i also agree; i think the most interesting music class i had while at earlham was "music of vienna," while i was on the wiener choral programm. the reason it was so interesting and stuck so well was that we were also learning about the art and architecture of vienna and the politics & history of central europe -- in all three classes spanning from the reformation/baroque period to the 20th c.

i ended up writing my essay for the final (dan made let us "ask and answer the question you wish i would ask") on the influence of political philosophy on the music of each period. yeah. it was a bit unwieldly, but man was it a fascinating essay to write in under an hour!