Please compare and contrast our three pieces using the Elements of Music from your Piece Analysis Worksheets. This week, I will ask you to address one additional question for each of these pieces. Bela Bartok dedicated much of his career to collecting Hungarian folk music and then using it in his compositions. Do you think this is an effective way to preserve the folk music of a particular people/country? What programmatic effects does Britten use to depict war and the horrors of war in his War Requiem? One of the dancers in the "Dance of the Adolescents" will be sacrificed later in the ballet, The Rite of Spring. What do you see being depicted when you listen to this work?

Using the elements of music from your piece analysis worksheets, please compare and contrast our two pieces for this week: "Spring" by Vivaldi and "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach. J.S. Bach has been called the greatest composer who ever lived. A study was done regarding the number of pieces that Bach composed. In a person's working lifetime (8-hour days, 5 days a week, retiring at age 65), one could not even copy down all the pieces composed by Bach. This indicates an extraordinary intellect and dedication on the part of Bach toward music and his work. Bach was inspired by his relationship to God, and dedicated many of his works "To the glory of God." Please address this question: What do you think constitutes musical genius?

Compare and contrast our two pieces for this week using the elements of music from your Piece Analysis Worksheets: Symphonie fantastique, mvt. 5 by Berlioz and La boheme by Puccini. This week I am asking you one specific question about each of our listening pieces. Do you think Berlioz was successful with this example of Program Music in depicting the "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath" as described on p. 213 of your text? What are some elements used by Puccini in this duet from "La boheme" to illustrate the great love and passion between Rodolfo and Mimi?

Compare and contrast our two selections for this week using the Elements of Music from your Piece Analysis Worksheets. Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein are considered to be American composers with a unique voice. Do you feel that these two composers have influenced the development and history of music? Do you hear any of their influence in music today in the USA?