The Assignments list contains the details of the course listening assignments. There are four separate listening assignments of equal value (10%) and each assignment contains five compositions, some of which have more than one movement . You are required to listen to the recordings and write approximately one paragraph on each composition (but not each movement). Therefore, you should submit a five-paragraph document for each assignment through the Canvas assignment page. Many assignment dropboxes will remain available after their posted due dates. Previously, some dropboxes would disappear after a deadline had passed, but now most will be accessible through the end of the term. All student submissions will continue to be date-stamped. Therefore, if you submit an assignment after its published deadline, the tutor-marker will decide whether late penalties will be assessed, based on the grading policies established in your course or by the course supervisor. In composing your paragraphs, please make sure you: Describe what you hear and your impressions of the music. Use the terminology that you have learned in class. The wrong way: “It sounds weird.” The right way: “It sounds weird because the melody, when there is one, uses very large leaps with short phrases. There is no constant pulse, and the rhythm is hard to perceive. Each …” I am not interested in background information that you might find via Google. Do not include filler information, such as the composer’s birth and death dates, his/her teachers, etc. However, please do include some historical perspective from your notes that are relevant to the work, specifically how this work may reflect the composer’s style (or the general style represented by the composer). Please, avoid comparisons to subjective experiences (“It sounds like a chase scene in a movie,” or “It makes me feel like I’m lying in a boat, watching the stars….”). Your descriptions should be based upon what you hear, not how it makes you feel! Also, avoid a blow-by-blow description of the music , such as, “It starts with a solo flute, and then the harp comes in with an arpeggio, then the rest of the orchestra comes in. It gets loud, and then quieter, and then the flute plays another solo....” Instead, try to sum up what you hear . For example: “There are solo passages, often in the flute, which alternate with full orchestra. Sometimes the orchestra echoes the solo, other times it seems to answer it with different material....” Again, try to generalize about what you hear, and about the composer’s style. Below are some general descriptions you should consider ( don’t try to describe all of them!): Texture Monophonic? Polyphonic? Homophonic? Is the texture consistent, or does it change often? Timbre Which instruments are playing? Are they playing in unusual ways? Is the combination of instruments unusual? Melody Length of phrases, type of motion, step vs. leaps, e ...

1. The Assignments list contains the details of the course listening
assignments. There are
four
separate listening assignments of equal value (10%) and each
assignment contains
five
compositions, some of which have
more than one movement
. You are required to listen to the recordings and write
approximately
one paragraph
on
each composition
(but
not
each movement). Therefore, you should submit a
five-paragraph
document for
each
assignment through the Canvas assignment page.
Many assignment dropboxes will remain available after their
posted due dates. Previously, some dropboxes would
disappear
after a deadline had passed, but now most will be accessible
through the end of the term. All student submissions will
continue to be date-stamped. Therefore, if you submit an
assignment after its published deadline, the tutor-marker will
decide whether late penalties will be assessed, based on the
grading policies established in your course or by the course
supervisor.
In composing your paragraphs, please make sure you:

2. Describe what you hear and your impressions of the music.
Use the terminology that you have learned in class.
The wrong way:
“It sounds weird.”
The right way:
“It sounds weird because the melody, when there is one, uses
very large leaps with short phrases. There is no constant pulse,
and the
rhythm
is hard to perceive. Each …”
I am
not
interested in background information that you might find via
Google. Do
not
include filler information, such as the composer’s birth and
death dates, his/her teachers, etc. However, please
do
include
some
historical perspective
from your notes that are relevant to the work, specifically
how this work may reflect the composer’s style
(or the general style represented by the composer).
Please,
avoid comparisons to subjective experiences
(“It sounds like a chase scene in a movie,” or “It makes me feel

