Unit 3: The Power of Music
Playlist
Activities
Mendelssohn: Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 87
UNDERSTAND
- What instrument would need to be removed from the instrumentation of this work to convert it from a string quintet to a string quartet?
ANALYZE
- Mendelssohn composed this work when he was just 17 years old around the same time of his Octet. Compare and contrast these two works.
EVALUATE
- Evaluate the effect of the added viola to the overall sound of this ensemble using musical examples from the work.
CREATE
- Create a online timeline of Mendelssohn's life, noting the dates of works found in the CMS archive with facts from his life and work.
Shostakovich: Trio No. 2 in E minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 67
UNDERSTAND
- One of the well-known melodies used in the final movement of this work is also found in a string quartet by Shostakovich. Use the CMS archive to find the name of that other work and in which movement of that work it is found.
ANALYZE
- Compare this work to Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C minor composed for the same instrumentation. How does Shostakovich continue and/or break from traditional orchestration techniques in this work?
EVALUATE
- The theme of this playlist is the "Power of Music." Evaluate how this piece conveys that theme.
CREATE
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit for Piano
UNDERSTAND
- The fist movement of this work is entitled Ondine referring to Undine, a water nymph who seduces observers into visiting her under water kingdom. How does this movement reflect this character?
ANALYZE
- The musical gestures in Ondine are very similar to Ravel's earlier work Jeux d'eau("Playing Water"), also invoking water imagery. Compare the Ondine movement to Jeux d'eau.
EVALUATE
- Defend or refute the view that this exemplifies impressionism.
CREATE
- This work is inspired by three poems by Aloysius Betrand. Create your own collection of poems which would accompany each movement of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.
Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 60
UNDERSTAND
- In what year was this work composed?
ANALYZE
- Building on Bruce Adolphe's explanation in the accompanying Inside Chamber Musiclecture, discuss the relationships between this work and Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.
EVALUATE
- Evaluate Brahms' particular form of Romanticism exemplified in this work as discussed in the accompanying Inside Chamber Music lecture by Bruce Adolphe.
CREATE
- Imagine Brahms was living today and select another recent novel which shares the same themes of the Goethe novel which inspired Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor.
Bloch: Quintet No. 1 for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello
UNDERSTAND
- During what years did the composer Ernest Bloch live?
ANALYZE
- Compare this work to Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor found in this playlist.
EVALUATE
- Evaluate the effectiveness of extended techniques, like pitch bending and extreme registers help convey the moods of this work.
CREATE
- Using other concert videos in the CMS archive, create your own chamber music playlist conveying the "The Power of Music."