You will select one piece of Western art music other than Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Using Oxford Music Online as one of your sources, you will write a short paper about your chosen piece, exploring historical background, sound elements, and a comparison of different recordings.
You must provide research citations for this paper:
Your research must include, but is not limited to, Oxford Music OnlineLinks to an external site.. In order to access this, you must be logged in to the Marriott Library webpage. (Links to an external site.)
I strongly encourage you to additionally explore other books and scholarly articles. JSTORLinks to an external site. is a great resource, which is also available to you as a student. In order to access this, you must be logged in to the Marriott Library webpage. (Links to an external site.)
Non-peer reviewed sources (such as Wikipedia) can be excellent resources to help you find your bearings. However, you may not use them as official sources in Part 1 of your paper.
For your citations, please use Chicago style. Links to an external site.(I am not super picky about style mechanics, but your citations must be clear.)
Select one major work that falls under the category of Western art music. This could be a symphony, string quartet, opera, art song, nocturne, oratorio, ballet, tone poem, troubadour song, etc. If you’re not sure if your idea will work, please contact me.
In a 2 ½ -3 page essay, address the following prompts (Times New Roman, 11 point, double-spaced.):
Part 1: Provide some background to the piece:
Write a brief biography of the composer. (3/4-1page)
Figure out when (or approximately when) the piece was written and write a brief background about it. (3/4-1 page)
Where was the composer working at the time/who commissioned the piece?
Was there anything politically or philosophically significant that influenced the piece?
Discuss some stylistic elements of the music that you heard in terms of the composer’s work from that period, or in terms of larger trends in music from that time and place.
This should include some descriptive terms learned from this class (i.e. What is the form? What are the performance forces/instruments? What is the musical texture? How would you describe the dynamics?)
Part 2: Find and compare two professional-level recordings of the piece. These can be audio only or video.
Write a brief background about the performers. You may write about an individual soloist or conductor, or about the whole ensemble. Good resources for this include performer websites and review sites like allmusic.comLinks to an external site.. (1/2 page)
Compare the two performances. What is similar and what is different? (1/4-1/2 page)
