As I announced in class this past week, on assignment #3 I decided to invoke the “full credit for submitting the assignment” clause from the syllabus — if you turned in a complete assignment with answers that were related to the questions, even if not fully correct, you received full credit. (“Full credit” = “A.”)
(Partially completed assignments get credit, too, though it is scaled to something lower than an “A,” depending on the level of completion.)
You will not see a letter grade on the returned assignments. A check mark indicates full credit and a numerical value indicates that you earned something less. I’ll likely post the grades by the end of the weekend.
Since I did not comment on your papers I have decided to provide a bit of general feedback on the questions here — mainly because some papers that received full credit this time also contained some errors, if a few cases very significant errors.
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto… example:
This piece provides examples of terraced dynamics, which were typical of many Baroque compositions. (The modern recording does mask this a bit, as the post-processing likely increased the volume of the softer soloists and muted the louder dynamic level of the full orchestra.)
Bach: Organ Fugue… example
Best answers demonstrate some awareness of the characteristics of both rounds (like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) and fugues (as in this example.) Note that both are imitative polyphonic examples. In a round the second part is a slightly delayed but identical imitation of the first part. In a fugue the parts are not identical. The text and example explore some of the differences, but a few major points would recognize that the answers to the original fugue subject are on different notes, that the imitation is not continuous, and that other techniques (see text) are included.
Monteverdi: “Tu se’ Morta” from Orfeo
This question asks you to identify three examples of word painting in the recititative, and to note the specific features that qualify them as word painting. Note that identifying word painting will always require you to mention both words and musical features and ways in which they are connected. For example, you might note that the word “stars” (stelle) is sung on a high note, while “abysses” (“abissi“) and “death” (“morte”) are on a low notes. (It is not enough to just list words, and it is also not enough to make very general statements a long the lines of: It was about something sad and it sounded sad.)
Purcell: “Dido’s Lament” from Dido and Aneas
Note that the question focuses on the accompanying music, and not on the singing, in the two sections, a recitative and an aria. The text gives you some pretty good hints to direct your listing. Note the differences in the music between the two sections: the number of instruments playing, what they play, how important their parts are relative to the vocal line.
Vivaldi: La Primavera example
I am looking for very specific musical features that might be regarded as being part of a representation of spring. These might include rhythms, tempo, pitch range, specific musical effects evocative of spring, etc.
Bach: Cantata… example
This is a slightly tricky question. First, note that while I ask you whether this is more like an aria or a recitative, the example is neither of those! I’m asking you to look at the features of this music, compare to your knowledge of what might be typical in those two forms, and note what you see/hear in this piece that fits with one or the other of those forms. The “sneaky” underlying, hidden question concerns what you know about the typical characteristics of those two forms.
Handel: “Very Valley…”
As in the previous question, here you must link what you know to be the typical characteristics of arias and then link them to what you observe in this music. You might mention that parts of the melody repeat, that the orchestra background is quite complex and important, that syllables are sustained over many notes, and so forth.
Handel: Messiah
The most notable aspect of Handel’s use of texture in this example is that uses all three (monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic) textures, that he switches among them fairly quickly.
Dan Mitchell 