LAB EIGHT
Due Date: Mon. Oct. 28; bring papers to
lecture
Choose one option and prepare a report of 2-3 pages in length of
double-spaced type. Be sure to indicate which option you have chosen in
the heading of your paper and follow other expectations for format and writing
criteria.
Option One
Find another recording of chant (any kind). Listen to it.
After introducing your choice, answer the following questions in your report.
- How do the examples on your chosen recording compare to the examples of chant that Willoughby provides? Consider features such as: musical sound, language, intended and actual use, and performance setting.
- What characteristics would you argue must be present for something to be regarded as chant?
- Why is chant well suited to liturgical use?
- What arguments would you offer for chanting a text versus speaking or singing it?
- Why might listeners find chant attractive out of a liturgical context? (The incorporation of chant by groups like B-Tribe comes to mind, as do the recent releases of the compositions of Hildegaard de Bingen.)
Option Two
Re-listen to the Renaissance selections in chapter eight (examples 52, 53, and 54).
In your report answer the following questions.
- What basic texture is shared by all three compositions?
- What features do the three works share?
- How do they differ?
- Which performance seems most likely to enjoy widespread appeal among contemporary listeners? Why?
Option Three
Surf the Internet for Resources on Early (Pre-1700) Music and Musicians.
In your report discuss the following concerns.
- Identify and describe (evaluate?) one site offering information regarding a specific composer of medieval, renaissance, or baroque music.
- Identify and describe one site offering information on recordings of early music from the same period chosen in task 1.
- Identify and describe one site promoting musicians who perform
early music from the same period chosen above.
- Discuss how the information in each site compares to the information that Willoughby offers in chapters eight or nine. (Does it support, enrich, or challenge his points?)
Option Four
Focus on One Baroque Example from Chapter Nine
Choose selection 57b, 58, or 59 for extended discussion and listen again. Make a special effort to listen to the complete work from which the excerpts in your text a
re taken. Recordings are available in the Music Library.
- If you chose 57: Answer the first two questions on p. 226 of your text, under "Reflections on Example 57b."
- If you chose 58:Compare the chorale style in the Wachet Auf with "Sherburne" and "Amazing Grace," as presented in chapter three (see p. 227 under "Reflections.") Be sure to take into consideration the use and placement of the chorale i
n the larger composite work (i.e., in the overall structure of Cantata 140).
- If you chose 59:Discuss how J.S. Bach uses formal design and instrumental roles to allow him to create a long unified work with sufficient diversity to keep a listeners interest. To really address this issue you must listen to all three moveme
nts of the complete work and consider how each compares to the others. For example, does Bach give the harpsichord the same role in each movement? Is it present in all three? (See page 228 for additional ideas.)