music

may be about a classical event watched on screen, such as the New York Metropolitan Operas HD broadcasts of operas, or a full-length recital or concert on the online Classical TV channel or on PBS, to name a couple of examples.  These must be performances of classical music, (the name of our course is Masterpieces of Classical Music, after all.), So be sure what you plan to view isnt a popular style such as rock, country, rap, hip-hop, jazz, etc

   
Concert Reaction Report Guidelines:

The following list conveys the information to be included in your Concert Reaction Reports.  Your report should be two typed double-spaced pages and will be graded on the following criteria:

Grammar and spelling

Content

Presentation of material and organization

Writing style and overall flow

Using the guidelines below, I hope you will construct an essay that would make your English teacher proud, complete with an introductory paragraph, body, and concluding paragraph.  You do not have to answer all of the points below – use them to give you ideas.  The most important part of the essay is the musical comparison. 

Setting

Date and place

Name of performing group

Type of music presented (instrumental, choral/vocal, dramatic)

Concert setting (hall, performers’ dress)

Did anyone give verbal program notes during the concert?

Music

Which genres, or types, of music were performed? (symphonic music, chamber music, vocal music, opera, etc.)

What historical eras were represented on the program? (pre-1600, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century)

If program notes were provided, did you read them?  Were they helpful?

Did the program notes indicate that the music imitated or hinted at non-musical ideas (birds, volcanoes, natural sounds, B52 bombers, etc)?  If so, could you hear this in the music?

Comparison

Take at least two of the pieces (or two movements of a larger piece) and compare what you hear.  This can take quite a bit of concentration (try practicing with the listening guides in your textbook to get some ideas).  Name the composer, work, and movement number (if the pieces have different movements) and then compare them according to the elements of music that we studied at the beginning of the semester.  Use as many of the following elements as you can.  In some cases, in order to write two complete pages, you may need to compare more than two pieces or movements.

Melody (ex. range, smooth scale-like motions, lots of leaps)

Rhythm/meter (ex. duple, triple, quadruple, complex/rhythmic patterns)

Harmony (ex. consonant, dissonant)

Texture (ex. monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, combination of all three)

Tempo (ex. fast, slow, walking pace)

Dynamics (ex. loud, grew louder, became deafening)

Instruments (ex. which instruments were represented, which voice ranges)

Mood (ex. joyful, sad, deserves a mosh-pit)

Other (ex. anything you can think of)

General Impressions

What was your overall reaction to the concert?

What did you like about it?

What didn’t you like about it?

What was the audience like? (ages, behavior, etc)

Other comments.

Submitting Your Report