MUS115 art, music
& ideas
Concert Report Assignment
Attend a concert in the European or
American art music tradition (the music covered in this course). Your choice need not be approved in advance,
but it doesn’t hurt! Any concert listed
under the sfgate.com
“Classical” listings (http://sfgate.com/eguide/search/music/) should
qualify. The listings at SF
Classical Voice are also a very reliable source for appropriate concerts http://www.sfcv.org/calendar/). (Many reviews on that site may give you
ideas about how to write your own reviews.)
Inappropriate choices will affect your grade. The report should be
between 3-5 typed, double-spaced, pages. You may attend an additional concert
and write an additional concert report for extra credit in attendance and your
overall grade. Attach tickets stubs or
programs to your report. (If these are
not available, attach a note of explanation.)
Your report is due by the last class meeting (before the final exam
date).
Suggestions
Write the first draft of your report
as soon as possible after the concert so your impressions remain fresh. Use the program to remind yourself of what
you heard when you write your report.
Use the program as a way to helping yourself use correct
terminology. Do not use the program
notes as a substitute for your own thinking and personal reactions; do not cram
your report full of historical tidbits about the piece. Comment on matters of historical background
only if they directly influence your personal experience of the music.
Concert Report Format
Introduction (5% in length and value)
Briefly identify the concert. Who performed? What pieces were performed?
Where was it performed? Briefly
describe the performance space, physical surroundings, and the appearance of
the performers.
Objective Description of the Music (30% in length and value)
instrumentation, dynamics, texture,
rhythm and tempo, principles of design in the compositions, etc. –– Note
extremes or what is most striking.
Subjective Reactions to the Music (50% in length and value)
Did you like individual pieces? Did you have emotional reactions to any
particular piece? Why did you react the
way you did? Was it in the composition
or the performance or both? Did your
mind wander while listening? What held
your attention? Was the concert full of
variety or was it all more or less the same?
Could the performance be better?
How? Could the selection of
compositions performed have been more to your taste? Was this familiar or a new experience? How is the concert-going experience different from listening to a
recording?
Conclusion
(15% in value)
Did you like or dislike the
experience overall? If possible,
connect this concert experience to the historical
concepts and stylistic periods in the Art, Music & Ideas course.
DC Meckler
2008