MUSIC 2115: SURVEY OF MUSIC FROM ANTIQUITY TO c. 1750

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2115 Homepage | Calendar | Chapters | Recordings | Reviews | Syllabus | Instructor

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Concert Reviews and Research Papers

This page has been updated for Fall 2009.

Please read carefully!

(Note the Preliminary Assignment.)

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Preliminary Assignment	Format Requirements
Review Requirements	Evaluation & Grading
Concert Requirements	Common Problems
Due Dates	The Univesity Writing Center

Preliminary Extra Credit Assignment:

During the first two weeks of class, access professional concert reviews in the Sunday edition of a major newspaper like the New York Times, Washington Post, or Los Angeles Times in the Library or on the Internet to get an idea of what can be done in a good review. A 2-paragraph report summarizing such a review and giving your ideas on what a review should be like is due on Friday, September 11, and must be submitted as an e-mail attachment. This report will not be graded, but will earn automatic extra credit of up to 2% on your final grade when it is turned in on time. Note what is expected:

• Find a professionally-written concert review and read it.
• Summarize in one paragraph what the reviewer has done.
• Summarize in a second paragraph what you believe you should do as a reviewer.
• You do NOT need to submit a copy of the review you read, but may provide a URL.

Review Requirements (Options 1, 2, 3):

You are required to attend one concert performance of classical music ("art" music) during the semester and turn in a written review of it. (You are encouraged to attend and enjoy more than just the one required!) You may be very impressed with the skills of our advanced music students, and student recitals are free. I have links with a number of performance calendars on the Concert Schedule page. This requirement may also be satisfied by attending and reviewing the Summer Musical Enterprise production of "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ," August 20-23, which is also a good event to take your family to if they are dropping you off at school.

Your reviews are to be written as if for publication. Your "audience" is the general reading public. Your "voice" is a person who attends concerts for pleasure. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation count! Choice of words is important. There should be logic and comfortable flow to your writing. Do not format your review as if it were in a newspaper. Turn it in according to the format described below. If English is obviously not your native language, you will NOT be penalized for that.

A "review" combines reporting with personal opinion. First describe what took place: who, what, where, when, why. Next give an interesting rundown of what was performed. Share your own reactions and opinions: what did you like, what did you not like, and why? Finally, give the performers a pat on the back or suggestions for improvement, and give your readers good reasons for going (or not going) to the next such concert. Remember that amateurs, students, and professionals should not be judged by the same standards. Often our students are accompanied by professional pianists.

Additional Written Work Requirements (Option 3 only):

If you have contracted for Option 3, you are required to turn in two additional written assignments during the semester. You may choose to write additional Concert Reviews, or to write Research Papers, or a combination of the two, according to the requirements below. Each additional Review or Paper is worth up to 5% of your final grade, more if they are turned in early for extra credit. Please note that the additional assignments may be EITHER concert reviews or reseach papers, or even one of each, and the choice is completely up to you.

Written Work Requirements:

The required Review must be of a full-length concert (or opera) of classical "art" music. (The "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" option is an exception to this rule for those who want to take care of it immediately before classes get busy.) You are expected to comment on both halves of the concert, not just the first half. The concert does not need to be in Blacksburg, but it does need to be one that you attend during this semester. The concert may be a large ensemble, a small ensemble, or a solo recital, such as:

• Opera (Southwest Virginia Opera or touring company)
• Orchestra (Roanoke Symphony, New River Valley Symphony, Blacksburg Community Strings, Roanoke Symphony Youth Orchestra)
• Ballet with live music (Roanoke, Radford University, or touring company)
• Symphony band or Wind Ensemble (Tech, Radford, Roanlike College, Blacksburg Community Band, High School Band)
• Choral concert (Tech or Radford choral ensembles, Blacksburg Master Chorale, or touring ensemble)
• Chamber music (Faculty or Guest Concerts, University Chamber Music Series, student chamber ensemble)
• Solo recital (Tech or Radford Faculty Recital, guest artist recital, student recital)

The Additional Review(s) for Option 3 may be of a classical concert as above, or any other kind of concert you care to attend and report on, as long as it is a concert event and not background music or a fraternity dance. An organized evening of jazz at a club is fine. A non-organized open mic night or Karaoke is not.

The Research Paper(s) for Option 3 should be on a subject that relates to the time period and geographical areas we are studying, but may view that time period and place from the point of view of a non-musical art, the development of science or engineering, history or sociology, religion, military studies, architecture, exploration, or other subjects that provide a different perspective. Approach these papers in this way:

• Select a subject and submit it to the instructor by email for approval or discussion.
  
• Research the subject. Consult a minimum of 3 sources, of which at least one must be a print source and not an internet source. Include your sources in a Bibliography in a standard format that will allow your reader to find and check those sources.
  
• IMPORTANT: Note that Wikipedia is reliable for some subjects but not for others, and may be one of your sources ONLY if you verify the information you get from Wikipedia from a print source, and cite that source.
  
• Write your paper giving background, discussion, and conclusions. Give credit to all borrowed material through quotation marks and paranthetical notes, and to all paraphrased material through paranthetical notes. It is acceptable to use borrowed material, but if the source is not acknowledged it will be a violation of the Honor Code and will be reported to the Honor System. Tie your subject into what we are covering in class. I am not interested in papers that can be bought or downloaded from the Web, so relate your paper to the class discussion of music.
  
