Musicology Assignment: A Detailed Analysis of Diverse Music Pieces

This Musicology assignment features analyses of several musical pieces. It begins with an examination of Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1," highlighting its rousing introduction and celebratory tone. The assignment then discusses the potential replacement of Australia's national anthem, advocating for a more representative and emotionally resonant song. Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven," a memorial to his son, is analyzed for its poignant lyrics and musical composition. Finally, the assignment delves into Frederic Chopin's "Funeral March," considering appropriate arrangements for outdoor processions and the musical characteristics that make it impactful, along with suggesting alternative pieces for such occasions. Desklib offers a wide range of past papers and solved assignments to assist students in their studies.

Running head: MUSICOLOGY
Musicology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MUSICOLOGY
Question 1
Listen to Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1, by Sir Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934).
Response:
The pomp and circumstance, March No. 1 by Elgar is one of the most popular and most widely
performed compositions. The trio section of the composition contains one of the most famous tunes
that are composed by the English composer. The music was composed in lieu of peace and with
pomp and circumstances. The composition furthermore included jaunty and lively tune of the march
which makes in capture the celebration of pump and the celebration. The song started with a rousing
introduction together with a colorful and boisterous orchestration initially in a subdued, then in a
solemn manner in the glorious rendition (Rahbee et al. 2016). The musical characteristics of the
strong pair of beats together with the persistent clash of bashes with the tune of the composition of
the music in the rhythmic pattern has made the song famous. It is one of the finest examples of the
pop and celebration since it contains high held notes from the brass punctuations. Besides this,
repeated harp of the orchestra following the fuller statement of the trio is some of the best part that
made the composition one of the famous of the decade.
Question 2
Let's make 'I am Australian' our national anthem, or at least our national song, says David
Donovan — 'Advance Australia Fair' just doesn't cut it anymore.
Response:

2MUSICOLOGY
The national anthem of the country of Australia is terrible. The country has initiated some of the
major changes in the alteration of its national flag and the national anthem back in the year 1984. The
country changed its national anthem from the song the God Saved the Queen to Advance Australia
Fair since the country men thought that the previous was expressing a though of disrespect to the ex
service men who bravely fought the wars for the nation and the country (Wallace 2014). The national
anthem of Australia furthermore needs change since it is bland, boring and the lyrics of the anthem
hardly makes any sort of expression or senses. The anthem does nor portrays or depicts the true voice
of the Australians and the language of the anthem is also not appropriate.
Thus Australia requires a new national anthem that is actually grounded and is based on the
reality. The anthem should be something that each and every Australian would love to sing where the
words and the tunes of the anthem should be better than the karaoke classic and something connected
to the Australian Crawl.
Question 3
Listen to “Tears in Heaven”, Eric Clapton
Response:
In the year 1991,with the tragic death of his son, Eric Clapton with the writer of the song Will
Jennings composed the famous “ Tears in Heaven”. The song by Clapton is basically the memorial to
his son, Conor who was only four years old when he accidentally fell from 50 storied building from a
New York City apartment. After the death of his son, Clapton went to reclusion for several months
and came back after several months to work for the song (Markussen 2018). The song is one of the
most famous creation by Clapton that gained numerous attention and accolade. The lyrics and the

3MUSICOLOGY
music of the composition are categorized as a narrative poem since it expresses a story. The tunes and
the musical composition of the song are very touching since the words in the song are very painful.
Tears in Heaven falls under the category of ballad songs that are popular in telling and expressing
stories of life. The lyrics in the song embodied deep grief and the process of personal uniqueness.
The writer of the film used psychological approach together with low tone of the music. The
composition included lead and solo guitar together with very snare drum beats and bass drums that
reveals the grief, the pain a father is going through after the loss of his little child, the bundle of joy
and happiness. This song has been inspired by the emotional distress the writer has been going
through and Tears in Heaven won six Grammies together with a worldwide recognition.
Question 4
Listen to “Funeral March, Frederic Chopin.
1. What kind of arrangement would be appropriate for this outdoor procession?
The arrangements for the outdoor processions are generally similar to that of the
coronations. Hence the perfect type of arrangements for this kind of outdoor procession as
depicted in the picture given should include singing of the Abbey choir in the entrance of the
procession together with the singing of the national anthem before the sermon with the
combination of the two choirs.

4MUSICOLOGY
2. What musical characteristics make this music so gripping in its effect?
The famous funeral march by Choplin is basically a musical genre (Saenz 2015). The
musical characteristics that are included in the composition include use of minor key, simple
duple metre, imitation of the solemn peace followed by the marches played by the bands of the
military.
3. What other piece of music would be appropriate for this occasion? Why?
Some of the other music that would be appropriate for the outdoor procession are
prelude, interludes and the responses and the postlude and the cocktail hour. These are
appropriate since these develops the sense of traditions and reflects the particular style of lie and
the values.

5MUSICOLOGY
References
Markussen, B., 2018. Tears in Heaven: Eric Clapton Coping with Loss Through Music and
Words. In Multimodality and Aesthetics (pp. 295-311). Routledge.
Rahbee, D.A., Xue, Z., Abel, A., Naze, A. and Chen, J., 2016. UW Symphony David Alexander
Rahbee, conductor with Concerto Competition Winners ZeZe Xue, piano and Andrew Abel, tuba
June 3, 2016.
Saenz, D., 2015. Chopin's Last Message: A Study of Frederic Chopin's Sonata for Cello and
Piano, Op. 65 (Doctoral dissertation).
Wallace, M., 2014. Undermining Australia's secular national anthem: We are not singing from
the same hymn sheet. Australian Rationalist, The, (95), p.24.