Beethoven Symphony Music Assignment
In this assignment, an analysis was made on Shen Yan’s dissertation on Beethoven’s Symphony titled “NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF BEETHOVEN’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5” that was published by the University of Houston in 2015. (The instructions for the assignment are stated at the end of this essay) The title of the music covered in the dissertation, and that which is hereby analyzed is Beethoven Symphony.
Ludwig Van Beethoven wrote the song between 1804 to 1809’. Beethoven was a Roman artist, who was born in 1770 and died in 1827 aged 56 years in Vienna, Austria. The song is a classical and romantic symphony music.
Beethoven Symphony Song Description
Beethoven Symphony is a C minor Opus 67”Symphony and one of Beethoven’s best compositions. It consists of four movements which include Allegro con brio, Andante con moto, Scherzo Allegro and Allegro (Lockwood, pg. 1). The symphony starts with three shorts notes and ends with a longer note.
The song is played with overlapping instruments that include violins, flutes, French horns, clarinets, contra bosons, strings piccolo, and trombones. It takes the sonata form as two themes are evident which can be heard from changing of keys from D major to C major(Absil, pg.210). It begins with descending form followed by ascension and finally the climax.
Cultural Aspects of Beethoven Symphony
The Beethoven Symphony number five(no.5) has grown to become a critical part of traditional culture. The song was used in the celebrations of the second of a war victory, famously named the symphony of victory which is one of the contributing factors of the song’s popularity.
The song has elements of military themes portrayed by its extensive use in the military atmosphere as a victory or heroic tunes and signals. This also suggests that music was a vital part of Beethoven’s culture as a way of celebrating struggle and heroism in the society (Shen, pg. 25). In the 21st century, the song has become a dominant part of the modern culture, being used in new orchestras inaugural concerts.
Beethoven Symphony Evaluation
One of the strengths of the analyzed paper is the way heroism is symbolized in Beethoven symphony and how one’s character influences success in any forms of struggle (Shen, pg. 25).
However, lack of addressing any particular person shows is a weakness which makes it hard to relate if composer’s music was connected to any political figure at his time. His combination of two themes of romance and heroism also makes it identify is the struggle discussed is real war or fight, or just assumed.
Works cited
Absil, Frans. Musical Analysis: Visiting the Great Composers, 4th ed., 2012, www.fransabsil.nl/archpdf/musanbk.pdf.
Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven: The Music and the Life. , 2005. Internet resource
New York: W.W. Norton, 2005, ©2003.
Shen, Yan. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF BEETHOVEN’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5. Diss. University of Houston, 2015.
Below are the instructions that were given for the music study analysis assignment on Beethoven Symphony
Write a detailed study of one of the music selections listed in the syllabus or in the textbook.
Professor Linder, can I write on any piece of music listed in the textbook? Yes. Yes, you can.
What about a piece of music not in the textbook like Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble”? While I like where your head is at that would be a no. Stick to the hundred or so pieces listed in the textbook.
Make sure to cover all these in your analysis of the music study
- Identify: (1) the full title of the piece (italicized or in “quotations”); (2) the composer’s full name and birth/death dates; 3) the year the piece was composed and the musical period it belongs to. – Keep this short and sweet.
- Describe: (1) instrumentation, texture, harmony, tempo, meter, and form; (2) provide evidence for the absolute or programmatic meaning and sacred or secular orientation of the piece. – Spend a little more time here but not too much.
- Cultural Aspects: (1) how is the piece representative of the culture of the musical period; (2) what musical or cultural elements of the piece can be found in the music or culture of the 21st century. – Focus most of the paper on this.
- Evaluate: Discuss what you perceive to be the strengths or weaknesses in each piece from an aesthetic point of view. This will involve subjective judgment on your part but you must use examples to support your opinions. – This is another area that should be a large focus of your paper.
- Writing Standards: (1) proper grammar, syntax, punctuation; (2) depth; (3) MLA citations in text and works cited page. – Please, please, please use spell check. Also, read through your paper and edit your draft before submitting it to me.
Please follow MLA formatting for the title block (no title page is required), references, text, citations, and so on (What is MLA formatting?).
Pro-tip: It is super obvious if you use really large font or make the margins as big as possible to make your paper look longer than it actually is. Please don’t do this and if you do, you’ll get marked down for not meeting the page length requirements.
Reference to at least one scholarly peer-reviewed source other than the textbook is required in your discussion of the music. You may use any peer-reviewed article from a scholarly journal, academic books or primary source materials. If you are unsure if a source is academic or not, please ask me.
Wikipedia isn’t going to be an acceptable source so please do not use it in your paper.
If you want to start your research there to find other resources that would be okay to do but please do not reference Wikipedia in your paper as I will not accept it. However, you may use any electronic resources available through the National University Library. Please also include works cited page with your music study.
Please don’t plagiarize! There can be serious consequences if you do and neither one of us want to go down that route. If you use someone else’s words place it in quotations and at the end of the quote indicate where you got the quote from using MLA formatting for citing sources.
If you paraphrase someone else’s words please do the same. Or if you are in doubt whether or not you should add the citation, you probably should add the citation. Here is a quick and handy guide on how to avoid plagiarism.