Reference no: EM133478367

Discussion Post: Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique

Introduction

This chapter talks about two different "types" of music: absolute music and program music. Both of these kinds have no words in them, no lyrics, nothing sung or recited. A symphony by Mozart would be a great example of a piece of absolute music. Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique is a perfect example of program music because it tells a story--a story that the composer had printed and distributed to the audience members at the premiere. Composers like Liszt believed program music was the future of music. Composers like Brahms disagreed, feeling that instrumental music shouldn't be at the service of a story or anything else.

Task

I. Listen to this Étude by Chopin. Chopin famously did not provide evocative titles for his Études, preferring to allow the player or the listener to interpret their own meanings. "Étude" means "Study" so an Étude is a piece that is meant to help students learn something. Chopin used each one of his Études to teach a specific skill--like how to cross over the left hand with the right, or how to do quick fingerwork cleanly. (This Étude has a nickname given by a publisher, but if you know it, try to ignore it.) Listen to the entire Étude at least twice so you get a general feel for the whole piece.

II. Watch YouTube video "Chopin Etude Op 25 No.5 Valentina Lisitsa".

III. Assume the etude tells a story of some kind, and come up with a title for it.

IV. Give me an explanation of the story and why the music inspired this interpretation. Minimum word count: 100, maximum word count: 500, OR

V. Interesting alternative: Ask Chat-GPT or another AI to come up with a title for this piece and an explanation of why (give it a word limit). Copy and paste what you get and then critique that answer. How did it do? Would you agree with what it says? Remember that you can try re-wording the prompt in different ways to get different kinds of answers.