Music 15, Winter 2020

Unit 3 Assignment
The Cult of Genius and the Musical Museum
Due: Monday, January 20, 8pm

Listening:
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 9 (1822-1824)
Movement 4, Presto, allegro assai
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 4 (1884)
Movement 4, Allegro energico e passionate
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Symphony No. 3 (1944-1946)
Movement 4, Molto deliberato
John Cage (1912-1992)
4’33” (1947-48)

Reading:
Frisch, Music in the Nineteenth Century
Concert Culture and the “Great” Symphony, 174-178
Goehr, The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works
“After 1800: The Beethoven Paradigm,” excerpts, 205-208
Burkholder, “Museum Pieces: The Historicist Mainstream in Music of the Last Hundred
Years,” 115-134
Cage, Silence
“Communication,” 44-47
Assignment:
I. After completing the reading, please answer the question below in one to two
paragraphs.
a. Briefly explain in your own words what J. Peter Burkholder means when he
describes the concert hall as a “musical museum.” What effect does he say this
has had on composers?

II. Come up with two discussion questions.

a. One about the idea of the musical museum
b. One based on your reading of Cage’s “Communication”

Assignment cannot exceed two pages. All discussion questions must spark discussion, in other
words these should be thoughtful and probing, not yes-no, true-false, would-you-rather, or
hypothetical.

Turn in this assignment as a Microsoft Word document by 8pm on Monday, January 20 in the
designated assignment folder on GauchoSpace. For reference during discussion, please bring a
physical copy of your assignment to your section time. Your assignment should be in standard
format (name, date, section time, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, etc.). Your
TA will grade this assignment, and you may be asked to share it with your classmates.