Senior Comprehensive Exam
Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 9am-4:45pm

This is an open-book, open-piano, and open-recording exam. You may not, however, consult with your colleagues about it. Please include the honor code on your exam. Please also complete the exam on computer. (If you do not type quickly, you may do it by hand, provided the your handwriting is neat.) You may attach handwritten examples of music notation if you choose to use them, again, as long as they are clearly legible. Your exam must be returned in hard copy (no cd-roms or email attachments) to Greg Smith by 4:45pm today.

The exam consists of twelve music examples, six in score form and seven in audio form. All examples can be accessed by clicking the corresponding links in the following table:

Group 1
Antiquity–1699

Score Example 1
Audio Example 1

Group 2
1675–1799

Score Example 2
Audio Example 2
Audio Example 3
 Group 3
1799–1910

Score Example 3
Score Example 4
Audio Example 4
 Group 4
1899–present

Score Example 5
Score Example 6
Audio Example 5
Audio Example 6
Audio Example 7


Part I

Six short essays. Choose six examples from the above, at least one from each group. Write a clear, concise essay of 500–700 words about each example. The point of departure will depend on the materials. However, you may consider factors such as historical context, performance milieu, compositional technique, formal design, musical style, harmony, instrumentation, text setting, and expressive character. Identification of the composer or work is not the primary objective. Ultimately, you should be able to write intelligently about the material whether or not you recognize the specific piece. Try to say something interesting.


Part II

Complete two of the following three tasks:

  1. A substantive, in-depth essay: From the thirteen pieces above, select one piece that you did not write about in Part I. Write a more substantial essay in which you either
    (a) compare the work in question to another work that you know (it need not be a work from the same time period, but it should share certain traits or preoccupations), or
    (b) place the work in its proper historical, stylistic and biographical context.

  2. A short composition and a few sentences of prose: Compose a brief work (or the beginning of a longer work) emulating some compositional features of one of the twelve examples listed above. Specify the example you have emulated and provide a short description of what you have sought to emulate.

  3. An in-depth, substantive essay: Write a detailed essay that focuses on a musical culture, practice, or set of techniques that is not represented by any of the twelve examples listed above.