Music 1A Concert Report Guidelines

Twice this quarter you are required to attend and report on a live music performance. Below are general format and content guidelines for the Report. Follow these instructions closely. Follow the bookmarks for other requirements and to view a sample paper with comments. See "Writing Hints" below.


Links: 

Concert Protcol 

Concert Report Sample 

General requirements:
  1. You must go to a pre-approved program. If you hope to attend a concert not on the concert lists (Mr. Mitchell's or my own), you must gain approval prior to attending. It is a heartbreak for both student and instructor when credit is denied for inappropriate concert attendance. Opera is not appropriate for the Report, but I encourage attendance for extra credit!
  2. The report must be stapled, and the program and ticket stub must be stapled to your Report. If the program is part of a pamphlet, detach the program from the pamphlet. Do not turn in the entire pamphlet.
  3. Do not procrastinate going to a concert, or you may miss the deadline. These Reports are a substantial part of your grade.
  4. The paper is due at the start of class on its due date: papers not turned in at that time are considered late.
    • Late Reports lose 10 percent of the score on each consecutive calendar (not class meeting) date from its due date.
      The instructor will gladly accept early concert reports, and will also read and comment on Reports turned in a week early, giving you a chance to revise if necessary.
    • Note: The instructor will not correct grammar or spelling on drafts--only organization and content. 
  5. If you choose to go to a second event to "repair" your grade on the first, you may attend De Anza College performances of the Orchestra or symphonic winds, or those of other colleges and universities; however, the first Report will necessitate attendance at a professional or semi-professional symphony, solo artist, or chamber group. Others are eligible for extra credit. 


Format: The Report will have the following components: See "Writing Hints" below.

  1. Title Area
  2. List of Pieces
  3. Objective Descriptions, Subjective Responses
  4. Overall Assessment of Program

Title Area: (top left area of page)note that a cover sheet is not required, nor preferred.

Name
Date of Performance
Name of performing group or soloist
Venue
List of Pieces Performed

  • No need to list each movement here, but do list specific movement titles for objective descriptions
  • List composer's name

Descriptions See "Writing Hints" below.

  • For each piece, provide the title of the composition
  • Provide the title of each movement if it is a multi-movement work
  • Write a separate paragraph for each subjective and objective description, using a heading, i.e.
    • Objective Description:  
      "Beethoven's Third Symphony began...." or 
    • Subjective Response:
       "This piece was a revelation of the genius of Beethoven, in his ability to make me cry on command...."
  • Objective descriptionsmust be written for each piece, or each movement, if the piece is a multi-movement work
  • The subjective response is written for the piece as a whole--no need to write on individual movements.

Objective description

This description will focus on the musical aspects of the performance that you are able to hear. The purpose of this exercise is to have you work with the musical elements and styles we are studying in class. A checklist of musical aspects for each piece should include several (but not necessarily all) of the following: 

  • highlighted instruments, combinations and interesting tone colors that they create
  • textures
  • Scales, to the extent that you can hear them: major or minor, pentatonic, non-Western. 
  • interesting rhythms and the meter(s) to the degree that you can hear them
  • tempo and tempo changes
  • dynamics, and interesting shifts of dynamics
  • articulation, and interesting contrasts in articulation (staccato, legato, pizzicato, etc.)
  • Organization: can you hear repeated sections? How does the title of the movement relate to the movement's organization?
  • If there is a vocal part, how does the text interact with the music? Can you hear word painting? Give examples if you can.
  • Is it program music? can you hear any association with the program?

Note: If you find yourself using words like "beautiful," "sad," or similes such as "flowing like a waterfall," etc., describe instead the musical elements that create these subjective moods or images for you--what makes music sound like it's "flowing?"

Do not create a "blow-by blow" description of each piece or movement. Simply note important elements and moments, notable highlights and changes in the music. It is impossible to write about every aspect of the piece on first hearing; simply listen carefully and note essential elements and interesting moments.