3. like I’m lying in a boat, watching the stars….”).
Your descriptions should be based upon
what you hear, not how it makes you feel!
Also,
avoid a blow-by-blow description of the music
, such as, “It starts with a solo flute, and then the harp comes in
with an arpeggio, then the rest of the orchestra comes in. It gets
loud, and then quieter, and then the flute plays another solo....”
Instead, try to
sum up what you hear
. For example:
“There are solo passages, often in the flute, which alternate
with full orchestra. Sometimes the orchestra echoes the solo,
other times it seems to answer it with different material....”
Again, try to
generalize
about what you hear, and about the composer’s style. Below are
some general descriptions you should consider (
don’t try to describe all of them!):
Texture
Monophonic? Polyphonic? Homophonic? Is the texture
consistent, or does it change often?
Timbre
Which instruments are playing? Are they playing in unusual
ways? Is the combination of instruments unusual?

4. Melody
Length of phrases, type of motion, step vs. leaps, etc.
Form
Can you hear what it is? Is there repetition?
Harmony
Functional? Atonal? Is there a sense of consonance or
dissonance?
Rhythm
, Meter,
Tempo
Is it constant or changing?
I
am
interested in your
subjective personal impressions of the music
—whether you like it or not is important in your descriptions.
(However, please don’t tell me if you think the music is

5. relaxing or not.) If you think the piece sucks, say so, but try to
figure out
why you don’t like it in musical terms:
lack of melody, dissonant harmony, etc.
Finally, try to present your thoughts so that I, as the reader,
could easily figure out which piece you are describing even if I
didn’t know the title (but include the title, please).
The better the (unique) description, the better the mark.
Example
The following is an example from a student which quite
impressed me:
Charles Ives, Three Places in New England
Charles Ives was an avant-garde Experimentalist, trying to
create something new out of the European tradition. Three
Places in New England is an orchestral set, textured and layered
with orchestral sound. There are a lot of different things going
on at the same time, almost like two simultaneous tunes in
different tempos. The textures are dense and heterogeneous, and
there is a lot going on within the piece. It feels very layered and
thick, almost atmospheric, but the melodies are quite
recognizable, so it doesn’t sound like a mess. You can hear the
melodies through the atmospheric layer. The harmonies are
quite dissonant sounding, and there doesn’t seem to be a tonal
center. He has experimented quite well with rhythm; there is a
constant pulse, which continues to shift. There are tempo
changes and dynamic shifts, and at points the whole intensity
level of the piece lifts to an extreme range, creating a dramatic
feel. Three Places in New England is quite a flowing, layered,
melodic piece.

6. 2-1. Arnold Schoenberg (1885-1951): Op. 25, Suite für
Klavier (1923).
Mvt. 1: Präludium-Rasch.
Mvt. 2: Gavotte-Etwas langsam, nicht hastig/Musette-
Rascher/Gavotte da capo.
Mvt. 3: Intermezzo.
Mvt. 4: Menuett-Moderato/Trio/Menuett da capo.
Mvt. 5: Gigue-Rasch.
Retrieved January 13, 2016, from Classical Music
Library database.
2-2. Béla Bartók (1883-1945): String Quartet No. 4 (1928).
Mvt. 1: Allegro
.
Mvt. 3: Non troppo lento
.
Retrieved January 13, 2016, from Classical Music
Library database.
2-3. Aaron Copland (1900-1990):
Billy the Kid Suite
(1938).

7. Mvt. 1: Introduction: The Open Prairie.
Mvt. 2: Street in a Frontier Town.
Mvt. 3: Mexican Dance and Finale.
Retrieved January 13, 2016, from Classical Music
Library database.
2-4. Anton Webern (1883-1945):
Variations Op.27
(1936).
Mvt. 1: Sehr mässig.
Mvt. 2: Sehr schnell.
Mvt. 3: Ruhig fliessend.
Retrieved January 13, 2016, from Classical Music
Library database.
2-5. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971):
Symphony in C
(1940).
Mvt. 1: Moderato.
Mvt. 2: Larghetto concertante.
Mvt. 3: Allegretto.

8. Mvt. 4: Largo-Tempo giusto.
Retrieved January 13, 2016, from Classical Music
Library database.