In a paper of about a minimum of 900 words, maximum 1000 words, analyze and compare these two contrasting traditions (Classical Music and Hip-hop) by discussing how they incorporate the roles of composer, performer, and listener/audience.
Select one work from each tradition that can serve as an example for that tradition, and that you can use for comparison with the other piece/tradition. Compare the two pieces in terms of (meter, mode, musical device, texture, instrumentation. (Classical example: Mozart, 4th movement of Symphony No.39 in E-flat major (K.543), 1788. and Hiphop example: Kendrick Lamar, “Alright” from the album To Pimp a Butterfly, 2015.
Use the following questions to help with the paper:
- What role(s) do composers play in this tradition? Do they write music down? Teach it orally/aurally to performers? Work it out in their head and through practice, without writing it down? Create recordings rather than written versions? If there are no individual composers, how is music created?
- What do the performers in this tradition play? Do they play their own creations or those of a composer? Do they play exactly what is specified or are they able to introduce elements of ornamentation or improvisation (include timeframes)? How much are the performers expected to interpret the music? What kind of situations/places are the performers expected to play in? (And for more historical traditions: What differences are there between the situations the music was originally played in and those it is played in now?)
- What kinds of people are the audience for this music? (For historical traditions: What differences are there between audiences then and now?) In what situations/places do they normally listen to it? How do audiences and listeners behave or react while listening to this music? Do they participate in the music? (If so, how?) How do issues of audience taste and preference play into this tradition?
· Do not write half the paper on one tradition and half the paper on the other! Try to compare the two traditions directly and discuss in detail how they relate to these issues. One paragraph on each of the main issues (composers, performers, audiences) is recommended, but organize your points within each paragraph clearly and logically (do not just answer the above questions in order). You are not required to use external sources, but anything you do quote from another author must be acknowledged with appropriate and accurate citations.