Music History Blog Series

Video games have shaped several aspects of culture in the last few decades, and music is no exception. This blog post highlights the emergence of the chiptune, a genre that originated...

The mass migration of Black Americans spurred a massive cultural boom in Northern cities. In this blog, this phenomenon is explored by examining the lives of the "Dean of African American...

 In this blog, Dzekunov unpacks aspects of Kantian Aesthetics and applies them to a contemporaneous sonata written by Frederick II of Prussia. To read the full blog post, click here.

 In this blog, Malone explores the connections between New World Music and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, discussing Afro-Latin instruments, rhythmic ideas, and the diffusion of African music...

Thomas Wiggins was a phenomenal musician and composer in the 19th century who had many extraordinary talents.  These talents however were often used to exploit the musician from early childhood in...

In this post Rollins explores Black English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's life and career through a web of cultural, racial, and socioeconomic factors. To read the full blog post, click here.

Latin-American dance music has been deeply foundational in establishing the identity of South American popular music, however its importance within the compositions of 19th-century composers is...

Music will sometimes serve as a representation of a musician's psyche.  Matthew King explores Clara Schumann's composition "Die Lorelei" and how it displays the thoughts of a composer potentially...

American composer George Whitefield Chadwick has fallen into obscurity, but should be recognized as one of America's leading composers of nationalist classical music. He wrote American nationalist...

Pirzchalski explores the deep friendship between Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré, surmising that the emotional, musical, and professional support these two composers provided for one another...