Music Appreciation

You will need to have paper and pen to take notes while watching the video. Some students find it helpful to make a chart beforehand of the musical elements and write comments in each category about each piece on the program throughout the concert.  Have fun! 

1. Write the equivalent of a 2-3 page report giving a review of the concert you watch. Your review must include the following: 
   
   
   
   • What kind of listener were you at the concert? Why? 
   
   
   • What pieces were performed? 
   
   
   • What was the style of each of the pieces performed? 
   
   
   • What was the instrumentation of the orchestra? 
   
   
   • Draw out and upload the seating arrangement of the instruments in the orchestra. 
   
   
   
   


2. Analyze 3-4 pieces played during the concert using the following criteria from the course: View the sample of a well-written concert report. Use Microsoft Word to type your report. Save as .docx, .rtf, or .pdf format.
   
   
   
   
   • Unity and Variety 
   
   
   • Structure of the Music 
   
   
   • Purpose of the Music 
   
   
   • Tempo 
   
   
   • Volume 
   
   
   • Rhythm 
   
   
   • Melody 
   
   
   • Harmony 
   
   
   • Form 
   
   
   • Historical Period 
   
   
   
   


3. Run a spell check/grammar check (under the “Review” menu in Word). Correct grammar and spelling will be part of your grade. 


4. Copy and paste your proof-read assignment into the Assignment Drop Box (not the "Comments" Box.)

All written assignments will run through SafeAssign, Blackboard's plagiarism checking tool. Be sure to paraphrase appropriately.

See the Rubric for how your grade will be determined. 

CONCERTS:

1. Beethoven - Symphony No.7 played by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

This is a concert that was scheduled to be performed on 3/19 in Melbourne, Australia but due to the ban on performance events due to Covid-19, it was performed without and audience and streamed live. 

2. Mozart - Requiem

This is Mozart's last work which was left unfinished, a very powerful, emotional piece for orchestra and choir in several different movements. You will see the titles on the video when each movement starts (Introit, Kyrie, Dies Irae, etc.) Be sure to describe each movement in terms of instrumentation, dynamics, tempo and anything else that distinguishes from the other movements.

3. Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons & Astor Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer from the Baroque era wrote 4 violin concertos called The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). Astor Piazzolla was a 20th Century Argentinian composer who also wrote a set of concertos with the same names inspired on Vivaldi's concertos. Each concerto has 3 movements. In this video, the orchestra plays the four concertos by each composer but they alternate the concertos: Vivaldi's Spring followed by Piazzolla's Spring, then Vivaldi's Summer, followed by Piazzolla's Summer, etc., each with 3 movements (parts). In this case, you don't have to describe each movement of each concerto, you can focus on each concerto as a whole (Spring, Summer, etc), comparing the styles of Vivaldi vs. Piazzolla.

4. A John Williams Celebration

This is a tribute concert to John Williams, film composer of many great movies such as Indiana Jones, Schindler's List, Superman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and more. Even though the music is not true classical music, the way Williams uses the orchestra is very traditional and the video is great at showing the different instruments and sections of the orchestra.