Some things you might write about • Describe the venue in which the performance is being held, the arrangement/decoration/lighting of the space, and the position of the musicians relative to the audience (i.e. in the center of the room, on a stage, in the corner, etc.) • Describe the audience. How do the people attending this performance interact with one another and with the musicians? (Is silence encouraged during the performance? If so, how? Do listeners applaud and cheer after each piece? During the performance? Do people talk among themselves, dance, sing along, etc, while the music is playing? Do the interactions, clothing choices, etc. seem formal or informal? Why/how so?) • Be extremely careful not to over-generalize when you describe the audience.
Qualify statements by: a) being as specific as possible (ex: “After the conclusion of the piece, the audience burst into loud and vigorous applause that lasted over a minute,” would be better than, “The audience loved the show.”) b) framing assertions in a way that makes it clear that they are your own observations and not inarguable facts (ex: “Most of the people sitting in my immediate vicinity were dressed formally. Waiting in line for a coffee at the intermission, I saw that this was also true for a larger number of the concertgoers,” would be better than saying, “Everyone was dressed very formally.” • Write about “the music itself.” Although we have gone to great lengths in this class to interrogate the relationship between music and context, part of the objective of this assignment is for you to use the vocabulary we discuss in class to describe the sounds you hear at events. Show that you can correctly describe textures, meters, instrumental ensembles, etc. in addition to the stylistic parameters specific to the genres we study in this class. • Back up your statements with examples
The link to the video you have to write about:
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