MUSC 224-50: The Appreciation of Music (Fall 2019)
I took an honors section of music 224 in the Fall of my freshman year. Though Music Appreciation class was not what I expected it would be, I learned a plethora of invaluable information from it and am so glad I signed up for it. Not having any musical background, this class has given me an extensive understanding of the Western musical field, from the Renaissance to the avant-garde era. The works of Gershwin, Berg, Messiaen, Strauss, Debussy, Mahler, Schoenberg, Webern, Bach, and so many more were previously unknown to me, but I now have more than a basic knowledge of them. Other topics I learned a lot about are film scores, something that previously I had not thought about at all and now something that I think about every time I watch a movie. Previously, I only listened to music on the sensual plane of listening, merely for enjoyment rather than on the expressive or musical plane, which I now do. Through classroom lectures, discussion, and opera visits, this course has opened my eyes to various musical time periods and the history of musical expression that I would have never known without taking it.
Grade Received: A 4.00/4.00
Most of my classmates and me outside the Carpenter Center in Richmond after attending the Spanish opera Il Postino