Prof. Matthew Balensuela Contributes to Vitalizing Music History Teaching

December 3, 2010

December 3, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — Matthew Balensuela, professor of music at DePauw University, is among the contributors to Vitalizing Music History Teaching: Monographs & Bibliographies in American Music.  Published by Pendragon Press, the book includes Professor Balensuela's essay, "Music History/History of Theory: Dynamic Tensions Between Theory and Composition in the Classical Era."

"The fourteen articles in this collection raise a number of questions that teachers of music history have to be able to answer, not only for their students but also for themselves," notes a synopsis of the title. "What, exactly, is music history? Whose history is it? What, in fact, is music? What do undergraduates need to know about the history of music? Why? What does one semester or one year, or even a two-year sequence, permit the instructor to cover? Why is a teacher necessary in the era of the Internet? How should limited class time be filled? With which topics? As a series of lectures? As discussion sessions? Listening to music? Looking at scores? Engaging in musical activities? Going to events? What should be assigned -- reading, listening, writing, keeping a log, preparing a read-through of a composition -- and why? The articles that follow do more than raise questions. They invariably suggest and prescribe answers, as well as recommend approaches to teaching."

Learn more and order the book at Amazon.com.

Professor Balensuela is editor of the Journal of Music History Pedagogy is a bi-annual, peer-reviewed, open-access online journal on the teaching of music history. Learn more in this recent story.

Balensuela was a recipient of the Music Library Association's 2008 Vincent H. Duckles Award for the book, Music Theory from Boethius to Zarlino: A Bibliography and Guide.

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