You are the head of the piano department at a large Canadian university, where you are also teaching “Keyboard Literature after 1820.” You wish to encourage active musical engagement with the course material by the students and the community by offering a complementary series of THREE solo piano recitals during the semester focussing exclusively on the period after 1820. These three recitals are meant to provide a coherent, complementary, and personal perspective on piano music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the present. (Needless to say, you have an immense and varied repertoire and a thorough command of the instrument).
You are required by the University Concert Committee to submit a formal proposal for both the mini-series and your program decisions. Your Final Project is this formal proposal. It must include the following:
1. List the three recitals in the form of ready-to-printed programs (the programs do not count as part of the word count). In other words, include full entries for each work and its composer’s name, date of composition, listing the movements if applicable with titles or tempo indications. Accuracy of the information and clarity of presentation are essential. Keep in mind a standard concert length based on approximately 90 minutes of music per recital. Also, as a good concert program is greater than the sum of its parts, try to organize each evening around a specific theme, trend, form, etc. Choose the order of the works to maximize artistic effect and pianistic practicality, and avoid a purely chronological approach unless it is the best option. Remember that generating a sense of excitement around a program begins with your own excitement and inspiration. Include a diversity of repertoire in your programs, including well-chosen music after 1900 . You may select music studied this term in our course, music that you are playing in a recital, and/or other repertoire, but remember the guidelines and the time period requirement.
2. Prepare a prose statement of 750-1,000 words justifying the series as a whole as well as the program of each of the three recitals, specifying how each program contributes to a broad understanding of the subject.
3. Compose well-researched program notes for all the works on one of these recitals. In doing so, keep your audience in mind. You are not writing for professional musicians but for an audience with an interest in music that wishes to broaden their understanding. Ask yourself what will help them to put each work in a larger context, both historically and culturally. Avoid telling them how they should respond (“This work is full of anguish” or “will bring you joy”). Because this is a University program, you should include a short bibliography of two research items that will assist the listener to seek out additional information on each work in this one program.
4. Because you will be learning these programs yourself, add another short section of notes as if for yourself alone (250 words), choosing three of the major works on the programs that you have not yet learned, and identify several of the major challenges that you will face in preparing them for performance. Note that repertoire after 1950 is frequently performed with the score.
5. Clear writing and careful editing count. Remember that a poorly written or edited proposal is rarely funded! If needed, please use the resources of the writing centre or The Michelle and Nicole Editing Service (yes, we are willing to read and comment on early drafts) before submitting the final version.
6. Bonus point! (optional): Choose one encore that will complement each program and briefly state how it will provide value-added to the evening’s music.