Writing for Music:

An Academic Resource for the SuccessfulCompletion of Graduate Assignments

Prepared by Kimberly Greene, Ph. D. candidate in Musicology at the CGU Music Department,in coordination with Robert Zappulla, Interim Associate Dean of the CGU Music Department, andKatya Fairbanks, Director of the CGU Writing Center

Music Department Assignments ♪ Basic Methodology and the Components of Essays and the Hypothetical Paper ♪ Presentations (Weekly Assignments) ♪ Program Notes ♪ Dissertation Proposals ♪ Abstracts ♪ Bibliography

Examples ♪ Program Notes ♪ Abstract ♪ Bibliography ♪ End Notes Musical Analysis and Textual Translation Formatting ♪ Musical Analytical Methods & Formatting♪ Examples of Musical Inserts: A, B, C♪ Literary Text and Translation Inserts (Vocal Literature) ♪ Printed Writing Resources ♪ Online Resources

Effective writing, consistent formatting, and the adherence to the accepted guidelines for citations remain continuing challenges for most graduate students. In order to maintain the highest academic standards of music scholarship and to address the complex of discipline-related writing issues, this resource provides departmental guidelines with sample excerpts for assignments, semester projects, abstracts, dissertation proposals, and program notes. Examples of formatting for music analysis and musical examples, access to the discipline’s citation and writing guide, ♪ The Chicago Manual of Style, and other recommended resources are also included.

Please be aware that professor-mandated requirements supercede the ensuing discussion and the examples.

The Presentation (Weekly Assignments)

Due to the diversity of subject, content, and the varying requirements of the professors, graduate students should carefully consider the purpose and organization of each presentation.

• Regardless of the media of presentation, the following approach should be employed:

1. Design the presentation surrounding the central subject and clearly identify the underlying issue (s) of the assignment. For example, the student should consider and formulate an answer as to why the composer, composition, or other subject is worthy of investigation, how the composition (s) of composer reflects the stylistic aesthetics of his period, and what implications arise from a study of his/her musical contribution

2. Presentation Structure, usually in an outline forma, supplemented by student commentary: • Section I: The Purpose of Presentation—the central issue (s) should be stated, well-researched, and replaces the

formal thesis statement (unless otherwise advised)• Section II: Preliminary historical events, musical trends and developments, biographic material, and pertinent

treatises that relate directly to the purpose of the presentation (avoid the tendency of including extensive biographical information)

• Section III: Observations regarding the subject with collaboration from reliable sources is recommended, as well as, the identification of the genre (s), the musical characteristics, and the stylistic elements evidenced in the composition, such as galanter Stil of the Classical period.

• Section IV: Formal musical analysis and musical analysis are customary for most presentations• Section V: Full citations, and locations of the manuscripts, early printed, and critical/comparative editions

should be listed in the outline(In-class facsimile editions of the manuscripts, other sources, and access to sound recordings enhance any presentation)

• Section VI: Source Bibliography—all sources used in the presentation, using Chicago Manual of Style citation method

• Section VII: Questions & Response—student should be prepared to answer questions and to substantiate his responses, using the recognized sources

♪ Chicago Manual of Style

Basic Methodology and the Components of Essays and the Hypothetical Paper Project:

Basic Methodology

• Standard Formatting: Aligned at the left margin, left margin 1'', double-spaced, Times New Roman font, 12 pt. font • Regardless of the concentration in the field, each graduate student should approach essays, projects, and presentations systematically:

Procedures & Structure:

– Select an appropriate subject for investigation, with the necessary approval of the professor– Research primary and secondary sources through the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges’ Blais Library Catalog,

Databases (Grove On-line), Electronic Journals (JSTR), InterLibrary Loan, Link+, Melvyl, RISM, World Cat, etc.– Consider and obtain the appropriate musical edition of the work (s) to be discussed, such as facsimiles and early printed

editions, critical editions, and performance editions– Study the sources regarding the subject and formulate the thesis—the statement should indicate not only the content of

the paper, but should also indicate what will be demonstrated and supported by the research (Frequently, writing a rough abstract assists in the development of a thesis statement)

– Formulate a loose outline of the major categories to be investigated– Gather source information and research these major categories– Create the subordinate sub-divisions of the outlines from this research—usually the outline should consist of three or

four tiers with the standard formatting: First tier, Roman numeral; second tier, uppercase letter; third tier, numeral; and fourth tier, lowercase letter, etc.

