Search Our Essay Database

Essay Instructions: For your Essay Response, address the following:
Order and structure were important to Baroque and Classical Era composers. Were composers of these eras stifled by the formal constraints of their times? How did composers express their individual voices within these formal constraints? within the constraints of their employers' compositional demands?
What do you think is the prevailing philosophy today? To what extent are innovation and/or individual expression important in today's music (of any style)? What constraints, if any, have an impact on a composer's ability to express individualism?

Your Essay Response must address the assigned topic, which requires some critical thinking and/or personal reflection.

You will be graded on relevant content; your response must address the assignment questions.
Do NOT write a lengthy response but DO structure your response as an essay with an introduction, discussion and a conclusion. 300-450 words should be sufficient.
Pay attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure; failure to do so may result in points being deducted. DO write complete sentences.

Essay Instructions: Discuss the ways the following composers? environments have affected their musics. Use these specific examples:
Bach's "Cantata No. 4"
Haydn's "Symphony No. 95"
Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde"
Chaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet"
Debussy's "Clouds"
Stavinsky's "The rite of Spring"
BArtok's "music for Strings"
Crumb's "Night of the electric insects"
With each composition include what we might learn about that composer?s environment based upon their music.
Use APA citations
12 pt font size: Times Roman or Courier
Double-spaced throughout
1-inch margins
single line title at top

Essay Instructions: Assignment - Richard Wagner - Great Musician or Controversial Racist?

Wagner is today, as he was in his own time, the most controversial of composers, in great part because of his racist views, which he freely expressed in articles that he wrote and published. There are scholars who feel that some of the characters and music in his operas demonstrate and personify their creators racist and anti- semitic views. For many years his works were not performed in Israel for those reasons. At the same time music lovers revere him for his genius. Apologists for Wagner say that his racist views were no different than those of most of his contemporaries and/or that works of genius should be considered as a thing apart from the views of their creator. Explore the Wagner controversy and, if you wish, take a side.

Listen to and write about at least one composition by this composer.

Everything I wrote above is what is stated on the assignment paper.

The professor wants atleast 1 book used as a source and atleast 1 credible website used.

The professor does not want us to use footnotes for quotes, but just after you use the quote, in parenthesis just put the authors last name and page number.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME THROUGH EMAIL

Essay Instructions: "Choosing from the two choices presented below, each involving a comparison
between two cities in a particular decade, explore and compare the
cultural and intellectual life of those cities, and explain how they
provided a background against which to examine the works of composers
active there at that time. (Please provide specific musical examples in
your answer).

Option Two: Compare Vienna and Paris in the decade 1900-1910."

Your paper should follow the guidelines for paper organisation and
reference citation given in the Writing Workshop and should be around
2500 words.
Please submit in M/S Word format (not .pdf or Open Office please).