Music 8000

Research Assignment

Music Encyclopedias: Grove’s Dictionary in Oxford Music Online

Due Sunday 9/13
Purpose: This assignment requires you to practice and demonstrate competency with skills and
knowledge relevant to research in music.
Skills: understand how to access and use basic online research resources; apply critical reading and
thinking skills to identify and evaluate information for relevance to your topic/interests; synthesize and
summarize information to demonstrate comprehension and evaluation of usefulness.
Knowledge: introduction to the research tools available at GSU and familiarity with the current state
of research on your selected topic(s); familiarity with important scholars in this/these areas so that
you can seek out further writings by them in the next phases of your research.

Task: Use the Grove’s Dictionary in Oxford Music Online to collect basic Information about a Person
(composer or performer) and a Genre (type of musical work) to narrow the scope of your research
topic/question. Type your answers here in the worksheet below, and upload your completed worksheet to
iCollege as a Word file or as a PDF.
Assessment: Exemplary assignments will provide all the requested information from the Grove’s
Dictionary in the student’s own words (summarize, don’t copy and paste!) and will reflect on how this
information can be used to jump-start future research by asking new questions prompted by the reading.
Adequate assignments will provide all the requested information with less engaged responses re: the
usefulness of the information (e.g., ‘knowing the composer’s biography helps me understand their
perspective” [adequate, but not insightful] vs. “knowing that the composer studied with Robert Schumann
leads me to ask what Brahms’s op. 1 might have in common with Schumann’s own sonatas” [exemplary].)

Your broad topic of research: Motivic analyses on the first movement of Brahms’s second
symphony.

Part1: Information about a Person

Johannes Brahms
First & Last name

Born on May 7, 1833; Died in Vienna, April 3, 1897.

Birth/Death Dates

nationality Hamburg - Germany

or main location of activity

Now, skim or read the Grove Music Online article (not the Oxford Dictionary or Oxford Companion).

1) First impressions:

What did you learn that might be relevant to your interests? Did the article spark a question or series of
questions? An area that you might want to investigate further? Did you read something that surprised
you?

I learnt that Brahms was a composer of melodies. All his orchestral works was built upon motives
or themes. Also, I learnt that Brahms was greatly influenced by Beethoven’s works and his pieces
resembles it. Brahms’ first concerto, for instance, “ recalls Beethoven's Ninth in its angularity,

Revised May 2020

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rhythmic energy and use of a throbbing timpani pedal point” 1. Besides his studies with piano, cello,
and horns, his long experiences with folk and popular music in his early ages gave him the
underpinnings for his later works. Finally, his intense self-scrutiny turned him into a perfectionist
human being. For instance, as late as 1880 he destroyed the first movement of a newly composed
piano trio in E♭ after showing it to friends. His everlasting self-scrutiny is clearly unveiled in his superb
compositions.

2) Take a Second Look:

If the article is LONG, read one or two sections of the entry that interest you (choose relevant periods of
activity, for example, or search for keywords within the article), and summarize some information about
the person and his/her activities:

• What kinds of works did s/he write or perform? (summarize in a sentence or two.) Is this a musician
especially associated with your instrument/ensemble? How?

Brahms’ works includes:

 Piano and organ music;

 Chamber music (duos, trios, quartets. Quintets.);
 Orchestral Works and Concertos;
 Choral Works;
 Lieder and solo vocal ensembles.

He spent most of his young career as a pianist. However, Mr. Frisch states that Brahms was
destined to compose for orchestra. Indeed, his most celebrated works were the orchestral ones.
His serenades, concertos, variations, and symphonies are performed by finest orchestras and
ensembles all over the world.

• What is the musician known for musically? What sorts of innovations or addition did s/he make to the
musical world? What impact did s/he have on the public of his/her time?

