Josquin’s “Ave Maria, virgo…serena” and the madrigal by John Farmer are examples of music from the sacred and secular worlds of the Renaissance.

The listening guides are on pp. 83 and 79; the music is on the website.

In which piece is the melody more important, and in which is the rhythm more important? Of course both pieces use melody and rhythm. How would you describe the differences in the rhythm and melody of both this pieces? What sort of meaning or impression is conveyed to you by the melody and rhythm in these examples?

2. #2. Let’s consider two pieces of music for voice next: part of Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Lied or art song, “Erlking.”
3.
The text describes these on pp. 185 and 199. The music is on the CD-ROM and the audio CD package.

In the Classical period form was an important concern for composers and listeners alike. These two pieces approach formal design very differently. Are the forms of these pieces as described in the text easy to hear with practice? Both of these pieces are very dramatic in nature—how do their individual approaches to structural design (form) reinforce the drama that you hear?

I’m sure you’ll want to comment on the similarity in the verbal meaning attached to both these examples–program music in a sense?
3. #3.The term “Romantic” has a different meaning from the usual understanding of it when we talk about music history. Listen to the fourth movement of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Bedrich Smetana’s symphonic poem The Moldau.
4.
These are described on pp. 219 and 225 of the textbook.

What is Romantic (with a capital R) about these two pieces? How does the composers’ use of the (Romantic) orchestra support the meaning of the music?