Assignment : Analysis

The principles of Unity and Variety apply to all music, regardless of composition style or historical period.

Now that you are familiar with the concepts in the first section of the course (Basic Musical Concepts), and you have seen how they work on different pieces of music, try your hand, mouse, and ears, at finding how they operate in a piece you haven't heard yet in this course (although you may have elsewhere).

To do this, I will ask you to look at Manha De Carnival by Sigman and Bonfa, arguably one of the most popular Brazilian pieces in the repertoire.

Manha De Carnival by Sigman and Bonfa (4:08)

Your analysis should include:

• The number of different musical ideas in the piece (for example, can we say that there are two ideas A and B? Or is there only one?)

• The timings (start and stop times) of the different sections of the piece. (Hint: Listen for changes in musical ideas and timbre, for example, points when different instruments come in or give way to others.)

• How unity and variety are exemplified in those sections through the use of:

1. Dynamics: Where does the music get louder or softer? Is there any apparent reason for those changes?

2. Timbre: Where do instruments take over the melody or a solo passage?

3. Pitch: What is the general pitch level of the piece? Are there wide variations in pitch level?

• Whether, although there are sections that feature one instrument over others, whether you think this is a piece for a solo performer or for an ensemble

• A list of the characteristics of the musical style closest to the one this piece exemplifies. (Hint: Look at the last lecture in the first section of the course)

• Whether you think this piece serves (or could serve) a specific purpose.

• Whether or not it has any specific connotation(s) for you.