Discussion 1:
"Classical Music; Early Abolitionist Art and Literature" Please respond to one (1) of the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Listen to one (1) composition (for a symphony) by Haydn or Mozart, either at the Websites below or in this week's Music Folder. Identify the work that you have chosen, and describe the way in which the composition expresses the specific qualities of the Classical music style. Use the key terms from the textbook that are related to that particular music style, and explain what you like or admire about the work. Briefly, compare it to a specific modern musical work for which you might use the term "classic" or "classical".
Explain whether you think an autobiographical or fictional account by a slave (such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano) is more persuasive than a biographical or fictional account by a white author (such as John Gabriel Stedman or Aphra Behn). Explain whether you believe the representations of slavery in the visual arts (such as William Blake's illustrations, William Hackwood's cameo, or John Singleton Copley's painting) were more compelling and convincing of the injustices of slavery than the literary representations already mentioned. In your explanations, use specific examples and consider both audience and the content and nature of the work. Briefly, identify the literary or art form in modern times that you think is most effective at depicting injustice.
Explore:
Classical Music
Chapter 25 (pp. 826-832), classical style described; examples; review the Week 3 "Music Folder"
Haydn at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JESXMWrwzVQ and https://www.npr.org/artists/16110605/franz-joseph-haydn
Mozart at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywOY9BS9tQ and https://www.npr.org/artists/15327819/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart
Early Abolitionist Art & Literature
Chapter 26 (pp. 870-2): Equiano, Stedman, Wheatley, Behn; Chapter 26 (pp. 877-879): Equiano and Behn
Wheatley at https://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Wheatley/phil.htm
Chapter 26 (pp. 870-873): Blake, Hackwood, Copley
Discussion 2
"Beethoven; Art and Protest in the 1800s" Please respond to one (1) of the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Listen to one (1) composition (i.e., for a symphony) by Beethoven, a transitional figure between classical and romantic music. Identify the composition that you listened to, and determine whether you would characterize the chosen composition as either the Classical or Romantic style of music. Explain the key features that lead you to your conclusion. briefly, identify one (1) modern musician who you believe was great at one type of music yet pioneered another.
Select one (1) example of a literary work or a work of visual art from the 1800s-either Romantic or Realist in style-that responds in some way to the Industrial Revolution. Identify the work and the artist or writer, describe its features and style, and explain the manner in which it responds to the Industrial Revolution. Briefly, identify one (1) specific literary or artistic work of our day that effectively protests a social injustice.
Explore:
Beethoven
Chapter 27 (pp. 907-914), Beethoven, qualities of the Romantic style in music (classical style was on pp. 826-832); review Week 4 "Music Folder"
The Beethoven-Haus Website at https://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php?template=portal_en (Note: Click on Digital Archives > Works by Ludwig von Beethoven; then find one [1] of his symphonies and listen to a clip.)
Beethoven's Eroica at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XL2ha18i5w and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RFG5rGVL1s
Discussion 3
"Intrusions in Asia; Opera and Society and a Dilemma" Please respond to one (1) of the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Describe two (2) examples of how either black slaves or white abolitionists used literature or the visual arts as a form of protest against slavery. Briefly, compare this to a modern example of art used for social protest.
Describe the key motives involved in the increased presence of Westerners in India, China, and Japan in the 1700s and 1800s. Identify the key factors that led to Britain's successful imposition of its presence and trade policies on China, despite communications like those from Emperor Ch'ien-lung (i.e., Qianlong) and Commissioner Lin Zexu (i.e., Lin Tse-hsu). Argue for or against the British policies regarding China in the 1800s, using analogies from our own modern times.
Read, listen to, and watch the sources for the opera composers at the Websites below and in this week's Music Folder. Describe the major influences that Verdi, Wagner, or Puccini exerted upon opera in terms of making it more innovative, realistic, and even controversial. Next, consider Wagner and this dilemma: Wagner's brilliance is clear because his works remain some of the most popular and admired productions in our own time. Yet, he was a blatantly antisemitic and held notions of racial purity, traits that have stained his artistic legacy. (This was compounded by the later celebration of Wagner's music by Hitler and the Nazis). New York Times writer Anthony Tommasini wrote of Wagner in 2005: "How did such sublime music come from such a warped man? Maybe art really does have the power to ferret out the best in us." So, consider the issue of whether we should or can separate the artist from the art, whether we can appreciate the art but reject the artist. Or whether we should reject both the person and his or her art. Briefly, identify one (1) modern musician or artist where this dilemma arises.
Explore:
American Dilemma--Slavery - The Art & Literature of Protest
Chapter 29 (pp. 962-976); slavery, literature, and art
Haven's article on Goodman's scholarship on art protesting slavery before the Civil War at https://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/february18/artists-slavery-protests-021809.html
Art and Slavery article at https://www.realhistories.org.uk/articles/archive/the-art-of-slavery.html
Intrusions in Asia
The Opium Wars and Foreign Encroachment: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_opium.htm
Opium Wars with visuals at https://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/opium_wars_01/ow1_essay01.html
Key documents from China at https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1793qianlong.asp and https://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/com-lin.html
Opera and Society
Chapter 30 (pp. 999-1004), Wagner and Verdi; (pp. 1133-1134), Puccini; review the Week 5 "Music Folder"
Huizenga article and audio selections at https://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/04/11/150420827/talk-like-an-opera-geek-how-verdi-wagner-and-puccini-got-their-grooves
Wagner video of a stage production (Tristan und Isolde) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEkTK6aKUM
Verdi video clip of stage production (Rigoletto) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5NEOh-XhyA
Puccini video clip of stage production (Tosca) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sSoKbv46zc