Composer Report

Purpose

1. We will gain deeper insight into the life and works of a single composer. Composer’s lives are often very colorful and interesting. Sometimes, their unique life story is reflected in the kind of music that they made. Composers create within a specific culture and time, so understanding their life helps us understand their music.

Baroque music is a period or style of Western classical music from approximately 1600 to 1750 originated in Western Europe. This era followed the Renaissance music era and was followed in turn by the Classical era. Please choose a composer who lived in your assigned time period. (Baroque period) You are responsible for researching this composer and submitting a report on that composer. Begin conducting research on your composer. Your final report should include the following:

• Biographical information on the composer including birth and death dates, location, instruments played, teachers/education, prominent students, positions held, and influence on music history.
• Style period of the composer including musical characteristics.
• Detailed analysis of two works by the selected composer.
• A list of important works by the composer.
• A brief review of a CD containing works by the selected composer.
• Citations and a “Works Cited” page must be included. You must cite the Oxford Companion to Music article for your composer.

Time period assigned: Baroque period

Composer chosen: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

• Biography – 400-500 words
• Musical analysis of two works – I am looking for your observations of musical elements, as well as background information on the work. Include such items as: purpose of composition (if relevant), form (sonata? symphony? movements? theme & variations?), instrumentation, observations on dynamics and tempos, your overall impressions. I want to know what you observed, thought, felt while listening, as well as anything interesting that stood out. 400-500 words
• Length of project – 750-1000 words, or about 3 pages of content, 1-in. margins, double-spaced, 12-pt font. The biography and musical analysis should be of equal length.
• Bibliography and sources – needs to be academic sources, points will be deducted for using Wikipedia, About.com, Biography.com, Classical.net, etc

All writing submitted for this course must be in the following format:

• 12-point font.
• Double Spaced.
• Times New Roman Font.
• Margins: 1″ on all sides.

Please include the following information at the top of each document:

• The name of the assignment.

The style of citation is optional. In general, the field of music uses the Chicago style.