Written Assignment 2
Due Thursday, October 23rd at 11:59 pm
Interpreting Evidence
This assignment will give you an opportunity to look at
or listen to something you haven’t seen or heard before,
and to use what you have learned so far in class to make
some informed speculations about what you are hearing
or seeing.
Instructions
Following are three pieces of musical evidence: a score, a recording, and an image.
You must choose one of these things to write about. For each piece of evidence,
there is a series of questions to consider in writing about what you see or hear. Your
assignment is to write a minimum 2 paragraphs (maximum of 4) about the piece of
evidence that you choose, based on the prompt questions provided. For each
assumption that you make in your writing, you must provide solid reasoning based
on information we have discussed in class. The goal here is not necessarily to
accurately identify a piece of music, but to be able to write clearly about what it
might be and why. I don’t expect you to be able to name a piece or its composer, but
to be able to write what style it might be and why you think it is in a particular style.
In the case of the image, you must write something you have learned about
Medieval music to answer the questions provided about the subject of the image.
I recommend that you look at each piece of musical evidence and the questions
posed about them before you choose which to write about.
This writing assignment is worth 5% of your final grade. You will be
graded on the content of your answer, and on the quality of your
writing.
Rubric:
Up to 4 points for valid observations given the evidence provided
Up to 4 points for interpretation of the evidence observed; that is, how
you use the information you have learned in class together with the
evidence observed to guess at what the music you are hearing or seeing
might be
Up to 2 points for effective written communication (use of complete
sentences, paragraph structure, appropriate use of vocabulary, etc.)
For a total of 10 possible points
Evidence: A musical score
Study the score on the next 3 slides. Observe the forces involved. How
many voices are there? How are the voices labeled? Is there text
involved? If so, is there one text or more? If there is text, what language
do you think it is in? Note the structure of the music. Are the voices
closely related or completely independent? Can you see a pattern of
stanza and refrain, or is there some other pattern in the music? Are there
other clues on the pages that might give you insight into what the piece
could be? Given what you have observed, can you make an educated
guess as the the genre of this particular piece? Where do you think it
would have been written, and approximately when? On what evidence
do you base your answers?
Score
Evidence: A recording
(tap on the speaker icon to play the recording)
Listen to the attached recording. What do you hear? (You may want to listen to it
several times before you start to answer the following questions.) Is the music
vocal or instrumental, or a combination? What is the texture – Monophonic?
Polyphonic? Homophonic? How many voices/parts do you hear? How do they
relate to one another? (Are they similar in rhythm? In activity level? In range?) Is
there a text? If so, can you tell what language it is in? If there are multiple voices,
do they have the same text or different ones? Is there a pattern to the music? Do
you hear a refrain? How would you describe the rhythm? Is it varied and flowing?
Is it syncopated? Based on what you have observed, can you make an educated
guess as to where this music may have been written, and in what circumstances it
may have been performed (Where? Who would have been performing? Who
would have been listening?)? Can you make a guess at what genre this is? On
what evidence do you base your answers?
Evidence: An image
Describe the figures you see in this image. Who do you think they could be? What
do they appear to be doing? What do you see in the image that suggests musical
activity? Is there evidence in the image that suggests the setting of this activity? Is it
likely a religious setting or a secular one? Is it indoors or outdoors? Are the figures
doing or wearing anything that suggests what type of music might be heard in this
setting? Can you make an educated guess as to what the music might be? On what
evidence do you base your assumptions?
How to submit your assignment
• Please type your assignment (Times New Roman or Aptos or
Roboto, 12 point, double spaced).
• Please include your name and student number on each page of
your assignment.
• Your assignment should be 2-4 paragraphs in length.
• Upload your assignment as a Word or PDF document using the
assignment link on Moodle.