University Requirements: The University requires that each department designate as "writing-intensive" at least one course which is required of all students in that department, and that the student's writing in this course be guided by the professor to represent the kind of writing that is accepted as suitable in the professor's professional field. The minimum requirement is a total of 15 pages of writing spread over several different assignments (not a single "term paper") all of which follow a process of drafting, evaluation, revision, and final polishing.

Early Music Literature has been designated by the Music Department as one of four "writing-intensive" courses, along with Symphonic Literature, Choral Literature, and 20th-Century Literature. For music majors any of these courses fulfills the requirement for a writing-intensive course in the major. For non-majors they may fulfill the requirement for a second writing-intensive course outside the major.

There are 4 writing assignments in this course. Assignments 1, 2 & 3 should be submitted as email attachments in Word format. The deadlines are given below and also on the Course Calendar. Assignment 4 will involve score paper. Music majors must submit the final version as a computer printout from Finale or Sibelius. Non-majors may submit neat, hand-written manuscript.

There are four writing assignments in this course. Each is to go through a process of first draft, criticism and revision; revised draft, criticism and revision; and final draft. Mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and grammar may be noted but will not be graded in the early drafts, but are expected to be perfect in the final draft. For the first three assignments, non-Music Majors should make sure to collaborate with a Music Major.

• Papers must be typed or computer-printed, double-spaced (not 1 1/2 spaced), with at least a 1-inch margin on the sides, top and bottom, to leave room for editing and comments.
  
• Use conventional type faces and sizes (12-point Times, for example).
  
• Staple the pages together in the upper-left corner. (Do not use binders.)
  
• Put a heading with your name(s), your student number(s) (last 4 digits only, please), MUSIC 3144, the assignment, and the date you turn it in at the top of the first page.
  
• Invent an appropriate title.
  
• Place a simple header on the following pages with your last name and the page number (Howell-Smith-Fahrquar/14).
  
• Title pages are not appropriate.
  
• Acknowledge all borrowed material using quotation marks or parenthetical notes in MLA format and a List of References at the end. A more elaborate Bibliography is not required.
  
• See the special instructions for Paper 4

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E-mail Submission: For e-mail submission prepare your paper as above and transmit your file as a Word attachment to an e-mail message. (E-mail itself may not transmit formatting or special characters, including accent marks and italics.) Include your name in the file title (Howell-Jones-Gomez/1.2). It is better to automate this because when I print the paper the page breaks may not be the same. An e-mail submission is on time if it is sent by 11:59:59 pm on the date due. Paper 4 may not be submitted by e-mail.

There is a problem with Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows. The .docx files it produces by default are not compatible with any previous version of Word, or with the Macs used by the Music Department. Save your files in the available older format (which may be Word 2003) as .doc files before submitting them.

A collaborative opinion essay intended to present both sides of a question persuasively, leaving the reader with the background needed to come to an informed personal opinion. Your voice is that of a musical scholar. Your audience is the musical public, including those who may not have considered this question before.

The Question: Most (perhaps all) early music was functional, intended not as concert music but as living art intended for church services, upper class entertainment, or private performance by members of the upper or middle class. Today, that same music is more often presented as concert music, even though a Mass setting might have been intended for a 2-hour church service rather than as a work in five consecutive movements, or a madrigal cycle might have been intended to be sung as individual pieces between the acts of a drama. Consider arguments for and against doing this kind of programming of early music, and for and against trying to recreate the original settings of the music. Please be objective rather than emotional, especially when discussing sacred music.

The Process: To be written in teams of 2, each taking and presenting arguments for one side of the question, then working together to combine the two and edit them into a balanced and coherent whole. Both writers should agree on the final form, but one person should be editor (possibly by the flip of a coin) with final responsibility. The 1st draft is the individual essays by the two writers; the revised draft is the first combined essay; the final draft should be ready for publication.

The Schedule: 1st draft due Tuesday, January 29. Revised draft due Tuesday, February 5. Final draft due Tuesday, February 12.

Detailed but concise program notes, accurate and informative, written in good scholarly style. Your voice is that of a musical performer or scholar. Your audience is an average, well-educated concert audience.

The Subject: You may select either a composer who lived and worked between 1400 and 1650 or a specific musical composition from the same time period. Use the Stolba Anthology as your source. (If one of you has a recital coming up this semester, you may use one of those pieces regardless of its time period.) Use the New Grove, 2nd edition, as your basic information source.

The Process: To be written in teams of 2, but not the same teams as Paper 1. Remember that writing program notes is a very specialized exercise, because you must first learn as much as possible and then decide on what to use in a relatively brief paragraph. If a composer is selected, one writer should research the details of the composer's life, the other the details of the composer's musical works. If a composition is selected, one writer should place that composition in historical perspective, the other present a good description of it without using the tools of formal analysis. The two must then be brought together and mutually edited into a smooth and relatively brief final form with one person serving as final editor. The 1st draft is the individual drafts by the two writers; the revised draft is the first combined draft, written in collaboration; the final draft should be ready for publication.

The Schedule: 1st draft due Tuesday, February 19. Revised draft due Thursday, February 28. Final draft due Thursday, March 13.

A clearly-written analysis of a piece of music. Your voice is that of a music theorist or scholar. Your audience is an introductory class of sophomore music majors similar to HAMS, or a class of non-music majors studying the history of the period. Your analysis should use the analytical tools appropriate to the time period of your music, not the analytical tools of common-practice tonal theory.

The Subject: You may select either an extended monophonic chant or a secular song typical of the period from the 9th to the 14th centuries, or a single polyphonic movement from a mass or motet typical of the period from c. 1430 to 1600. Use the Stolba Anthology as your source.

The Process: To be written in teams of 2, but not the same teams as Papers 1 or 2. If a monophonic Medieval piece is selected, one writer should research the details of the text, including finding or making a reasonable translation, the other the description of the musical setting. The results should then be edited into a smooth final form by the person who was not the editor on a previous paper. The 1st draft is the individual drafts by the two writers; the revised draft is the first combined draft; the final draft should be ready for publication.

The Schedule: 1st draft due Thursday, March 20. Revised draft due Tuesday, April 1. Final draft due Tuesday, April 8.

A transcription of a polyphonic piece of 15th-century music from the original "White" notation into a performing edition in modern notation and clefs. Your voice is that of a music editor. Your audience is the conductor and performers who will use your edition.

The Subject: This project is built into the Atlas textbook, and will be approached exactly as he presents it in Chapters 4, 17, 21, and 30 as they come, thus covering a large part of the semester.

The Process: To be done individually, but helping each other in such a way as to critique and instruct each other is perfectly all right. For non-music majors this will be an exercise in learning the music theory and notation of the 15th century. The following principles apply in general: If the original has names for the parts, they should be retained. The modern clefs selected should represent the original clefs, but should also take into account practical modern voicings. An incipit at the beginning of each part should show the original clef, key signature, time signature, and the form of the first few notes in each part. The 1st draft should be in manuscript and should be complete in terms of notes; the 2nd draft should include text underlay; the final draft should incorporate editorial decisions, including musica ficta, and should be computer-printed and camera-ready for publication for music majors.

The Schedule: Due dates and specific goals will be decided as the project continues. (The deadlines in the Course Calendar are Tuesday, April 15 for the 1st draft, and Thursday, April 24 for the final draft, but this may or may not work out.)