Nationalism

Music Intensive – Winter 2013

Nationalism and Music

This essay is one of three major assignments due this quarter; the other two are on program music and the grant proposal in advance of spring quarter. Each of the three essays is worth two credits. Consider the following question on nationalism in European classical music.

Nationalist composers include the following people: Chopin, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Smetana, Verdi, Mussorgsky, Dvorák, Wagner, Janácek, Balakirev, Grieg, Borodin, Elgar, Sibelius, Albéniz, Granados, Liszt, and Respighi.

Question: Select one of the nationalist composers from the list above. Explore that composer’s nationality, the political and cultural currents of his nation at the time he was writing, and what his status was at the time (did he have a patron? did he have considerable training? how old was he?). Now closely examine one of his compositions. Describe the piece and its elements: the genre, the key, the rhythms, the instrumentation, the major sections, the form, the timbre, etc. Discuss what, exactly, makes this particular composition nationalist. How does it fit in with the composer’s other works? How does it fit in with the other nationalist works of other composers at the time? For example, if Composer X of Lazania (not a real nation) wrote the piece you’re examining, how does that piece compare to those of other Lazanian composers?

Note: Once you have written down your ideas, go back over the essay and consider its organization. Make sure that it makes sense to you, and that it falls into a specific order of paragraphs instead of skipping back and forth. Each paragraph is a complete work of art that should nonetheless stay within five to seven sentences, and make sure that your paragraphs are connected. Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? When you come to the ending, is there something you really wanted to say but didn’t? Do you have an introduction and a conclusion?

Remember that structural organization is one of your very best and most effective tools in achieving strong writing skills, and be sure that your introduction reflects what you will be discussing in the essay. The conclusion should be summative rather than presenting new information, and it should tie back to the introduction.

Essay must be:

  1. Typed – minimum of four pages
  2. Name and date must appear in upper right hand corner
  3. Pages should be numbered and stapled
  4. Essay is due at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 19, 2013. Hard copy and ON TIME, please.