LAB TWELVE
Due Date: Dec. 2; bring papers to lecture
Choose one topic and prepare a report of 2-3 pages in length of double-spaced type. Be sure to indicate which example you have chosen in the heading of your paper and follow other expectations for format and good writing..
Option One - John Cage - American Experimentalist
Watch the video presentation on John Cage on Wed. in room 162. Write a report describing which composition you most enjoyed hearing and why. Do you think Cage's perspectives on music continue to be important today? Do you see any parallels between the approaches Cage advocates and the approaches of contemporary musicians working outside of the conservatory/concert hall environment?
Option Two- Ruth Crawford
Listen to example 75 and respond to the questions Willoughby raises in the Reflections on p. 301.
Option Three-Ellen Zwillich
Listen to example 76. Compare this rondo to the rondo in ex. 61.
Option Four - Contemporary treatments of the Piano
Listen to example 76 and 78. Wilson and Diemer both write for the piano. How do their approaches differ? In what ways are they similar? Which do you most enjoy? Why?
Option Five- Contemporary treatments of the Orchestra
Listen to examples 81 and 82. Both Ives and Still rely on American vernacular music as one of their sources of inspiration. Describe the use of vernacular expressions by each composer. How are they alike? How do their overall approaches differ?
Option Six- Gershwin and the Piano Prelude
Listen to example 83. Compare this work with the piano pieces by Chopin and Crawford (exs. 68 and 75).