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Degree Level Degree Music Essays

Question: TMA 02 Part 3 Music 86% For this part of the TMA you will need to listen to Track 10 on the TMA CD. You will hear the “First Tableau: The Shrovetide Fair” from Petrushka by Stravinsky. Listen to the track a few times and then answer the question below in up to 300 words on continuous prose. How does Stravinsky combine the elements of music, introduced to you in Unit 3, to establish the atmosphere of the fair?

Answer: Stravinsky begins the piece with a high-pitched flourish of woodwind instruments, such as the flute and clarinet and is then accompanied by the strings which increase in volume to meet with a fanfare of trumpets, it sounds like the fair is opening. Rhythm plays a key role throughout the entirety of the piece, fluctuating sounds are created as the fluttering of the woodwind section meet with the l......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Using the musical terms introduced in unit 3, discuss the differences between the main sections of the movement.

Answer: The third movement from Haydn’s thirty-third symphony falls into two different sections of music; a well-defined minuet followed by a less distinct trio and then a repetition of the opening minuet. Haydn constructed it using a number of elements, including rhythm, melody, texture, timbre and dynamics. The minuet has a steady rhythmic beat which continues throughout. Haydn uses a high degree ......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Theories of how gender may influence music have developed from traditional notions of female creativity being aesthetically inferior, to feminist readings, which actively search for and celebrate any trace of the female in musical form, subject or gesture. With reference to the key theorists, explore the contemporary debate on gender and musical meaning.

Answer: Men would not have insisted that creativity is a male prerogative unless men were afraid that women\'s creations would be taken seriously. While sex is a biological given, gender and sexuality are culturally and socially constructed. It is important to distinguish between the terms \'sex\' and \'gender\' as theories of sex, gender and sexual difference constitute the theoretical background to fe......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: “A notation should be directed to a large extent towards the people who read it, rather than towards the sounds they will make.” (Cornelius Cardew, 1961) Discuss.

Answer: The endeavours of some Experimentalist composers in the 1950s and 1960s, including Cornelius Cardew and John Cage (parenthetically, Cage’s own quote, ‘Let the notations refer to what is to be done, not what is to be heard’ , has resonances with the title quote) were a purposeful reaction to the determinacy of the Serialists. However, the notions of integral serialism and indeterminacy share......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: To what extent did the composers of symphonies in the Soviet Union manage to comply with the strictures of state control of music whilst retaining a degree of creative individuality?

Answer: Here, Comrade Khrennikov, Chairman of USSR Composers\' Union delivers a message to his audience, embodying the ideals and functions to which he demands the music of the Soviet Union must adhere. The state clearly relished the notion that music could be utilised to consolidate and enforce a national solidarity that would that would embrace the national doctrine of social realism.......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: With specific reference to your fieldwork project, discuss the ways in which people express and negotiate aspects of cultural identity through music.

Answer: According to Kay Kaufman Shelemay the aspects of cultural identity in terms of music, “Music embodies diverse identities, including nationality, region, ethnicity, race, class, religion, and gender.” (1) Music is a very powerful medium and in some societies there have been some attempts to control its use. It is powerful at the level of the social group because it functions to facilitat......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: What is meant by the expression Ars nova in the 14th century? History of Music

Answer: During the early fourteenth century there occurred an imperative stylistic change in music, now commonly known as the “Ars nova” period. The term “Ars nova” means quite literally “new art” when translated from the Latin and refers to the new way of thinking of composers at his time. The term itself was initially used by one of the leading French composers of the time, Philippe de Vitry......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: How contemporary is British opera? Discuss with reference to one or more recent examples.

Answer: Opera is one of the few mediums which combines all the arts; music, drama, poetry, dance and design. Remarkably, it has developed prolifically within the very fabric of our postmodern world and the ubiquitous nature of this musical genre cannot be ignored. It is once again gaining increasing it’s prominence as a widely recognised cultural form of popular entertainment.......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: ‘Mama Just killed a Man.’ An analysis of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Answer: Recorded in 1975, the meaning of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody has been a great secret, as the song’s composer never exposed his inspiration for his lyrics except to say that they were “personal, about relationships.” In 1976 he states, “that people should just listen to it, think about it and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them” (Moran). Although Freddy Mercur......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Do the Arts have a purpose? Discuss this question in relation to a personal experience in the arts

Answer: Earlier this year, I attended a concert at Newcastle City Hall featuring a two hour performance by The Herbie Hancock Quartet. The quartet comprised of a drummer, a double bassist, a xylophonist and Hancock himself on piano. I enjoy listening to a wide range of musical styles and find jazz particularly pleasurable and interesting as it often avoids the predictable and repetitious nature of many ot......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

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