Response paper: Music — Form
DUE DATE:
A short paper (1000-1200 words = 3-4 double-spaced pages) describing your experience of, and reaction to, a musical performance of your choosing. Papers should provide a basic description of the event, using the vocabulary of formal analysis we learn in class, and then discuss your evaluation of the event (was it “good”?) as well as your personal reaction (How did you feel about it? Was it of interest? Why or why not? What did you learn from it about this art form, about the nature of artistic structures, or about artistic experience more generally?). Papers will be posted on the class website, and each student will be responsible for writing a brief response to someone else’s essay.
20% of grade
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Some questions to think about
(not all may be relevant to every performance, and you may also want to discuss other unlisted aspects that occur to you during or after the event):
Type of music: Absolute music (pure, abstract structure) or program music (some narrative content, implied story or theme, or use of text along with music)? Is the music in a traditional form, like the sonata, or in a series of unrelated movements, or in a song form (verse and chorus), etc.?
Melody: Is the line of the piece long and lyrical, or short, choppy, and agitated? Repetitive or varied? Major or minor key? Angry, sad, joyful, contemplative?
Rhythm: Regular beat, or irregular and/or syncopated? Constant or variable? Insistent or gentle?
Harmony: (“vertical” structure: notes sounded together) Rich and complex (“symphonic”) or spare and simple? Consonant or dissonant?
Counterpoint: (“horizontal” structure, across time) One melody line, or several lines that overlap, intersect, compete? Clarity or complexity?
Tempo: Fast or slow? Restful or agitated? Constant or variable?
Dynamics: Loud or soft? Contrasting or consistent? Increasing or decreasing?
Texture: What instruments are used, and what kinds of sounds do they produce? (bird-like flute, twangy guitar, somber tuba, crashing cymbals). Do the instruments suggest any specific place or atmosphere? (heavenly bells or harp, military brass, Chinese gong)
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For listings of musical events around the city, check local newspapers, weekly entertainment guides like Time Out and the Village Voice, and magazines such as New York and The New Yorker. One good source to check for convenient musical events is the QC campus calendar; several events take place every week in the Music Building, Colden Auditorium, and elsewhere, from student recitals to performances by a variety of outside groups.
Papers will be evaluated for the principal goals of this part of the course:
–sensitivity and specificity of reaction
–accuracy and detail of observation
–use of analytical and descriptive vocabulary
–clarity of thought and expression
For guidance in structuring your essay, you may wish to consult Hudson and LeClair, Thinking and Writing in the Humanities, now on reserve for this course (call # PE1417 H74 2004).