Brahms’ reputation and status as a composer are such that he was gathered with Bach and
Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of German music, as stated by the nineteenth-century
conductor Hans von Bülow. As already summarized above, Brahms wrote a great variety of
musical pieces for different instruments and ensembles. Brahms was both a traditionalist and an
innovator. His music was strongly influenced by Classical masters. His compositions and skills
have been admired by subsequent figures of different musical approaches such as Arnold
Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. Brahms's works was an inspiration for a generation of musicians –
including me! He marked the late romantic era with his motifs and dramatic themes.

1
Bozarth, G., & Frisch, W.  (2001). Brahms, Johannes. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 11 Sep.
2020, from
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/
omo-9781561592630-e-0000051879.
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If your entry is very short or incomplete (living musicians, for example), find a relevant
predecessor or teacher or influential figure and read about them. Summarize the network of
connections here:

• What other entries did you read, and why?

I read the Haynd’s and beethoven’s history and legacy to better understand Brahms’ classical
influences. I’ve also read the concept of symphony written by Jan Larue, Eugene K. Wolf, Mark
Evan Bonds, Stephen Walsh, and Charles Wilson. Because I wanted to have a more precise
understanding about symphony. Finally, I have read the article “Theme” written by William
Drabkin to give me some insights on how to analyses an elemental Motif in an orchestral work.

• What are the important connections between these entries? How might you follow up and get more
information about these people or ideas? How can you expand your search to find relevant context to
interpret their artistic creations?

My research’s broad topic is “a motivic analyses of a determined Brahms’ symphony”. Therefore,

it means that I should seek for articles that give me contents related to motif and symphony in a
late romantic era. However, as Dr. Summer-Lott advised me by email, I found tons of writing about
Brahms, his symphonies, the symphony in the later 19th century, etc. which makes my research
project very challenging. I think, I still need to set which of those writing I may use to my research
project.

Part 2, Information about a Genre or Style

1) What genre or style of music are you researching? Why? How does it relate to the person you
researched in Part 1? (Ex.: “nocturnes—one of Chopin’s most famous genres” or “gypsy jazz—
Django Reinhardt’s invention”

Nineteenth century’s Symphony Orchestra– Brahms’s second symphony.

2) What are the basic characteristics or requirements of the genre/style? (What sets it apart from other
kinds of music? What makes it unique or distinctive or interesting?)

‘Orchestra’ in a broader sense means any large grouping of instrumentalists. Narrowly,

symphony orchestra appeared in the 18th century, but its apogee moment was in the 19th
century. Generally, a romantic symphonic orchestra is comprised of strings, winds, brasses
and percussion. What makes it unique is that great variety of timbres, color and texture
combinations, rhythmic and harmonic alternations as well as great number of articulations
and dynamics. Ultimately, a symphonic composer deals with a great and prolific sound mass.

3) Summarize the history of the genre/style, in terms of the period/composer you’re researching:

 If your genre/style is very long-lived (Symphony, Opera, Sonata, Song, Motet) then choose a
particular era and summarize the main events in that era: “Symphony in the 19 th century” or
“Renaissance Motet” or “Lutheran cantata”)

 According to John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw article about “orchestra”, the romantic period
was a pivotal moment to the development of Symphony style because:
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 The romantic period was responsible for a tremendous expansion of orchestras and their
relevance at that time;
 19th-century orchestras divide into two principal types: theatre orchestras and concert
orchestras.
 Experimentation and advances in instrument technology allowed significant changes in the
instrumentation of the orchestra
o The serpentone, bombardon, ophicleide and cimbasso were added in turn to fortify
the lower register of the brass;
o the addition of valves to trumpets and horns;
o Woodwind too were redesigned which enabled them to play in any key and in tune.
o Woodwind instruments were added – piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, double
bassoon;
o Emerge the baton conductor.

4) Reflection: What one or two things did you learn that might be relevant to jump-start further
research? What questions did this article prompt, relevant to your research topic?

I learnt two things: first, Brahms was a composer of his time. He was both a conservative and
innovative later romantic composer– which turns my research even more challenging.
Second, his second symphony was deeply influenced by classical music. How did Brahms’
classical and popular music influences lead him to create a single Motif from which all his
second Symphony was built?