demusic1-2, Exercise 1: A timeline to Bach

Model answer (one possible choice; check each date):

1. 12th to 14th centuries: Minnesang. Courtly love songs in German, an early body of secular song.
2. 15th and 16th centuries: Meistersinger guilds. Craftsmen's song schools with strict rules, showing music in town life.
3. 1520s: Luther's German hymns. Congregational singing in the vernacular, the start of the chorale tradition.
4. 17th century: Schutz at Dresden. Brought Italian style into German sacred music and set a high standard before Bach.
5. 1723: Bach becomes Thomaskantor in Leipzig. The post that produced his cantatas and Passions.
6. 1750: Bach's death. The end of the Baroque generation, followed by a period of reduced attention to his work.

Other defensible choices include Handel's move to London or Telemann's career in Hamburg. The point is to give a reason for each pick.