DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OFF AND ATTACH YOUR CHECKLIST!
For this semester you will draw your musical performances from this recorded event: YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 Grand Finale.Links to an external site. The entire performance, including discussions about various performers, lasts almost 2 1/2 hours. For your paper, choose any pieces that you like making sure that you have a total of at least 45 minutes of music. You can find the timings and names of the pieces/composers in the expanded notes.
The concert report should read much like an in-depth newspaper review, combining factual information with your own critical evaluation and including the following elements:
• name and composition of performing group, location and date of performance (intro paragraph)
• general type of concert: string quartet, vocal recital, symphony, choral concert, etc. Names of pieces and composers (intro paragraph)
• physical description of performing group and performance venue
• general description of compositions and musical style.
• more detailed personal descriptions of your chosen pieces. Include musical information on style, rhythmic and melodic features, solos, etc. This is the most important part of the paper. Make sure this description goes beyond the poetic! If you find a piece that reminds you of soldiers marching, butterflies, etc., that’s OK. But you need to tell me what it is in the music that makes you feel that way. Describe melody, tempo, dynamics, rhythms, texture, etc. Do not use a template approach. (In other words, don’t limit all of your descriptions to the same one or two musical elements, such as tempo.) Remember that this assignment must consist of your personal descriptions of what you heard.
• Many genres of classical music are multi-movement. In other words, they consist of more than one section and each is actually an individual piece. For example, a symphony typically consists of four different movements. Other multi-movement genres include concerto, string quartet, suite, cantata, chamber music, sonata, etc. For such genres, you must provide a separate description for each movement.
• your overall reaction to and judgement of the concert
• audience response
Your concert report should be 3-4 typewritten pages in length, double-spaced. Top and side margins should be approximately 1” in size with the exception of the left side margin, which may be 1-1/2 “. Use a reasonable font size. Any final paper with substantial errors in grammar and/or spelling will not receive a grade higher than C+. Make sure your paper is well organized with introductory and concluding paragraphs and a clear, logical order to the main body of the work.
Coordinate your knowledge gained in class with your comments on the concert. I don’t expect technical formal analyses of compositions, but show me that you understand general terms and genres as covered in class. For example, if you hear a concerto or symphony, describe it in a way that shows me your understanding of what a concerto or symphony is. Don’t confuse individual movements and separate works.
Do not include any outside information, including info about composers’ lives, etc. This paper is ONLY about what you see and hear.
Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKJpYGCLsg
