watch kendrick scott oracle’s video then write a 2 pages music report

19 Jul watch kendrick scott oracle’s video then write a 2 pages music report

Instructors in introductory music courses often require students to write one or more concert reports during a semester. Here are some guidelines for the preparation of such an assignment: first, a few suggestions on working with your own notes; second, points to consider for the content of your report; third, some information about usages or conventions in writing about music; and finally, an example of a concert report.

Transforming Your Notes into a Report

You should plan to expand your notes into a complete report very soon after the concert–the same evening or during the next day or so.

It is often helpful to begin with an outline and then to write a rough draft. (If your instructor hands out a printed form for concert reports, that will serve as the outline.) Next, polish and edit your draft to produce the final version. Remember to check your grammar and the spellings of names (especially foreign names) and musical terms.

Below are recommendations for the actual content of your report–what to write. Following that, there is a section on vocabulary and usages, or conventions, involved in referring to musical works–that is, how to write about music.

What to Write: The Content of a Report

The Concert as a Whole You should begin your report with a brief description of the concert attended, including the name and type of the performing group or soloists, the place, the date and time, and the music you heard.

You will also want to note whether the performers were attempting a historically “authentic” program. For example, in music by Johann Sebastian Bach, was a harpsichord (rather than a piano) used? For a symphony by Haydn or Mozart, was the size of the orchestra reduced? Did the performers use old instruments, or reconstructions of old instruments?

Then, you may want to describe your general reaction to the concert. Did you enjoy it? Did this event make you feel like going to other concerts in the near future?

Following this introduction, the paper might focus on the pieces you enjoyed most and your reaction to the performances.

Individual Compositions In discussing individual compositions, you will probably want to cover some of the following points:

· Musical styles. How did the composition correspond to what you have learned about the stylistic period in which it was composed–baroque, classical, etc.? Your appreciation of a work is often enhanced when you recognize its musical style.

· Musical genres and forms. What was the genre of the piece–symphony, concerto, tone poem, string quartet, étude, etc.? What musical forms were employed–theme and variations, sonata form, ABA, etc.? If you are reporting on an opera, you might note arias, recitatives, ensembles, choruses, etc.

· Program music. Was the composition program music–that is, was it inspired by a text, story, or place? If so, how did the music reflect the program?

· Emotions, images, and ideas. Did the composition evoke in you specific feelings or thoughts? For an opera, you should describe how the music depicted mood, character, and dramatic action.

· Memorable features. What features of the piece were most memorable–for example, did you tend to remember slower, lyrical sections; or triumphant parts; or fast, exciting parts? Were there any striking melodies and rhythms? Were there any unusual vocal, instrumental, or electronic effects?

· Musical themes. Were there several contrasting sections or themes within a movement? Did you recognize variations of particular themes or reappearances of musical ideas in different sections or movements?

· Comparisons with other works. It is often illuminating to compare a work with other works on the program, or with other works you have studied, noting similarities and differences.

Performance Your discussion of performance will be of a more subjective nature. You may want to focus on the following points:

· Emotional projection. Did you think that the soloists or group succeeded in projecting the emotional meaning of the work?

· Dynamics. Did the dynamics seem to have enough variety and flexibility? Did anything seem too loud or too soft?

· Tempos. What tempos were used? Did you think the tempos sounded right, or did some parts seem too slow or too fast? Could you identify any times when the performers intensified their expression of the music by using rubato–a slight holding back or pressing forward of tempo?

· Melodies. Did you think that the melodic lines were projected with a feeling of forward motion, lyricism, continuity, and climax? Did there seem to be a good balance between main melodic lines and accompaniment?

· Vocal and instrumental performances. Did the singers seem to have outstanding voices? Did the instrumentalists seem to be producing beautiful sounds? Did the performers’ body motions add to or detract from the musical effect?

· The parts and the whole. Did you enjoy the give-and-take among various instrumental families (in an orchestra), voice parts (in a chorus), or soloists (in a chamber group)? In a concerto, did the soloist and orchestra seem well coordinated?

· The conductor. Did you get the impression that the conductor had the ensemble under control? Did the conducting gestures and motions seem to be conveying the feeling of the music?

· Opera. How would you describe the quality of the opera production? Were the sets, costumes, lighting, etc., appropriate and aesthetically pleasing? Was the opera sung in its original language or in translation? If it was sung in translation, could you understand the words? Were super titles provided, and if so did you find them a plus or a minus? Was the opera presented in its original setting (such as the Latin Quarter of Paris around 1830 for Puccini’s La Bohème), or was the action transposed to a different period? What did you think of the acting?

Disasters. Performances–including those by famous musicians–do occasionally run into problems. Since professionals are good at “covering” slips, even quite sophisticated audience members may be unaware that anything has gone wrong; still, you may want to ask yourself some questions like the following: Did the performers seem to have a firm technical command of the music? Did they consistently play or sing in tune? Do you think you heard any “wrong notes?”

How to Write about Music: Vocabulary, Usages, and Conventions

In writing about music, it’s important to use certain terms correctly, with regard to what they mean and the form in which they are written.

Some Basic Performance Vocabulary Here are a few terms you’ll need to use in discussing musical performances; some of these are misused surprisingly often.

Composition, piece , and work . These may all be used, more or less interchangeably, for a single, complete piece of music (“The first composition on the program was very short”; “The second piece was the one I enjoyed most”; “This is a contemporary work”).

Song . This is a relatively brief work for a solo singer, which is not part of a larger work like an opera or an oratorio (though it may be part of a song cycle, and the term is also correct for a solo passage in a musical comedy or operette). Note that song should not be used for an instrumental work, or for an aria.

Aria . This is a passage for a solo singer in an opera or oratorio. If it is being performed out of context, as part of a concert or recital, it is still referred to as an aria. Some arias are independent compositions; these are called concert arias.

Vocal, vocalist . Vocal means of the voice; it is redundant and therefore incorrect to speak of a “vocal song.” Vocalist is simply a synonym for singer.

Choral, chorus . Choral means of a choir (thus a choral work is a work for choir), and a chorus is a relatively large choir, or group of singers.

Ensemble. This can refer to any group of performers, but it is most commonly used for smaller groups. (A large group would be referred to as, say, an orchestra, chorus, or band.)

Chamber music . This refers to any music written for a chamber ensemble—a string quartet, a piano trio, a chamber orchestra, and so on. (Music for a soloist, or for a soloist with accompanist, may or may not be chamber music.)

Symphony . This is a composition for orchestra, usually in four movements. The term should not be used as a short form of “symphony orchestra” (the term to use in that case is orchestra.)

Program . A word with several meanings: (1) An entire concert or recital (“I enjoyed tonight’s program”). (2) The printed booklet given to audience members at a concert, opera, recital, etc. (“I found that reading the program notes helped me understand the music”). (3) A literary text, a place, an event, or the like, on which a musical composition is based (“Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique has an autobiographical program”).

Performance. This term typically refers to the actual act of making music (“a virtuoso performance”), though it is sometimes used to mean a musical presentation (“The performance consisted of six works”).

Concert, recital . A recital is a program by a soloist or by two performers (soloist and accompanist, or a duo). A concert is a program by a chamber ensemble, orchestra, band, or chorus; there are also rock, jazz, and pop concerts.

Production . This is a performance of a work that involves staging—costumes, scenery, etc.—as well as music. The term may also refer to the costumes, scenery, and so on, as distinct from the music (“The opera was well sung, but the production seemed over elaborate”).

Show . This term is properly used only for popular music and musical comedy.

Act, scene . In opera, operetta, and musical theater, an act is a major section of the work (“The third act of Rigoletto includes the famous Quartet”); usually, an intermission takes place between acts. Acts may be subdivided into scenes. Note: In popular forms like revues and variety shows, act refers to the presentation of one of the performers or performing groups (“A tough act to follow”); but the term is not correctly used in this way for recitals, orchestra or chamber concerts, etc. (Don’t say, “For his second act he sang Die Forelle.” Rather, say, “The second piece he sang was Die Forelle“; or, “The second work was Die Forelle“; or the like.)

Movement . This is a specifically designated part of a long work like a symphony, a concerto, a string quartet, etc. (The term is not used for sections within an opera.)

Section, passage . These terms are useful for referring to parts of a composition shorter than a movement or (in musical drama) shorter than an act, scene, aria, duet, ensemble, etc.

Usages and Conventions In music—as in the other academic disciplines, and in many nonacademic situations—there are various usages, or conventions, regarding terminology. What words are capitalized, for example? When is italic used? To answer such questions, systems of usages are established by publishers (of textbooks and popular books, journals, newspapers, magazines, etc.), by college and university departments, by professional organizations, and so on. These systems can differ considerably from each other—a fact you should bear in mind when you are reading about music, since you will encounter many divergent usages. (Note: As you may know, usages of this nature are often called styles; however, that term will not be used here, to avoid any confusion with musical styles—an entirely different matter.) 
  When you write a concert report—or any other assignment for your music course—you will need to learn a system of usages and apply it correctly and consistently, particularly for titles of musical works. 
  The music department at your college or university may have developed its own system of usages; if so, it will probably distribute instructions in the form of a booklet or list to everyone who is taking a music course. Or an individual instructor may announce or hand out instructions for usages that he or she expects you to follow. A second possibility is that the department—or an instructor—will refer you to a system recommended by an organization like the Modern Language Association (MLA) or an institution like the University of Chicago (both of these have developed widely used systems). A third possibility is that your instructor will have you follow the usages that appear in your textbook (in this case, Music: An Appreciation, by Roger Kamien). 
  It is rather unlikely that you will be left to your own devices with regard to usages; but if you are, you should consult the manual of a respected institution like MLA or Chicago, or take your textbook as a model. 
  On the following pages is a sampling of the usages in Music: An Appreciation. 
  Note, with regard to italic (slanted type that looks like this): in handwritten work, or in work done on a typewriter, a word processor, or a personal computer that cannot produce italic, the equivalent is underlining.

· “Generic” titles of works—that is, works identified by a genre or form (usually with some number, or a key, or both)—are capitalized: Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98; Chopin’s Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K.#488.

· “Nongeneric” titles of works—that is, actual titles rather than a numbered genre or form—are set in italic (or underlined; remember that, as noted above, underlining is the equivalent of italic). Examples are titles of songs, oratorios, operas, symphonic poems, and ballets: Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Smetana’s The Moldau, Stravinksy’s Petrushka.

· “Nicknames” of works with generic titles are italic. They are placed in parentheses when they appear with the full title, but they may also be used in place of the full title. Examples are: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathétique), and Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G Minor (Surprise); the Pathétique Sonata, the Surprise Symphony.

· Some titles combine a generic part and a nongeneric part. Examples: Bizet’s L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2, Machaut’s Notre Dame Mass.

· For translations of works with foreign-language titles, both the original and the translation are italic. Examples: Schubert’s Erlkönig (The Erlking); Puccini’s La Bohème (Bohemian Life).

· A foreign-language title usually conforms to the conventions for capitalization in that language (different usages apply in different languages). Examples: Schumann’s Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the Lovely Month of May); Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). Note that nouns are capitalized in German.

· Parts of larger works are usually lowercase if identified by form and number. Examples: first movement, scene 2, the third act.

· Parts of works which bear their own nongeneric titles are italic. Examples: March to the Scaffold (from Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique); Game of Paris (from Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra); La donna è mobile (from Verdi’s Rigoletto.)

· Vocal works that are identified by the first few words (rather than formal titles) are italic but not capitalized throughout. Example: When I am laid in earth (from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas).

· Lowercase is used for forms and genres apart from titles. Examples: A symphony usually has four movements. A minuet and trio is in three-part form (ABA).

· Terms for tempos and dynamics are neither italic nor capitalized in text: allegro, andante, pianissimo.

· Musical styles and stylistic periods are usually lowercase. Examples: baroque, classical, romantic. But there are some exceptions; for example: Renaissance, Dixieland.