– For greater efficiency in the organization and completion of the Hypothetical paper, prepare the End Notes and outline simultaneously The bibliography should be generated from the endnotes or footnotes and then supplemented with credible supporting material directly related to the thesis, the supporting arguments, and the evidence

Recommendations for an Effective Essay:– For a more persuasive presentation of important arguments, essays should be developed from the completed outline– Essays should include a brief introduction to the subject, a clearly-defined thesis statement, supporting arguments and

evidence (body of the paper), and a concise, non-repetitive summary– Generally, each paragraph of the essay should begin with a topic sentence, be followed by three to four sentences of

support or clarification, and finish with a closing statement, or a statement of transition to the subsequent paragraph– A fine summary should not just consist of a re-statement of the thesis, but should incorporate the writer’s rationale in

such a way as to convince the reader of the validity of the arguments and stimulate interest or additional debate

Program Notes

Regardless of the length designated by the department, program notes should be written to enhance the understanding of the performance for an “educated” audience

• Full name of composer, including birth and death dates

• Full Title of Composition, including opus number, movement name, and the date of the composition or the first performance

• Introduction: the composer’s historical significance and his/her compositional contribution

• Introduction to the work and the relevant circumstances surrounding its composition

• Description of the composition: genre, form, characteristics, noteworthy musical events, and pertinent performance considerations

• Include significant supplemental information, such as brief side-by-side translations for vocal works

• Avoid overly technical and analytical language, as well as trite, poetic descriptions of the music

♪ Program Notes—Example

The Dissertation Proposal

The intention of the dissertation proposal is to demonstrate to the faculty the intention and scope of the student’s research into a given subject, the viability of the project, the methodology to be implemented, and the relevance of such an inquiry to the discipline.

Structure: (15-50 pages)• Proposed Title, author’s name• Introduction—a brief introduction to the issues and fundamental questions surrounding the subject of the

dissertation• Statement of Intent—a precise statement of what the dissertation will demonstrate, prove, or add to the

current research in the discipline• State of Research—an account of the pertinent historical and contemporary scholarship, the general

assessment regarding the issues of the dissertation subject already completed by these scholars, and the nature and scope of the research yet to be thoroughly investigated—

• Methodology—an explanatory section that addresses the organization of the intended research and the probable findings. This section should include chapter designations and describe the research methods as they relate to the central issues and fundamental questions of the dissertation subject

• Summary—a brief conclusion of the proposal that indicates the importance of the subject and its significance to the discipline

• Bibliography—a detailed bibliography, including sources generated from the initial research of the dissertation proposal and important primary and secondary sources necessary for the completion of the dissertation

♪ Chicago Manual of Style

Abstracts

Abstracts serve as an authoritative and persuasive summary of a paper, thesis, dissertation, article, document or book. An abstract should include a description of the issues or subject of the paper, the methods employed, and the conclusions of the paper. Abstracts are usually written after the work has been completed, range from one paragraph to 150 words, and appear after the title page.

Structure:• Title: the word “Abstract” appears as the title• Introduction: several sentences introducing the subject and the issues addressed in the paper• Body: a detailed description of the subordinate points, the arguments or material researched,

and how these support the central subject (thesis)• Summary: the significance of the paper to the discipline and any implications or projections

for future inquiry• Since abstracts are continuously used by libraries and are included in research databases,

include key words and relevant periods, genres, composers, compositions, and transdisciplinary subject terminology

♪ Abstract—Example

The Bibliography♪ The Chicago Manual of Style

• The key to a successful bibliography remains a keen attention to detail and a strict adherence to the citation formatting of The Chicago Manual of Style

• Although the general format of a formal bibliography consists of an alphabetical listing of all sources, the professors may require the organization of the bibliography into categories that distinguish between primary, secondary, and by the type of source cited

• Primary sources consist of original works from the time period examined or works that originated shortly after the events and present the perspective of a direct participant or actual spectator of the event. Primary sources include:

– Facsimiles of manuscripts and printed editions– Concert reviews written during the period – Autobiographies, journals, diaries, letters– Artwork created during the period– Original literary works of the period– Public documents originating from the period– Treatises written during the period discussed, etc.

• Secondary sources are chronologically removed from the events under discussion. Secondary sources examine, interpret, and provide commentary regarding the subjects and events generating from primary sources, and include:

– Published works removed from the period under discussion, such as journal articles, books, documentaries, newspapers, and conference proceedings

– Recordings removed from the period discussed– Discussions available on Internet sites and in databases, etc.

