******There are 2 parts to this Assignment****Each Part is Separate**** PART 1: Music Class Discussion Board (use at least 90 words for this part) The Starving Artist This week, we are see the various ways that composers made a living in the 19th century. Not coincidentally, perhaps, there arose in Europe at this time the trope of the “starving artist” – the valorized idea that one must struggle for their art, or that one’s devotion to their art also required struggle. Answer the following in this week’s discussion: 1. What is your impression of this trope? 2. Is it real, or has it been overstated as a poetic device? – You may want to read the following article: The Myth of the Starving Artist ( https://medium.com/the-mission/the-myth-of-the-starving-artist-other-misconceptions-about-creativity-72457cced62f ) 3. Have we seen this trope play out in the lives and/or music of any of the composers we have studied so far? How? PART 2: Music Class Listening Assignment #5 ( use at least 185 words for this part) Preparing for Listening Assignment #5 Read through the description and instructions for the assignment below. Purpose The purpose of Listening Journal assignments is twofold: first, to develop your critical and analytical listening skills, and second, to develop your ability to express your musical critiques and analyses in writing. This assignment will help you develop the following skills: – Aurally identifying instruments, instrument families, and various performance ensembles. – Aurally identifying formal designs in music. – Correctly employing musical terminology in writing. This assignment will help you develop the following knowledge: – Familiarity with musical compositions by style period, composer, and title. – Understanding the various performance and stylistic features of the music of this era. – Understanding the differences and similarities among individual characteristics of the representative composers of this era. Task In this module, we are listening to and discussing a number of musical works. This assignment narrows that list down and asks you to listen deeper to six selections (listed below), each highlighting key aspects of music in the Baroque era. All selections below are listed by their number on the Course Playlist. 1. Listen closely to the track at least twice. (3-5 times would be better!) Make notes of anything that stands out or is of interest to you while you listen. Remember that the text includes a Listening Outline for each track. These are available for your reference! 2. After listening, create a Word document (.doc or .docx). In a few sentences (no longer than one paragraph each), answer the questions/prompts provided for each. 3. Include your own observations. Use terminology and concepts learned in class. Selections: #22 – Schubert, Erlkonig (The Erlking) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XP5RP6OEJI ) – Though there is only one vocalist, how many characters are being portrayed? Who are they? – What is the rhythm in the piano’s opening measures meant to symbolize? #23 – Schumann, Ballade in D Minor, Op. 6 No. 4 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VFwzJzq8kY ) – Comment on the moods at the beginning and ends of this piece. How are these moods portrayed/accomplished musically? #24 – Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdH1hSWGFGU ) – Liszt’s compositions often feature his own virtuosic skill at the piano. How does he accomplish that (a showcase of his own skills) in this composition? #25 – Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (third movement) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPIxCzOysR0 ) – What is similar about the form of this movement as compared to other symphonies in Brahms’ time? – What is different about the form of this movement as compared to other symphonies in Brahms’ time? #26 – Smetana, The Moldau ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4NKzmfC-Q ) – How many contrasting sections are there in this movement? Describe each (musically) and what they are meant to depict. #27 – Tchaikovsky, 1812 Overture ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KzF1KgaREo ) – Concert overtures, unlike overtures to opera, are stand-alone works; no narrative (play, opera, etc.) follows the overture. How does Tchaikovsky tell a complete story within the single composition of this overture? #28 – Sousa, The Stars and Stripes Forever ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7XWhyvIpE ) – The word “trio” is used differently in march forms. What is the trio, as seen in this selection? What is different about this section compared to the rest of the march? #29 – Wagner, Wotan’s Farewell (Die Walkure, finale) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG6p8bLdaQU ) – Describe at least two of the leitmotifs used in this selection. You can write about the instrumentation, the character of the motive, or describe its melody. Criteria Strive for specificity in your writing. The enjoyment of music is subjective, but the questions and prompts for each selection are about objective, observable facts. In other words, there is room for your opinions of the music in your writing, but I am really looking to see your understanding about what you hear. Example Note that in the example given below, the answers are given in complete sentences and in paragraph form. Questions/prompts from the assignment are not restated. The paragraph includes musical terminology, correctly employed. Wagner, Die Walkure, Act 1 – Love Scene Die Walkure, or “The Valkyrie,” is the second and most-frequently performed opera from Wagner’s four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The first act of this opera ends with a dramatic love scene between Siegmund and Sieglinde. In the beginning of the scene, they are unaware that they are siblings as they have never met, but throughout the scene they gradually realize that they are related. In this scene, Siegmund extracts a sword from a tree that had previously been placed there by the god Wotan, and it is here that we hear Wagner’s sword motif. This leitmotif is heard throughout the rest of the Ring cycle. The music in this scene is uninterrupted, seamlessly moving between the Valhalla, sword, and love motifs often becoming intertwined.
