Concert Report Information

Please read this document carefully!  A few things of which to take note:
You only need to write ONE REPORT.
The report may be on one OR two concerts.  That is your choice.
The concert(s) must be seen during the semester you are enrolled in Music 11.  

Two concerts are required for full course credit.

You may email me photos of proof of attendance at concerts (or hand them in if
class meets in person).
You are responsible for finding concerts to attend.  Go to the link on the upper
left and click on Some Places to Hear Live Music.  
If you are not sure if a concert is acceptable for the paper, email me the
information and I will let you know.  Pop, hip hop, singer-songwriter, bachata,
merengue, or stadium - style concerts do not count.  
Ok, here we go:
Attend a music concert that includes music or composers we have learned about in our
class and write a 2–3 page report.  The music can be from ANY era from class, not just
the Classical era.  You may write about one or two of the concerts.
What is a concert report?
A concert report should answer the questions what, where, when, who, how, and (if
possible) why.  It should describe the concert in detail so that the reader will have a
strong sense of what happened.  In describing the concert, the reporter should select
the musical events that seemed the most noteworthy, interesting, and unusual.  Each
reporter will have his or her opinions, but these are best expressed in descriptive rather
than evaluative terms.  If you describe the music well, everyone will understand your
point of view.
Organization:
Concert reports must by typed.  The report should be organized into an introduction
answering the questions what, where, and when (in a general sense) e.g., “A concert of
the Bronx Symphony took place in the Gould Playhouse at BCC on April 6th at three in
the afternoon.”  There should follow a short description of the hall, the audience, the
performers, etc., and any notable observations about the event.  The body of the
paper should be devoted to the music itself.
You are not obliged to describe every movement of every piece, but you should say
something about each composition, e.g., tempo, mood, character, instrumentation,
outstanding passages, overall shape, texture, style, etc.  A good technique is to write
notes about the music in your printed program as you listen.  If there are solo
performers their performance should be described and characterized.  If there is a
conductor he or she should be mentioned.  If you are reporting on a concert of chamber
music you should notice how the performers interact and whether they seem to play
well together.  After you have described the program you may wish to include some
remarks comparing this concert with other musical events you have attended.  You may
wish to say something about how the concert compared with your expectations.  The
report should have some sort of conclusion.
The concert report should not contain information copied from the printed program, such
as a list of all the performers in the orchestra.  Nor should the report include quotations
from musicological essays in the printed program.  This is not a research paper; it is a
report in your own words describing what you observed at the concert.  Do not use
words whose meaning is unclear to you.  Remember that the important thing is to tell
the reader what happened.
When discussing the performers please remember that they are interpreting music that
was written down by the composer.  They are not making up the music as they go along
unless they are improvising as per the composer's instructions.  They play the score in
much the same way actors speak the lines of a play.  Your remarks about the
performers should be limited to comments on their interpretation:  Did they play or sing
in a convincing manner?  Did they seem to be in control of what they were doing?  Were
they dramatic or understated?  Did their performance move you?
Proofread your work.  Write in the simple past tense.  For instance,  "The third piece on
the concert was the third movement from Haydn's Third String Quartet." Subjects and
verbs must agree in number.  The report will be graded on content, organization,
grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  Reports must be submitted on the due date.
Following Along at the Concert:
One of the hardest tasks is to follow the program - to know where you are in the order of
pieces.  You will find guidance in the printed program you are given on entering the
concert hall.  Many musical compositions are divided into movements or independent
pieces, much like the chapters of a book or individual songs on a CD.  These
movements are almost always indicated in the printed program by their tempo
indications, i.e., Allegro ma non troppo, Moderato, Andante, Presto, etc.  You can find
information about what these tempos mean in the book or online.  A movement may
range in length from a few minutes up to a half hour or more.  It is important to try to
follow the movement from beginning to end.  The best strategy for understanding what
you hear is to try to remember the opening of each movement.  That’s when you will
hear the initial musical idea.  Listen for repetition, variation, and contrast.  If you start to
daydream and lose track of the form (as almost everyone does) you can usually find
your way back if you remember and recognize the beginning themes and/or motives.
Movements are usually separated by pauses of about ten to thirty seconds.  Sometimes
the players will re-tune their instruments between movements.  Experienced concert-
goers rarely applaud between movements; they save their applause for the end of the
last movement of the piece.  The performers are trained to ignore applause between
movements and will only bow at the end of the piece.  Sometimes a group of songs or
short compositions will be listed together in the program.  These should be listened to
as if they were movements in a longer composition.  Look for hints in the music that will
tell where you are.  If a movement is marked Allegro the tempo will be fast, if marked
Largo it will be slow.  If the movement is from a vocal work, listen to the words, even if
they are in a language you don’t understand you may hear words you recognize from
the title.  Look for orchestrational or stylistic traits that are normal for the period when
the piece was written—a harpsichord usually means Baroque music, lots of dissonance
usually means twentieth century music.  Try to feel the mood of each movement;
sometimes there will be a clear change of mood within a movement as one section ends
and another begins.
Reading the Program:
The printed program usually lists the title of the work and the key it is in, followed by an
Opus number e.g., Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67.  On the right side of the page
are the composer’s name and dates, e.g., Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827). 
Underneath the title the movements will be listed in order:  1. Allegro con brio, 2.
Andante con moto, 3. Scherzo e Trio, Allegro, and 4. Finale, Allegro, Trio, Presto.  If the
concert is devoted to the works of one composer that fact will be explained in the
program.  If the program has a theme - music about nature, or folk song arrangements,
or musical theater songs from 17th century London - that theme will be noted in the
program.  Try to be aware of any factors that unify a musical program.
Formatting:
 Use correct grammar and spelling.
 Use a 12-point font with 1” margins, double spaced.
 Refer to performers and composers by their last names, i.e., Mr. Jones or Ms.
Smith
 Papers are to be submitted via Turnitin only.
 If your paper is late, I will accept it within ONE WEEK of the due date for a
grade of 60, provided the instructions have been followed.  Papers more than
one week late will not be accepted under any circumstances.
 DO NOT copy biographical or musicological information from the
program; however you may include information such as titles of works and
names of performers.
 Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
 Do not cite any outside sources or use quotes from the internet.  

This paper is about what you HEAR at the concert or concerts you attend using
the vocabulary you learned this semester.