This assignment is for the few of you who missed the night of the winter concert. Sickness definitely swept through the choir last week, so please complete the following assignment by JANUARY 5, 2012 in order to replace the grade.
Your essays should be three pages in length, double spaced, using times new roman. Any adjustments in margin will be penalized. Please use proper grammar and make sure you spell check. Your papers should be well thought out and insightful.
Option 1)
Using the recording of the winter concert, analyze the performance in a written critique using the guidelines for NYSSMA Majors. This will involve getting back the music from me so that you can cite measure numbers and sections of the different pieces properly.
Option 2)
Cloudburst, by Eric Whitacre has been written for both chorus and band. Listen and compare the two pieces. What is more or less effective about each performance? How does the use of text in the choral performance enhance/ detract from the piece?
This is partially your opinion, but if should also include a section that discusses the background of the piece and composer. What piece came first? (The choral or band) Why did he make the choice to set it for both ensembles? What changes in each performance?
Option 3)
O Mistress Mine! by Gyorgy Orban is a setting of Shakespeare's text from the Twelfth Night. How does it reflect the meaning of the text? How was the piece used in the original work and how has Orban interpreted the setting? Why has he interpreted it this way? Are their literary clues that can be found in the music and vice versa? Can you find other choral settings that have set the text differently? Cite them and discuss how their interpretation of the text differs.
Option 4)
This Gala we will be performing Mozart's Requiem. This is a Major body of work and is a standard of both choral and orchestral literature. Listen to the entire work. Research Mozart and his style. How is it reflected in this piece? What makes it such an effective piece of music? How has he shown the meaning of the text in the voicing and orchestration? How does this piece show how Mozart's style developed and changed as a composer over the course of his lifetime? Please include a brief historical background of Mozart however, the focus of the piece should be on the Requiem.