Bibliography (continued)

• Types of Sources (examples)– Books (Printed Material)– Reviews– Conference Proceedings– Journal Articles and other Periodicals (Newspapers)– Music Scores– Electronic Databases– Internet Sources– Recordings (CDs and DVDs)

• Basic Formatting Difference Between the Notes and the Bibliography– Contrary to the Note formatting, bibliographies begin with the last name of the author or editor and begin (flush) at the

left margin with the second line indented by one tab or five spaces

– Bibliography format—Notice that the last name is flush with the left border, while the second line is indented

Gottsched, Johann Christoph. Versuch einer Kritischen Dichtkunst. Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1730. Reprint, Darmstadt:

Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1989.

– Note format—Notice that both the superscript numeral and the citation is indented one tab or five spaces, and includes the page number

1 Johann Christoph Gottsched, Versuch einer kritischen Dichtkunst (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1730; reprint, Darmstadt:

Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1969), 72.

The Bibliography (continued)

• Examples of Composite Entries:

– Essay/component part of a volume of a multi-volume work with differing editors for both the volume and the work as a whole:

Littlejohns, Richard. “Early Romanticism.” In The Literature of German Romanticism, ed. Dennis F. Mahoney. The Camden House History of German Literature, ed. James Hardin, no. 8, 61-78. Rochester: Camden House, 2001.

– Musical work in a collection by a composer with an editor

Schumann, Clara. “Lorelei.” Sämtliche Lieder für Singstimme und Klavier. Edited by Joachim Draheim and Brigitte Höft. Vol. 2. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1992.

– Listing of several printed editions of collected works by one author—whole and separate volumes

Heine, Heinrich. Gespräche, Briefe, Tagebücher, Berichte seiner Zeitgenossen. Edited by Hugo Bieber. Berlin: Welt Verlag, 1926.

———. Heinrich Heine: Sämtliche Schriften. Edited by Klaus Briegleb. Vol. 1, Die Heimkehr. Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1968.

———. Sämtliche Werke. Edited by G. Böhnenblust. Vol. 1, Gedichte. Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 1911.

———. Werke und Briefe. Edited by Hans Kaufmann, Gotthard Erler, and Eva Kaufmann. 10 vols. Berlin: Aufbau Verlag, 1961-64.

♪ Bibliography--Example

Example Pages

Program Notes

Chansons de Bilitis, L 90 (1897-98) Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Claude Debussy remains France’s most renowned fin-de siècle composer and the leading figure of French musical Impressionism.Frequenting the Parisian salons of the most celebrated Impressionist artists and Symbolist poets of the day, Debussy was inspired to compose his most memorable works: the ballet Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894); the set of orchestral suites Nocturnes (1897-99), La Mer (1903-5) and Images (1905-12); the opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1893-1902); and numerous chansons (songs).

After having mastered the chanson genre through a series of conventional, but beautiful compositions, the composer shattered the traditional boundaries by liberating the melody from formal harmonic structures. His repertoire is distinguished by gentle, yetdramatic melodic vocal lines that aptly transmit the poetic meaning in delivery and in construction, and by an equally independent and supportive piano part. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Debussy’s harmonic language is embedded with lyricism,dissonance, and colorful tone clusters that are often based upon the whole tone scale. Notably, his contribution to the repertorybecame known as the French mélodie.

In 1897, Debussy and his friend, the poet Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925), publicly announced their discovery of a collection of erotic poems from the crumbling tomb of the ancient Greek poetess Bilitis. Despite the ensuing scandal when the story proved to be ablatant fabrication, the cycle of three songs Chansons de Bilitis contains some of the composer’s most remarkable musicalmoments: “La Flûte de Pan” depicts Bilitis’ inauguration into the sexual realm of her lover and teacher; “La Chevelure” evokes atableau of mature and sensual love through the description of the erotic dream of her lover; while “La Tombeau des Naïades” concludes the cycle with Bilitis following her lover through an icy forest in a fruitless effort to rekindle a love he no longer desires.

(When appropriate, the side-by-side poems and translations should follow)

♪ Literary Text and Translation Inserts (Vocal Literature)--Example

Abstract

This inquiry confronts the inequity between the musical achievement of women composers and their male

counterparts in an effort to expose the effects of German gender essentialism on the musical production of women active

during the nineteenth century and the socio-cultural restrictions that hindered their aesthetic and musical development. The

resulting psychological manifestations of gender-related oppression are chronicled through a discussion of the lives,

writings, and Lieder of the following exceptional women: Bettine von Arnim (1785-1859); Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

(1805-1847); Johanna Kinkel (1810-1858); Josefine Lang (1815-1880); and Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896). The

correspondence between the literary and musical realms is offered to substantiate the significance of the literarischer Salon

in the aesthetic advancement of women and to demonstrate the propagation of the gender-biased perspectives of feminine

identity through important literary works, including Johann von Gœthe’s (1749-1832) Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil

