend your choices."

Please note that these are not all of your assignment guidelines. Refer to your syllabus when working on your Alternative Anthology.

Non-Scholarly Places to Find Information

Artist and composer websites

Publishers: their websites for the artists they represent

Reviews from Newspapers and Music Criticism websites

Interviews you find online

Example of Musical Anthologies

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