Essay 2 In Music

Essay Two – “Ars Musica”

A German Requiem

Purpose: To gain first-hand exposure to Western “art music” and to apply knowledge learned in class to the discussion of a concert program

Format: Typed (word-processed) in a 12-point font – Times New Roman or

similar, double spaced, 1 inch margins, name, course number, essay number,

and date in upper right hand corner. Submit in .rtf or Word format ONLY

CITE ANY SOURCES used according to www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

Length: At least 3, but no more than 4 pages.

Content: Attend a concert of “classical music” (after August 22, 2016!) and write an essay on the following. Note: the performance you attend MUST be a live performance (no DVDs or internet streaming performances are permitted) and MUST occur during the Fall 2016 semester unless you have SPECIFIC PERMISSION from your instructor

• Give a (very) brief overview of all the pieces on the program, discussing

instrumentation, genre or type of the pieces performed.

• Pick two of the pieces that particularly capture your attention. Give your INDIVIDUAL responses to these pieces. Does each seem expressive to you in some way? If so, how? Does each piece remind you of something you have heard in class or somewhere else? If so, what does it remind you of, and what are the similarities that you notice?

As in your first paper, listen to the way your two chosen pieces use the various musical elements (melody, harmony, rhythm, timber, etc.) and briefly discuss three elements that you believe most strongly characterize each piece.

What style periods (Medieval, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc.) do the two pieces you discuss stem from? What are two features of each piece that are typical of its style period?

For what sort of audience were these two pieces originally created (aristocracy, connoisseurs, a general middle class audience, etc.) and how would that original audience have listened to or otherwise experienced these pieces? Do audiences of today listen to them differently and, if so, how? Why might audiences of today listen differently?

Grading: Papers will be graded according to the following:

15 pts – Spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. (Please write in your best style!)

10 pts – Content (A)

20 pts – Content (B)

20 pts – Content (C)

15 pts – Content (D)

20 pts – Content (E)

100 pts.

Papers will be graded and returned via the web site with comments