• Students who grew up in other cultures are advised to use the Plagiarism link on the 2115 Home Page to learn what our expectations are on the use of borrowed material. They may be different from what you are used to.

Due Dates:

•This was a brand new system last year and worked beautifully. It is designed to give you more choice in shaping your semester's work, and to give me and my grader time throughout the semester to score your papers and hand them back to you.

•During the first week of class there will be signup sheets available next to my office (157 Squires) where you can choose the due date for your Concert Review. Only 25 names will be accepted for each due date. This gives first choice to students who are attending class from the first day. Any "extra" names beyond 25 on each sheet will be randomly assigned to other dates.

• The last opportunity to sign up will be Monday, August 31, in class. After that, I will assign due dates randomly.

•Papers will always be due on a Tuesday, emailed as an attachment and received before 11:59:59 p.m. on the due date.

•The first due date is Tuesday, September 22, approximately a month after school starts. The final due date is Tuesday, December 1.

•Please read the Evaluation section on the Course Syllabus page. You will need to choose one of the three Grading Options and let me know by email by 11:59:59 on Monday, September 1. If you choose Grading Option 3, sign up for three due dates for three separate papers.

•Extra Credit is available for turning in papers early: an automatic 10% bonus for one week early, a 15% bonus for two weeks early. This extra credit will be added to your Concert Review score.

•A 10% penalty will be assessed for turning in papers from one minute to one week late. After one week a paper will not be accepted and you will lose 10% of your Final Grade (most of a full letter grade), not 10% of your Paper score.

 

Review Requirements:

You must turn in your Reviews as an attachment to e-mail, so I can save an electronic copy. Always keep a copy of the file in case something gets misplaced! E-mail copy will be printed out and will be returned with your score. I DO NOT NEED or want a paper copy unless your word processor is weird and I cannot open your file. Never reformat your hard drive until the semester is completely over and all grades have been submitted!

Format:

1. Must be a standard word processor file, double-spaced (not 1-1/2 spaced), with a 1-inch margin on the sides, top and bottom to allow for editing. Do not submit files in Microsoft's .docx format!!! Instead, save them as .doc files (select Windows 2003 format). Docx files will NOT be accepted because I cannot open them.
   
2. Use conventional fonts and sizes (12-point Times, for example).
   
3. Do not format your review as if it actually were in a newspaper. Treat it as the copy you would turn in for editing and publication.
   
4. If you must turn in a paper copy, staple the pages together in the upper-left corner. (Do not use binders.)
   
5. Invent a newspaper-type headline as a title.
   
6. Place a 4-line heading with your name, student number, MUS 2115, and the date you turn it in at the top right-hand corner of the first page. An incorrect date or no date will affect your grade.
   
7. Place a simple header on the following pages with your last name and the page number (Howell/4).
   
8. Title pages and bibliographies are not appropriate for reviews; a bibliography is required for a research paper, but not a title page.
   
9. Attach a copy of the program for the event to your review or turn it in in class with your name on it when you submit your review by e-mail. If there was no program, include a note of explanation.)

These should not be long papers! A newspaper or magazine has a limited amount of space, and successful writers say quite a lot in a short review. If your review is actually complete in one page (250 words), that's enough. About 2 pages (500 words) should be average, and 3 pages (750 words) the maximum.

Evaluation and Grading:

Common Problems:

There are specific terms used for classical concerts that are different from those used for popular music, and you should try to use them properly. This will be discussed in class.

Be careful in your use of punctuation marks--especially commas. Remember that commas and periods go inside quotation marks, while exclamations, question marks, colons and semicolons go outside: ("Wonderful," … "Wonderful"; … "Wonderful"!).

Use italics (or a continuous underline if you cannot produce italics) for the titles of large musical works, and use "quotation marks" for the titles of individual movements in a larger work or individual songs in a song cycle. (This is exactly the same as using italics for the title of a book or magazine and "quotation marks" for chapters, sections, or articles within it.) Boldface is not appropriate for either. For a single song or piece of music use normal type, without either italics or "quotation marks."

Make sure subjects and verbs agree, and make sure that an opening clause actually refers to the subject of the sentence.

A run-on sentence is 2 sentences crammed into one; either separate them with a semicolon (like this sentence) or make them into 2 separate sentences.

Use an "em-dash" without spaces or 2 hyphens--like these--or parentheses (like these) to separate side comments in a sentence. Most word processors should provide an em-dash, but you might have to search the documentation for it. (In Word for Mac it is produced by holding down Shift and Option and typing the hyphen key.)

I or my grader will edit for style and grammar. Some of our editing will reflect our own styles and personal opinions. If you can show me that your usage is correct (in Hacker or any other style manual used at Tech), you will get back the points deducted.

University Writing Center

The University Writing Center is set up to help students who have problems with their writing. Any reviews that do not meet minimum standards will be referred to the Writing Center and a tentative grade will be entered. You are strongly encouraged to take your paper to the Writing Center for their help, and if you do so you may turn in a rewrite for a possible higher score without regard to the due date you signed up for.