Humanities Homework Help

Questions:

1. Maple Leaf Rag (pg. 51) – 2 pts.

a. This music is an early form of jazz. Which of the four different sections sounds the most difficult to play (they are listed in your text). Listen, identify the section, the give the counter time (ex: ‘The B section is most difficult sounding. It starts at 5:07’)

b. Describe the way Joplin used two elements of music to give this music a ‘popular’ feel:

1.

2.

c. Describe the way Joplin used two elements of this music that give the music a ‘classical’ feel:

1.

2.

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2. Der Mondfleck (The Moonfleck) – Pierrot lunaire (pg. 321) – 2 pts.

a. Go ahead. Tell me what you think. Be brutal if you want to:

b. Now look at it from an artistic point of view. Defend this music. Why would someone write music that sound like this? Even if you don’t like it, defend it:

c. Existential music question: now that you’ve heard this, tell me what the purpose of music is. Really think about this. You’ve heard (hopefully) a lot of music this semester, but nothing like this. You’ve heard music written for a lot of different reasons. Knowing what you know about music from the past, why does music exist?

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3. The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps) – (pg. 325) – 2 pts.

a. What is the instrument you hear at the very beginning of the Introduction?

b. Describe how two different elements of music are used at 3:17:

1.

2.

c. How does the dancing differ from what you would expect in a traditional ballet?

d. Where is the most chaotic point in the music? Note the counter time, and describe which elements of music make it ‘chaotic’:

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4. Prelude in G Minor – 2 pts.

a. What is the overall mood of this piece? Does it stay consistent all the way through, or does it change?

b. Which part looks like it would be most difficult to play? Note the counter time, and explain why it looks so hard.

c. How does this sound different from the two previous examples (Stravinsky and Schoenberg)?

d. How does the B section (starting at 1:22) sound different from the A section?

e. Where does the A section come back after the B section? Note the counter time here: