MUSIC ANALYSIS Assignment help
general article writing
Description
Topic:
In the first lecture, we discussed the following quote by John Blacking:
Even if a person describes musical experiences in the technical language of music, he is in
fact describing emotional experiences which he has learned to associate with particular
musical sounds.
In the sixth lecture, we approached two pieces of music by first listening to them and
describing
their musical features and our emotional response to them. We then discussed the
context of
these two pieces and how this affected and changed our reaction to these pieces.
Your assignment is to choose one musical composition that is not on the course listening list
and to approach your investigation of this piece in the same manner as we did in Lecture 6.
The composition must come from a Western music tradition and can be in any genre
(Classical 1 , 1 folk, rock, jazz, pop, etc. 2 ). In the first part of this assignment you will describe
what you hear using the technical language that you have learned in this course. How do the
technical features of your chosen piece become an emotional experience for you as a listener?
You will then research the composition and discover whatever you can about the context in
which the piece was composed. What compositional techniques were used to create this piece
of music and what might the composer have wanted to communicate? How does the context
in which the piece was written give meaning to the music and affect or change your reaction
to that piece of music? Due to the nature of this assignment, please feel free to write your
essay using the first person narrative form.
Guidelines: Range: 1100 to 1200 words
As a starting point, be sure to familiarize yourself with the composition by listening to it. You
will need to introduce the piece that you have selected using the technical language that you
have acquired from class and provide your initial reaction to it; you will then provide an
explanation of how your knowledge of the historical and cultural context affects your reaction
to the composition.
