MUSIC APPRECIATION (MUSC 131)

by | Dec 3, 2021 | Music

Final Paper Guidelines (Fall 2021)
In an essay of at least three pages, double-spaced with a 12-point font, present and defend a
clearly articulated thesis regarding the cultural significance and meaning of a musical work in the
classical tradition. The essay should examine one of the following works:

  1. W. A. Mozart – Don Giovanni or Requiem
  2. Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 5
  3. Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring
  4. Peter Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake or The Nutcracker
  5. Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring
    Additional research about the work and its composer outside of the textbook will be necessary to
    complete this assignment. Wikipedia does not count as a scholarly source.
    The essay should be organized around a central thesis that is clearly stated in the introduction.
    The essay should integrate the following issues and material into the development of this thesis:
    Identify a cultural theme or value exemplified by the work you have chosen and link this theme
    (or cultural value) to the sociopolitical context in which the work was produced. Why is this
    theme (or value) of relevance to the production of this work?
    Who composed the work? Describe at least three important aspects of this composer’s social and
    cultural environment that shaped his or her professional life.
    To what period in music history does this work belong? Define at least three important aspects of
    the musical style of this period. In broad terms, how does this work reflect the cultural, aesthetic,
    and/or political values of this period?
    What is the genre of the work (i.e. opera, cantata, program symphony, etc.)? What are the basic
    characteristics and historical background of this genre? What kinds of expectations might
    audience members have had when encountering a new work in this genre?
    Select at least one movement or extended section of the work and describe its distinctive
    stylistic, dramatic, and/or formal aspects as they relate to the cultural and aesthetic values of the
    period.
    A helpful way to approach a thesis statement in music appreciation is to think about the paper as
    explaining one of two things:
  6. What does this piece of music tell us about the time and place it was created?
  7. How does understanding the time and place this music was created help us understand the
    music itself better?

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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