Specialization: music history.
Bio: Studied piano and music history at the Eastman School of Music (1962-1966) and went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in musicology at Harvard (1966-1972). While at Harvard he attended numerous Red Sox games, played chess with pianist Robert Levin, and, as a teaching assistant, taught composer John Adams—all survived the experience. After a pleasant year teaching at the University of Kentucky in Lexington (1972-1973), Wright moved to Yale, serving as chair of the Department of Music from 1986-1992 and becoming the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Music in 2006. At the undergraduate level he teaches a basic music appreciation course (one of Yale’s largest) and the music history course required of majors in medieval and Renaissance music. Similarly, his graduate courses tend to concentrate on early music, specifically on composers diverse as Leoninus, Dufay, Josquin, and Bach, as well as early chant and liturgy. Recently, he has changed the focus of his professional research from early music to that of Mozart.
Wright’s writing in music history began with a rigorously primary-source approach—the first-hand study in situ of the music manuscripts and archival documents of Western Europe as they pertain to early music. In the course of time he has expanded his view to a broadly interdisciplinary one, as the title of his most recent book suggests: The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology and Music. His interests have also extended chronologically, and his publications now range from studies of the music of Leoninus (died ca. 1200) to Bach. He is one of the few individuals to be awarded the Dent medal (RMA), the Einstein prize (AMS), and the Kinkeldey award (AMS). He also has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an NEH Fellowship. In 2004 Wright was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Chicago. He especially enjoys playing tennis and traveling around Europe.
Books:
- Music at the Court of Burgundy, 1364-1419: A Documentary History (Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ltd., Henryville, Ottawa, Binningen, 1979), 271 pp.
- Music and Ceremony at Notre Dame of Paris, 500-1550 (Cambridge University Press, 1989), 400 pp.
- Listening to Music (West Publications, St. Paul, 1992), 419 pp; 2nd edition (West Publications, St. Paul, 1996), 435 pp; 3 rd edition (Wadsworth, 2000), 451 pp.; 5th edition (Wadsworth, 2007), 451 pp.
- The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology and Music (Harvard University Press, Cambrdge, MA, 2001, paperback edition, 2004), 351 pp.
- Music in Western Civilization (Wadsworth-Schirmer, to appear 2006)
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Lecture 1 - Introduction to Listening to Music
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
26652 views
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Lecture 2 - Introduction to Instruments and Musical Genres
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
11126 views
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Lecture 3 - Rhythm: Fundamentals
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
8187 views
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YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
29745 views
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Lecture 4 - Rhythm: Jazz, Pop and Classical
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
7385 views
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Lecture 5 - Melody: Notes, Scales, Nuts and Bolts
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
6336 views
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Lecture 20 - The Colossal Symphony: Beethoven, Berliotz, Mahler and Shostakovich
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
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Lecture 9 - Sonata-Allegro Form: Mozart and Beethoven
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
6204 views
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Lecture 6 - Melody: Mozart and Wagner
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
6196 views
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Lecture 7 - Harmony: Chords and How to Build Them
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
5873 views
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Lecture 16 - Baroque Music: The Vocal Music of Johann Sebastian Bach
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
5731 views
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Lecture 18 - Piano Music of Mozart and Beethoven
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
5474 views
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Lecture 21 - Musical Impressionism and Exoticism: Debussy, Ravel and Monet
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
5139 views
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Lecture 8 - Bass Patterns: Blues and Rock
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
4936 views
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Lecture 14 - Ostinato Form in the Music of Purcell, Pachelbel, Elton John and Vitamin C
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
4580 views
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Lecture 17 - Mozart and His Operas
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
4536 views
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Lecture 11 - Form: Rondo, Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations (cont.)
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
4349 views
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Lecture 10 - Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
4262 views
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Lecture 22 - Modernism and Mahler
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
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Lecture 12 - Guest Conductor: Saybrook Youth Orchestra
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
3896 views
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Lecture 19 - Romantic Opera: Verdi's La Traviata, Bocelli, Pavarotti and Domingo
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
3774 views
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Lecture 23 - Review of Musical Style
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
3591 views
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Lecture 15 - Benedictine Chant and Music in the Sistine Chapel
as author at YALE MUSI 112 - Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright,
1677 views
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