(Tübingen, 1808); Adelbert von Chamisso’s (1781-1831) poetic cycle Frauenliebe und Leben (Berlin, 1830); and the

encapsulation of the Rhine legend, the Loreleysage, in the poem “Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten” (1824) by Heinrich

Heine (1797-1856). The discussion concludes with a substantial comparative analysis of the characteristics of the

hausmusikalische Lied and the Kunstlied and their relationship to “An Thyrsis” (Vienna, 1781) by Franz Joseph Haydn

(1739-1809); to Frauenliebe und Leben, op. 42 (Leipzig, 1840) by Robert Schumann (1810-1856); and to the Loreleysage

Lieder of Friedrich Silcher (1789-60), Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Johanna Kinkel, and Clara

Wieck Schumann.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acton, Lord. “German Schools of History.” The English Historical Review 1, no. 1 (January 1886): 7-42.

Anderson, Margaret, and Mimi Clar. “Lorelei.” Western Folklore 18, no. 1 (January 1959): 52.

Anson-Cartwright, Mark. “Chromatic Features of E-Flat Major Works of the Classical Period.” Music Theory Spectrum 22, no. 2 (Autumn 2000): 177-204.

Applegate, Celia, and Pamela Potter. “Germans as the ‘Peoples of Music’: Genealogy of an Identity.” In Music and German National Identity. Edited by Celia Applegate and Pamela Potter, 1-36. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2002.

Bartsch, Cornelia. “Fanny Hensel (1805-1847).” In Vom Salon zur Barrikade, ed. Irina Hundt, 241-54. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler Verlag, 2002.

Baumann, Ursula. “Religion und Emanzipation: Konfessionelle Frauenbewegung in Deutschland.” Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte 21 (1992): 171-206.

Baym, Nina. Woman’s Fiction. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1978.

Bermingham, Ann. “The Aesthetics of Ignorance: The Accomplished Woman in the Culture of Connoisseurship.” Oxford Art Journal 16, no. 2 (1993): 3-20.

Biba, Otto. “Schubert’s Position in Viennese Musical Life.” 19th-Century Music 3, no. 2 (November 1979): 106-13.

Bing, Richard J. Review of “Music and Medicine: Hummel, Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner,” by Anton Neumayr. Nature and Medicine 3 (September 1976): 1044-46.

Biser, Frederick. “Early Romanticism and the Aufklärung.” In What is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions, ed. James Schmidt, 317-29. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.

Booth, Alison. “Biographical Criticism and the ‘Great’ Man of Letters: The Example of George Eliot and Virginia Woolf.” In Contesting the Subject: Essays in the Postmodern Theory and Practice of Biography and Biographical Criticism, ed. William H. Epstein, 85-108. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1993.

Notes

1. Janis Bergman-Carton, “Women of Ideas in France,” in The Women of Ideas in French Art, 1830-1848 (New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1995), 5-18. For a detailed history of the socio-political environs of the ancien régime, see Emmanuel le Roy Ladurie, The Ancien Régime: A History of France, 1610-1774 (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1996); and Pierre Goubert and Daniel Roche, Les français et l’ancien régime: la société et l’État, vol. 1, ed. Armand Colin (Paris: Éditions Armand Colin, 1992).

2. Joan B. Landes, “The Gendered Republic,” in Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of Revolution (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988), 169-200; and Joan Wallach Scott, “The Duties of the Citizen: Jeanne Deroin in the Revolution of 1848,” in Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), 57-124. For a general historical account of therevolution, see François Furet and Mona Ozouf, eds., A Critical History of the French Revolution, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989); and Donald M. G. Sutherland, France 1789-1815: Revolution and Counterrevolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986). For further investigation into the Republican depiction of “heroic” women, see Maurice Agulhon, Marianne into Battle:Republican Imagery and Symbolism in France, 1789-1880 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981); and Eric Hobsbawm, “Man andWoman in Socialist Iconography,” History Workshop 6 (Autumn 1978): 121-138.

3. Janis Bergman-Canton, “Le Monde Renversé: July Monarchy Typologies of the Woman of Ideas,” in The Women of Ideas in French Art (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 13-14.

4. Bergman-Canton, “Le Monde Renversé,” 15-16. For clarification of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s theory of the role of woman, see Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inéqualité parmi les hommes,” ed. Bernard Gagnebin in Œuvres complètes, 3 vols. (Paris: Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1959-64); and Louise d’Epinay, Conversations d’Emilie (Paris: Plombeaux, 1784). Forfurther investigation into the role of women and feminist inquiry, Christoph Meiners (1788-1800), History of the Female Sex: A View of theHabits, Manners and Influence of Women, among All Nations, from the Earlier Ages to the Present Time, trans. F. Schober, 4 vols. (London: R. Juigné, 1808); and the contemporary discussions, Eve Tavor Banner, The Domestic Revolution: Enlightenment Feminisms and the Novel (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2000); and Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson, eds.,Women in Revolutionary Paris 1789-95 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979).

