Essay Quiz


1		Listen to Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima while viewing the score. Is this score notation appropriate for the sounds that are to be produced? What emotional qualities does this composition portray? Can you imagine yourself as a victim after the bomb was dropped? What feelings did the Japanese have following this devastation? Are these emotions reflected in the music?



2		Listen for the African and Asian influences in several examples of minimalism by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Is this music exciting to hear? Discuss your ideas.



3		Read more about Nadia Boulanger. Why was she such an outstanding teacher? Make a list of composers who studied with her. Read some of the correspondence between Boulanger and her students, many of whom became very famous composers. Define and discuss her philosophy of learning. If you were studying composition, would her methods be beneficial to you?



4		Would you have enjoyed being a member of Les Six? What style of music might you have written?



5		Listen to Bartók's "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm" from Mikrokosmos, vol. VI. What meter is used in each dance? Is each dance based on a Bulgarian folk tune or rhythm?



6		Listen to Barber's Adagio for Strings. Then, watch the movie The Elephant Man. What music plays before the Elephant Man's death? Also watch the movie Platoon. In which sections did you hear Adagio for Strings? Was this music used effectively? Why? Research suggestions for various bowing techniques used in performing this music. Why would staggered bowing be effective?



7		Research Menotti's operas, The Medium and The Consul. Are they of interest to you? Do you find them easier to understand in English? Also listen to Carlyle Floyd's Susannah, a delightful twentieth-century American opera, if you have the opportunity.



8		Imagine what it would have been like to be a close friend of George Gershwin. Take the opportunity to listen to some of the outstanding American jazz musicians such as Dave Brubeck and Peter Nero. In what ways are jazz performers different? Can their improvisations be repeated?

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