Music 224 was the first honors course I took as a student at Longwood university.  I greatly enjoy music, but mostly from a listening standpoint.  This class was beyond fascinating because I learned about the complexities of creating music through history.  Though sometimes stressful, the listening quizzes were especially fun.  We were assigned a playlist of classical music and had to take notes on the musical structure and tone color of the piece in order to identify it by ear on the quiz.  To this day I cannot get Bedrich Smetana’s Triumphal Symphony out of my head.  It was a unique experience to be graded on concert attendance as well.  I was blown away by Brazilian samba troupes, the phenomenal opera Il Postino, and especially the weekly performances by Longwood’s own music students.  Music 224 has left a lasting impact on my appreciation and taste in music.

Below is my final paper for Music 224: an essay on patriotism and nationalism in Carlos Chavez’s  Sinfonia India.