Each week you will be given three or four questions pertaining to important topics covered in the materials provided in the question itself, the textbook, the lectures, the other materials provided, and my comments in my Live Session. You choose the one you like and post a response of 125 words or more. You also need to respond to another post from one of your fellow students. This second post should be at least 60 or so words long and should not just agree with or repeat what has been said.
Please use an example that has not already been used in the discussion.
- Slavery is as old as mankind but it took on a special and particularly ugly aspect between 1700 and 1860. During that time, slavery became synonymous with skin color in much of the world, especially South and North America. In the US, people of African descent had to prove they were not slaves. By the time the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was shut down, millions of people had been captured, enslaved, and shipped across the ocean to a life of slavery. At the same time, this horrific system enriched the people who controlled this trade. How did the system actually work and who benefitted from it?
- This period brought us some of the most important composers in Western music. Haydn, Stamitz, and Mozart were only three of many great composers and performers who entertained the nobility of Europe in their great cities. Choose one composer from the period 1700 to 1800 and explain what their careers tell us about being a professional musician during the time. There were many besides these three working during those years. What role did their music play in society and their culture? Who were their clients?
Classical Music
- Chapter 25 (pp. 826-832), classical style described; examples; review the Week 3
“Music Folder” - Haydn at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JESXMWrwzVQ and http://www.npr.org/artists/16110605/franz-joseph-haydn
- Mozart at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywOY9BS9tQ and http://www.npr.org/artists/15327819/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart
- The Seven Years War has often been called the first World War. Where did the newly forming empires of France, England, and Spain come into conflict and what drove them to fight so fiercely over their new possessions? Why did the American colonies break away from England? Why did the Haitians break away from France?
- Rococo followed Baroque and Classical Baroque as the most important artistic movement in Europe. In turn, Rococo became less popular than Neo-Classical. The pendulum seems to swing out and back but always returns to “classical” images and techniques. Using one Rococo artist and one Neo-Classical artist, explain the difference between their styles. What political and cultural forces might have caused the pendulum to switch to classical in this case?