MHL 654 HAYDN PROSEMINAR - TERM PAPER

(S-10)

The big assignment for this semester is a term paper of 15-20 pages on a topic having to do with the life and/or works of Joseph Haydn. The possibilities for a topic are just about infinite. Indeed, one of the purposes of this assignment is to teach students how to formulate a topic. Here are a few pointers:

1) Your topic should deal with music you like;

2) Your topic should be something that you find interesting; you should be able to say in words what’s “interesting” about it;

3) Your topic should be relatively compact; you should be able to state in words what your paper is going to be “about”;

4) Sources should be available.

Your paper should be organized as an argument, with a statement of the issue(s), presentation of information, critical examination of that information as evidence for one or another view, and a conclusion. You should refer to previous literature as necessary and cite your sources appropriately. Musical examples should be labeled.

With luck the "bibliography" assignment already put you on the way toward your topic. If not, where will you find it? Review the readings and the repertory that we covered in class. Unfortunately we don’t get to some of the interesting repertory and some interesting readings until later in the semester. Look at the syllabus and ask me about things coming up that you think may interest you. Read Webster's New Groves article on “Haydn” in New Groves to see whether some issue jumps out at you. Look at the bibliography of that article and see whether the titles of articles suggest topics to you.

Think again about the list of areas that I gave you on the bibliography assignment:

a) a genre

b) an analytical topic

c) reception history

d) Haydn's personal relations

e) An episode in Haydn's life

f) Performance practice

Here is the timetable for the term paper. I’ll pass out guidelines for each step as its due date approaches. Please stick to the schedule. I’ll grade down for late work.

22 Feb Bibliography due

8 Mar Paper topic due

19 Apr Draft of paper due

26 Apr Abstract due

10 May Final version of paper due