Watch two videos featuring the performance of a twentieth century music composition. Your choices must be from the twentieth century classical tradition, such as solo, orchestral or chamber music performances, not pop, rock, or jazz. Please note that this assignment is not a 20th century performance of music from the Classical era – students should watch videos of music that was composed in the twentieth century. The music chosen for this assignment needs to have been written in the twentieth century, so it is important to not choose music that was composed before the twentieth century. You can either choose two compositions written by the same composer or a composition from two different twentieth century composers. If you are not sure if your choices fit the requirements, be sure to ask in the Questions thread or by sending a personal message to your instructor. The following is a list of possible choices for composers for this assignment. You are not required to choose a composer from this list as long as your choices are composers from the twentieth century.
Jeanne Demessieux Harry T. Burleigh William Grant Still Arnold Bax Ralph Vaughan Williams Sergei Rachmaninoff Gustav Holst Arvo Part Henry Balfour Gardiner Gerald Finzi Nadia Boulanger Lili Boulanger Benjamin Britten Marcel Dupre Charles Ives Manuel de Falla Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel
Bela Bartok Leonard Bernstein Aaron Copland Igor Stravinsky Arnold Schoenberg John Adams Dorothy Rudd Moore Philip Glass Morton Feldman Dmitri Shostakovich Ruth Crawford Seeger (Ruth Porter Crawford) Pierre Boulez Terry Riley
For each of the two videos, discuss how each composition reflects the six basics of melody, harmony, texture, rhythm, timbre, and form. You can refer to “Tools” in the course text for detailed information about each of these musical terms. Please also address how the composer’s music reflects the culture and/or time period in which he or she lived. Be sure to include links to the videos in your response. The videos should be cited in the body of the text and in a reference page.