As noted above, there are a number of systems of usages, and some of these differ greatly. Here are some examples of usages in other systems:

Long and short works. In some systems, a distinction is made between titles of long works, which are italic; and titles of shorter works, such as songs, for which quotation marks are used (“Yesterday”). But in these systems a foreign-language title may be italic, and quotation marks may be used for a translation, whether the work is short or long: Debussy’s Nuages (“Clouds”).

Nicknames. Some systems also use quotation marks rather than italics for nicknames (Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony). However, a nickname may be italic if it is in a foreign language.

Quotation marks. On the other hand, some systems simply use quotation marks for all nongeneric titles, nicknames, foreign-language titles, and the like: Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman,” Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. (You may find this use of quotation marks particularly in newspapers.)

Italics. Some textbooks use italic for all titles, including generic titles (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major). (This is probably done in order to highlight titles for students.)

Keys. Instead of capitalizing all keys in titles, some systems use capital for major keys and lowercase for minor keys and omit the word major or minor. Thus C in a title is the equivalent of C Major, and c is the equivalent of C Minor.

There are many other variations—far more, in fact, than we can go into here. You need not be familiar with all of them, but you should be aware that they exist.

A Sample Report – Do NOT copy this format!

Below is a concert report written by a college student, which should be helpful as an example of content, vocabulary, and usages. (You’ll notice that this student has followed a format requested by her instructor.)

Name: Peggy Skipitaris

Course: Introduction to Music

Date: December 9, 1991

Concert: New York Philharmonic (December 3, 1991)

Type of concert: Symphony orchestra

General reaction: I was impressed with the construction of the concert hall—Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center—and with its wonderful acoustics. The visual grandeur of the orchestra and the attentiveness of the audience heightened my sense of excitement.

Composition I likes best: The piece I enjoyed most was Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28, by Richard Strauss, a one-movement work in rondo form, with various tempos. This symphonic poem was written in 1895—during the romantic era, when program music was prominent—and is based on a German folk tale about a famous prankster. Strauss uses the rondo form as a framework for the episodes of Till’s adventures: after each prank, Till laughs at his pursuers and saunters off. When he is finally caught and hanged, his last gesture is to thumb his nose at his executioners. Although the piece deals with death, and such unhappy programs are usually in minor, I hear this composition start in minor but end in major. The meter varies, as does the tempo—which is basically very lively but at times becomes moderate, slower, or even faster.

This work can be compared with another one-movement symphonic poem that deals with the death of its protagonists: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Tchaikovsky chose sonata (rather than rondo) form; his composition is in minor, the meter is duple, and—as in Till Eulenspiegel—the tempo varies. The basic mood of the two works differs significantly: in Romeo and Juliet, it is love—rather than mischief—that triumphs over death.

Strauss introduces his hero with a lyrical opening theme (the horn). But the second theme reflects agility, deviltry, energy, and unpredictability. Both themes return often as we hear Till get into and out of “hide and seek” and “catch me if you can” situations. The ending is a grander, more exciting version of Till’s first theme. Throughout, Strauss conveys the story and mood by contrasting solo and orchestral passages. The funeral after Till’s handing is interrupted several times by Till’s horn theme, suggesting his refusal to die.

In Romeo and Juliet, the slow introduction is a hymn-like melody (Friar Lawrence’s theme) which leads to a violent, fast theme that identifies the warring families; Romeo and Juliet themselves are identified by a lovers’ theme.

In both works, funeral music indicates death. Tchaikovsky used Romeo’s theme as a dirge but follows it by the gentle lovers’ theme which implies that these lovers will be reunited in death. Strauss, on the other hand, concludes Till Eulenspiegel with Till’s nose-thumbing theme. Till’s spirit—like Romeo’s and Juliet’s—lives on, but it is obviously a very different kind of spirit.

Listening to Romeo and Juliet brought me close to tears, while Till Eulenspiegel brought a smile to my lips.

Performance of this work: Wonderful! I was glad that Till Eulenspiegel was the final work on the program, as it left me in a very uplifted mood. I marveled at the fact that, through his music, Strauss enabled me to see the actions described in the program.

Overall performance: Totally professional in every respect.