Music is designed, like the other arts, to absorb entirely our mental attention. Its emotional charge
is embedded in a challenging texture, so that one must be ready at an instant’s notice to lend attention
wherever it is most required in order not to be lost in a sea of notes…. It is, in fact, the immediacy of this
marriage of mind and heart, this very fusion of musical cerebration directed toward an emotionally
purposeful end, that typifies the art of music and makes it different from all other arts.
With Copland’s quotation in mind:
Choose ONE multi-movement piece of music from this “Representative Works” link, discuss the compositional details of each movement, and discuss the emotional impact of the movements and the composition as a whole. For each movement of your chosen work, you must include both objective analysis of the piece’s composition and subjective interpretation of its emotional content, as well as how the two are related. Your analysis should focus on at least six of the eight elements of music that we have studied in this course (see below) and you should discuss two different elements of music per movement of your chosen work (i.e., for a four-movement work, you may discuss all eight elements of music or you may discuss two elements twice).
Elements of Music: melody, harmony, rhythm (beat, meter, tempo), tonality, texture, timbre or tone color, dynamics, and form (either a type [binary, ternary, sonata, rondo, etc.] or a technique [repetition, contrast, variation, etc.])
Your essay must be 1000-1250 words long and should be written in multiple paragraphs, as follows:
Write a solid introductory paragraph [200-250 words] in which you explain Copland’s quotation in your own words, leading into the introduction of your selected piece of music. You may restate any portion(s) of the quotation in your explanation, though quotes will NOT count towards the word requirements of this paragraph or the essay. In introducing your chosen work, include any relevant information about the work, and explain why you chose it to illustrate Copland’s concept that music relies on “the immediacy of this marriage of mind and heart, this very fusion of musical cerebration directed toward an emotionally purposeful end.”
Write a solid paragraph [200-250 words] in which you analyze the composition, interpret the emotional content, and explain how the two are related in the first movement of your chosen work. Remember that your analysis of this movement must focus on two elements of music.
Write a solid paragraph [200-250 words] in which you analyze the composition, interpret the emotional content, and explain how the two are related in the second movement of your chosen work. Remember that your analysis of this movement must focus on two different elements of music than those previously used.
Write a solid paragraph [200-250 words] in which you analyze the composition, interpret the emotional content, and explain how the two are related in the third movement of your chosen work. Remember that your analysis of this movement must focus on two different elements of music than those previously used.
If your work includes a fourth movement, write a solid paragraph [200-250 words] in which you analyze the composition, interpret the emotional content, and explain how the two are related in the fourth movement of your chosen work. Remember that your analysis of this movement may focus on different elements of music than those previously used or it may focus on two of the same elements that were previously used.
Write a Summary paragraph [200-250 words], concluding with how you might find relevance to the quotation and what you have learned in Music Appreciation in your “human experience,” beyond the course.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:
Outside research is NOT permitted for this assignment. While you may review the course material as needed, you may not conduct ANY research on your chosen works. Doing so will be considered academic dishonesty, resulting in your essay earning a “0” grade.
Your completed essay must be submitted by the posted due date as a PDF file via the submission link for this assignment. Late submissions will not be accepted for any reason, except in the case of significant documented medical and/or personal issues.
Your essay MUST be formatted as “print-ready”, with one-inch margins, double spacing, indented paragraphs, page numbers, and a standard 10- to 12-point black font (e.g., Calibri). Include a title (e.g., Course Essay), your name, date, course, and section at the top of your essay.
Your completed essay should be carefully compared to the below rubric before being submitted. In addition to the items listed on the rubric, point deductions up to 20% of the essay grade (30 pts.) may be incurred for writing and/or formatting issues.
Properly punctuate and format work titles as done on the “Representative Works” page. After doing so the first time in your writing, you should refer to each work simply by punctuated title OR by artist and work type (e.g., Cole’s painting) – not by both.
When discussing a work of music, focus on the work’s emotional content rather than on imagery that it inspires (e.g., no “it made me think of a field of flowers”). Also, please do not reference cartoons when discussing a piece of music (e.g., no “Tom & Jerry” or Disney).
Your essay must meet the assignment’s minimum word count requirement (1,000 words), though doing so does not guarantee that it will earn a passing grade. Even more important than meeting the minimum word count is the content quality of your essay.
Make sure to carefully proofread your essay for writing quality, including grammar and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.), before submitting it. If you need help with your writing, you are encouraged to make use of Tutor.com.
INSTRUCTIONS: Listen to at least a few minutes of each of the below works using the provided links to the Naxos Music Library. As you do so, consider how each work’s composition relates to its emotional impact (i.e., “the immediacy of this marriage of mind and heart, this very fusion of musical cerebration directed toward an emotionally purposeful end”, as stated by Copland). After listening to each work, choose ONE work (including all of its movements) for your Course Essay.
Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto for Flute, Violin, and Cello in A Major [German. 1733. Baroque]
“Work in Naxos Music Library web player”
This is the piece that I choose to write about.