Musical Analytical Methods & Considerations of Formal Design in CompositionsMusical analytical methods vary, are period-appropriate, and include some of the following:

–Analysis of a composition through the expression of mode, structural pillars, counterpoint, harmonic progression, chromaticism and ambiguous tonality

–Notational Analysis

–Rhetorical Method Analysis

–Analysis of the overall compositional form

•Binary form

•Ternary form (Rounded binary form)

•Ritornello form

•Da capo aria and recitative form and their function in the dramatic narrative

•Theme and variation form

•Song and Vocal Ensemble forms: German bar, strophic, thorough-composed, etc.

•Concerto, Sonata, Sonata Allegro, Rondo forms, etc.

–Thematic, motivic, and the analysis of subjects, imitations, tone rows and their manipulations

–Traditional melodic, intervallic, rhythmic, and functional harmonic analysis (Hugo Riemann)

– Intervallic cell analyses

–Schenkerian prolongation analysis (Heinrich Schenker)

–Psychological approaches to analysis (Leonard B. Meyer, Rudolph Reti)

–Textual modes, prosodic, poetic and musical setting analyses

–Accentuation, articulation, and musical phrase analysis

–Rhythmic structure analysis (Grosvenor Cooper, Ernst Bloch, Edward T. Cone, and Leonard B. Meyer)

–Historical performance practice analysis & reception theory and analysis (Clive Brown, Colin Lawson, Robin Stowell, Bruce Haynes, Roland Jackson)

Formatting Musical Examples:

• Musical insert examples include textual overlays • Musical examples depicting form utilize measure numbers and alphabetical letters for section delineation

♪ Musical Form Example: created with standard formatting, enhanced by AutoShapes—icon usually found on the bottom toolbar of Microsoft Word and on PowerPoint programs

Musical Inserts—Computer InstructionsApply formatting on inserts that are scanned from a printed source, generated from Finale software or copied from

databases, internet sites and digital files, by using the Printscreen function (available on most computers)—Achieved by pressing the Printscreen button on the keyboard and by pasting it to the word documentNext, click on the insert tab on the toolbar and, using the picture toolbar, set it “Behind the Text”

Overlay AutoShapes, Roman Numerals (Harmonic Analysis), or add text using the textbox (bottom toolbar)

Musical inserts should be cropped well (Picture toolbar χχ icon) and are positioned after a paragraph The appropriate line spacing, framing the insert, consists of 3 single lines above and below the text

All examples should be labeled using the appropriate format, for example:

Fig. 1. Composer’s Name, Name of Work, mm. 1-8.

♪ Musical Insert Example

Textual Example of Form AnalysisExample A

Musical Example Formatting Example B

Textual Overlay of a Musical Example Example C

Literary Example of Text & Translation

Printed Writing Resources

Bellman, Jonathan. A Short Guide to Writing About Music. New York: Longman Press, 2000.

Boyle. David J., Richard K. Fiese, and Nancy Zavac. A Handbook for Preparing Graduate Papers in Music. Ithaca: Halcyon Press, 2001.

Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed.

Montgomery, Michael, and John Stratton. The Writer’s Hotline Handbook. New York: New American Library, 1981.

Morris, William, and Mary Morris, eds. Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

Strunk, William. The Elements of Style. New York: Cornell University Press, 1918.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed.

Walker, R., and Todd Taylor. The Columbia Guide to Online Style, 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Walters, Darrel. The Readable Thesis: A Guide to Clear and Effective Writing. New Haven: Avocus Publishing, 1999.

Weidenborner, Stephen, and Dominick Caruso. Writing Research Papers: A Guide to the Process. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 2001.

Wingell, Richard J. Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1990.

Online Resources for Citations, English Usage, Foreign Languages, and Music Research: Listed Databases available at Honnold Library Home Page

♪ Chicago Manual of Style♪ English Grammar (Online): Grammar Reference & ExercisesOr http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar ♪ French/English Dictionary & Translation Resources (Online)—Coming Soon♪ German/English Dictionary & Translation Resources (Online)—Coming Soon♪ Grove Music, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Online)♪ Jstor Database of Academic Journals (Online)♪ Project Muse, Scholarly Journals (Online)♪ RILM Abstracts of Music Literature♪ Strunk The Element of Style (Online) http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html