Concert Report

Concert Report #1

Due Jul 2 by 11:59pm Points 20 Submitting a text entry box or a file upload

File Types doc, docs, docx, and pdf Available until Jul 2 at 11:59pm

Submit Assignment

Each student will successfully complete a brief, 500-word minimum, concert report. Here are

some general guidelines to help you listen, think, and write about a concert. Concerts are

required to be art music, not pop or rock concerts. Also, church performances are excluded.

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, concert attendance will be done online this term via live

streamed or previously recorded concert. Click HERE for options.

Formatting Guidelines The following guidelines should be used in formatting your paper:

• Name, date, course number, and professor—top left corner

• Title (“Concert Report #1”)—centered

• Indented, double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman font

• One inch margins

• Proper grammar

• Proper (and pertinent) use of musical terminology

• URL of the online concert you attended at the beginning of your report

Basic Information to Include

• When and where did the concert take place? How long did it last?

• How many pieces were performed? What were they called and how many movements

were in each? Who composed each piece?

• Who were the performers (name of the ensemble and/or names of the soloists)?

• If there was a conductor/director, what was his or her name?

• What types of instruments/voices were played and/or featured?

• Was there any special purpose to the concert?

• URL of the online concert you attended at the beginning of your report

Basic Information to Include

• When and where did the concert take place? How long did it last?

• How many pieces were performed? What were they called and how many movements

were in each? Who composed each piece?

• Who were the performers (name of the ensemble and/or names of the soloists)?

• If there was a conductor/director, what was his or her name?

• What types of instruments/voices were played and/or featured?

• Was there any special purpose to the concert?

• Embedded selfie photo of you at the concert with the stage in the background.

General Questions to Keep inMind • What was your general reaction to the concert? How did the performance sound?

• Was the music performed well?

◦ Were the musicians rhythmically“together”?

◦ Were they playing/singing in tune?

◦ Did any instruments or voices stick out?

◦ How would you rate the musicians’ technical ability and the energy of their

performance?

◦ Did they seem well prepared for the concert?

• Which composition did you like best? Why? (e.g., what specifically did you like about the

piece itself or the way it was performed?)

• Which composition did you like least? Why?

• Did any of the compositions trigger an emotional response from you? What were your

specific feelings or thoughts in response to the music?

• Is this type of concert experience new to you? How do you think that might influence your

perceptions of what you heard and observed?

• What makes a performance an artistic event?

Specific Points toConsider You may want to focus your discussion and analysis of the concert on one or more of the

following:

• Describe what you heard and observed using the following musical terms, elements, and

concepts discussed in

◦ Genre (symphony, concerto, string quartet,)

◦ Stylistic period (Baroque, Classical, Romantic,)

◦ Mood (emotion conveyed by the music and performers)

o Pitch To what extent does pitch vary throughout the piece? How do changes in pitch

reflect changes inmood?

• Rhythm (beat, accent, tempo, meter, syncopation) How were the elements of rhythm used

to create special or interesting musical effects?

• Dynamics (level of sound) Identify changes in dynamics and discuss the effect these

changes create.

• Tone color (bright, brassy, warm, ringing, hollow,)

• Mode (major,minor)

o Harmony/Melody Discuss the balance (or lack of it) between the melody and its

"accompaniment." Did you hear consonance, dissonance, or a combination of both?

• Motives/Themes Identify and note where individual motives and themes are first introduced

and subsequently reappear in each

• Texture (monophony, homophony, polyphony,)

• Form (sonata form, A B A, theme and variations,)

• Using the musical terminology and concepts covered in-class, discuss the most interesting

musical elements or features of the pieces that were

• Compare the pieces from this performance with other compositions you have studied in

class, noting similarities and differences. (Note: In selecting a composition from class, you

may want to look for a piece by the same composer, from the same style period, or of the

same genre as the piece(s) from the)

• How does this concert compare to the performance(s) you attended previously?

• Describe the behavior of the performers and the audience. What, if any, interaction

occurred between the two? What kind of behavioral expectations do performers and

audiences bring to the concert? How are these expectations satisfied or frustrated?

OutsideResearch This is not required but you may choose to add depth and detail to your report by briefly

researching the pieces you heard at the performance. All sources must be cited using MLA

format (in-textcitations) with a works cited page at the end of your report. The following

questions will help to guide yourresearch.

• When was each of the pieces from the performance composed?

• Why were they written?

• What is each composer’s background? Include the following information:

◦ Major works

◦ Birth and (if applicable) death dates

◦ Historical or stylistic period to which the composer belongs

◦ The composer’s influence on contemporaries or later musicians

Plagiarism Plagiarism—intentional or by omission will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade.

Please refer to the student handbook for the college’s academic integrity policy. All written

assignments will be submitted in Canvas using their Turnitin plagiarism software.