Page 33 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

But classical concerts weren’t always so formal. In fact, they were at one time more like professional wrestling matches. In the eighteenth century, for exam- ple, the audience talked during performances and yelled words of encourage- ment to the players. People clapped at the end of each movement of a symphony and often in the middle of the movement as well. After an exceptionally pleas- ing performance, listeners would demand that the piece be repeated immedi- ately in an encore. If, on the other hand, the audience didn’t like what it heard, it might express its displeasure by throwing fruit and other debris at the stage. Our modern, more dignified classical concert was a creation of the nineteenth century, when musical compositions came to be considered works of high art worthy of reverential silence.
Writing a Concert Report
Many instructors using this book in for-credit courses will require students to at- tend and report on one or more live concerts, be it of classical music, pop, jazz, or world music. To help students with this assignment, your author has prepared “Insider’s Guide to Writing a Concert Report.” In this guide, you will learn how to prepare for the concert (by listening in advance at YouTube or Spotify and read- ing online at Oxford Music Online, to which most colleges have a subscription). You will also learn what to write about and what not to write about. Whatever type of concert you attend, focus on the music, not on the life of the composer or the dress and hairdo of the performer. Perhaps most important, show your instructor that you have learned something; incorporate in your report the musical vocabu- lary and concepts that he or she has developed in class, and to which you have been exposed in this book.
READ . . . “Insider’s Guide to Writing a Concert Report” online.
FIGURE 1.5
Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, Tennessee. Constructed between 2003 and 2006 at a cost of $123 million, the 2,000-seat auditorium is home to the Nashville Symphony as well as concerts of pop, cabaret, choral, jazz, and blues music. If that isn’t enough for music lovers visiting Nashville, right across the street is the Country Music Hall of Fame. <
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