Term Paper

Term Paper Length: six to eight (6-8) pages, double-spaced—exclusive of examples and bibliography. Include a title page with your name, student #. Ensure you paginate and staple your essay. You are free to generate your own topic within the following guidelines: 1) The essay must concentrate on music from the 20th or 21st century. 2) You must discuss an actual piece(s) of music in some detail. 3) You must not write on a work we have looked at in class or that is already on your listening list. 4) You must provide musical examples/excerpts (either pasted into the text or appended at the end) to bolster your analysis or point. 5) Do not spend more than a page outlining biography or historical development of whatever genre or form you are discussing. 6) Your paper should contain citations and a work cited list (a minimum of 5 sources, not including the Anthology) on a separate final page. In general, concentrate on one particular work or movement—focus your topic as much as possible—pick a single piece, movement, scene, or section of a larger work and discuss some particular point associated with it in as much detail as possible. Pick a composer, piece or topic that interest you! Possible Term Paper Topics (please consult with the instructor if you would like to propose your own): 1) The relationship between text and music in a particular 20th or 21st century vocal work. How does the music reflect the text, how is it different, what is the role of the accompaniment? How does the composer use changes in melody, harmony, rhythm and/or key to portray various emotions, situations, or moods in the work? (Include actual musical examples to prove your point). 2) Discuss how a particular piece of music might be political. Does it critique a particular political figure, or government, or ideology? Is it making a comment on a specific political event, climate, or cause? In what ways does the composer convey its political efficacy? (That is, how does it produce, in sound, the result intended by its composer)? 3) Discuss a piece by a female composer. How does it compare with a similar piece by a male composer (i.e., a string quartet written in the same general time; or two settings of the same poem—is there a difference? What are the important stylistic elements in the work? Discuss what obstacles she had to overcome in achieving compositional success as a woman. 4) Using a specific composer and excerpts from specific pieces discuss the concept of national styles in music (Russian, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Spanish, American, Canadian—choose one). Are there recurring or typical national musical traits (or folk elements) that can be identified? Is there evidence of a mixture of national stylistic features? How is nationalism expressed in this particular composition? 5) Analyze the use of 20th century art music techniques in 20th century popular music – how has 20th century art music influenced late 20th/early 21st century pop music. You must concentrate on the 20th art music techniques and ground your comparison in actual research and/or analysis. 6) Discuss the presence of a particular literary or pictorial theme (and its musical representation) in an opera or programmatic instrumental work. How does the music (harmony, form, texture, performance indication etc.) reflect or support this theme? 7) Discuss the reaction of various 20th century composers (choose one) to Schoenberg or Stravinsky. How did Schoenberg or Stravinsky influence their music—how is this manifest in a particular piece? 8) Discuss the reaction of 20th century and/or contemporary composers to the advent of various technologies —with respect to a specific piece how has technology influenced its composition and aesthetic. 9) Discuss a work by a contemporary living composer. What compositional techniques does this work evince? How does this work relate to compositional techniques used by previous composers? 10) Discuss a work by a contemporary Canadian composer. How does this work promote a particularly Canadian identity? What compositional techniques do they use and how do they relate to those earlier in the twentieth century?