OBJECTIVE: Because this course does not rely on a single textbook, it will be useful for the graduate members of the class to prepare a collective resource on the composers and some other important individuals covered in the course. The purpose of this project is to prepare a set of brief biographical essays that may be accessed by the class as needed.

METHOD: You will contribute to this project by doing the following:

1. Pick one of the composers (or other individuals) listed below, and submit the name to me (via email) for approval. Biographies written by students in a previous section of this course may not be chosen.
2. Research the life and career of that individual, using such resources as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, other encyclopedias and reference works, biographies and any other relevant sources, e.g., web pages.
3. Prepare a 5 to 7-minute oral presentation that summarizes the individual and his/her significance in 19th-C music. You will deliver this summary in class. (Please note and hold to the time limit. Excessively long presentations will be down-graded.)
4. After the oral presentation, prepare a brief written summary (maximum of 500 words) of your chosen individual.
5. Submit the written summary to me as an electronic document, and I will post the item on the course web site.

SOME REMINDERS FOR PREPARING THE SUMMARY:

• This is is only a summary, and not a comprehensive life and works. Do not become bogged down in every minor event, professional position or composition of your composer's life.
• Your in-class presentation will be timed, and excessively long presentations (over 8 minutes) will be penalized.
• Likewise, your written summary should fit within the allotted space, and excessively long summaries will be down-graded. If you wish, you may append a brief list of sources (including web pages) that contain additional useful information.

GRADING CRITERIA: This project will count for 5% of your course grade. Within the project itself, the grade will be determined by the following:

• 50% on oral presentation, with emphasis on the coherence and organization of the materials.
• 50% on the written summary (divided between organization of the materials and the mechanical aspects of writing).

DUE DATE: Oral reports will be "due" as individual figures are reached in the class. The written summary is due as an electronic file in an email attachment (or on a jump drive or disc), preferably in WORD (or a compatible format) to me within one week after your presentation.

Composers for biographical summaries (Note that the list is alphabetical, but presentations will follow a more chronological course. Names that have been crossed-out are not available.):

• Hector Berlioz (J. Tekalli, 2 Oct '07)
• Georges Bizet
• Johannes Brahms
• Anton Bruckner
• Frederic Chopin (D. Rojas, for 16 Oct '07)
• Antonín Dvorák (B. Loos, for 2011)
• César Franck
• Louis Moreau Gottschalk
• Mikhail Glinka (M. Hyder, for 2011)
• Eduard Hanslick
• Franz Liszt (T. Smith, for 16 Oct '07)
• Gustav Mahler (B. Clinton, for 2011)
• Felix Mendelssohn (A. Venturini, 25 Sep '07)
• Giacomo Meyerbeer
• Nicolò Paganini
• Camille Saint-Saëns
• Franz Schubert (T. Miller, 11 Sep '07)
• Clara Schumann (R. Williams, 25 Sep '07)
• Robert Schumann
• Bedrich Smetana
• Richard Strauss
• Piotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (M. Manitta)
• Giuseppe Verdi
• Richard Wagner (N. Ladd, for 2011)

NB. You may suggest other important figures of the 19th century, but any such name must be approved in advance.

Updated: 11:00 pm, 19 Feb '11