Here's an example of an Objective Description of one movement of a larger work:

Schubert: 9th symphony (“Unfinished). First Movement

Objective Description

The first movement began with a short introduction by the basses, but soon it picked up with the rest of the orchestra joining in. I was listening for the traditional sonata-allegro form, and I did hear at least a couple themes, but I wasn’t sure where the different sections began or ended. I did notice that the oboes carried the first theme, and then another was introduced by the low strings. This movement was usually very dance-like--the main theme had a kind of short-short-short, short-short-short-long rhythm--but there were moments of real suspense, too; dark chords played by strings or brass before the first theme returned.It almost seemed like a rondo, as I kept hearing the first theme repeated. It seemed to begin and end in a minor key, but the repeated theme seemed to be in a major key.

Do not use program notes for your objective descriptions; you may use them in your subjective response, particularly if you want to comment on programmatic elements, or the success of the composer in conveying emotions and/or imagery. If you use the program notes, especially without citing them, you are committing plagiarism, and will fail the assignment.

If you attend the program with a classmate, do not share your notes--this project is about your experience; similarities in descriptions will cause the instructor to suspect plagiarism.


Subjective response

In this section you can talk about your impressions of the piece. Similes, moods, your likes and dislikes are all fine in this section. What do you think the composer and/or musicians were trying to convey in this piece? Were they successful? Why did you respond the way that you did?

Here's an example of a subjective response for the same Schubert piece:

Subjective Response

The movement was very long, nearly 18 minutes, so my attention drifted sometimes, but overall, the changes in instruments, and the return of a familiar theme kept my attention. It seemed like the piece wanted convey a sense of optimism, but it kept getting interrupted by dark moments and suspense! Even during the ending, where I heard the slow introduction again, then a big crescendo with the whole orchestra, it just seemed to just die out unceremoniously, dark and inconclusive.

Overall assessment of program

This is your chance to give your overall impression of the concert. It should be a substantive paragraph, but the contents are flexible. Some topics might include: 

  • What stood out most for you in the program? 
  • Did you feel that there as a sense of unity, or progression in the crafting of the order of pieces? Why was the order of pieces selected as it was?
  • What was the quality of the performance: was the group highly polished? Grossly unprofessional? 
  • How do they compare to others that you have heard? How does the concert setting compare to other types of shows you have been to? 
  • What kind of impression did the performer(s) or performance leave you with in terms of your future (noncompulsory) attendance at similar types of programs?
     Explain your reasons for each area of assessment.

Scoring of your Concert report will be based on the following criteria:

50 total points possible

Format: 10 points. This will include your inclusion of

  • proper format of title area
  • program titles, movement titles, separate paragraphs for subjective and objective areas
  • overall assessment
  • 12-point font throughout (headings can be slightly larger if you like)
  • single or 1.5 spacing
  • 1" margins on sides, top and bottom
  • two spaces between body text and titles

Format hint: Keep your descriptions and headings together. If your "Subjective Response" heading, for example, is the last thing on the page, move it to the top of the next page to keep it with the body paragraph

See sample paper for proper format. Hand-written reports will not be accepted

Writing: 15 points. This will be assessed by your use of college-level writing, including

  • correct spelling
  • complete, grammatically-correct sentences--no run-ons or sentence fragments
  • academic language; remember that this is a college paper (some divergences are OK, but keep the tone academic)

Minor errors--up to two or three per page--will not be penalized, but excessive mechanical or spelling errors will bring your grade down (to the point of non-passing in some cases). Print your paper ahead of time! Proofread carefully, have friends read your paper, read out loud to yourself--do your descriptions and sentences make sense when read aloud? 

Writing hints: 

  • avoid the use of "you" in academic writing, such as "When the soloist played his cadenza, you  could feel his emotion." Substitute "I," since it was you, the writer, who felt this emotion, or "one," to make the observation slightly more general. To say "you" implies that the reader felt the emotion, which is most likely not the case.
  • Try to create a flowing narrative by using sentence combining, transitions.
  • Avoid hyperbole and convoluted language; write in a straightforward fashion. 
  • Write in past tense only! Tense shifting is a terrible lapse of editorial responsibility!

Content: 25 points. This will be assessed by your faithful attempt to capture the salient aspects of each movement or piece.

  • More is not necessarily better. be concise in your descriptions. Several sentences will usually suffice for each movement. 
  • You must write on every movement, and/or every piece failure to do so will result in dramatic reduction of credit for the Report
  • Report length is not specified, but will range from four to six pages. Double spacing is not necessary, but do leave 1" margins on sides, top and bottom
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