Monday, February 11, 2013

Where I Fit

No matter what field one calls home, be it biology, history, political science, or psychology, one inevitably finds oneself being drawn into a certain arena within their field of study.  A psychologist feeling a pull into the corner of personality theory within the larger room of psychology, for example.  It is in this niche in their field that the individual researcher chooses to settle down and explore, sifting through and bringing to the table interesting and not so interesting pieces of information that will then be reworked to provide an enhanced perspective on the data accumulated.  Such is the nature of research.

As a music major considering the prospect of an honors project, at times it seems quite daunting for me to settle on a topic within my field.  Also, being the kind of person who has the tendency to jump from project to project, it feels slightly counterintuitive. That being said, the desire to be grounded in a topic and find a place where I fit in the field of music is something that I feel I must do.

Music, as a field, can be divided into 4 sub categories: Theory, Composition, History, and Performance.    Most musicians seeking to advance their education at the Masters level will generally settle on one of those areas of study.  Of the four, I gravitate towards the field of music history.

Since I know that I want my project to focus on something within the realm of music history, I know need to settle on the period of music history that I want to take my project from.  Music history can be divided into roughly 7 periods: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th century.  Out of these, I feel a pull towards the music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Several avenues are now presented to me now that I've settled on specific time frames within music history.  In short, the same 4 sub categories I referenced earlier (Theory, Composition, History, Performance) reappear as possible routes for my project to take.  Additionally, the possible choice of settling on discussing sacred or secular music also presents itself.  Naturally, as the nature of this blog suggests, I am settled on dealing with sacred music.  In reference to the first predicament or what sub category, my project will inevitably touch on the sub-fields of theory, composition, and performance within the overarching framework of a historical research topic within music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  All I have left to do is settle on a topic.

Without a doubt, the most significant event within the presented time frame that affected sacred music during this period was the Reformation.  This climactic event holds much interest for me and seems to me an ideal subject for my honors project.  As someone who becomes easily interested with many different subjects, honing a thesis on how the Reformation impacted sacred music will be an ideal adventure as it will include venturing into studying not only music and composers of the time but also the theological and political battles that were raging in various countries and how the beliefs of reformers, such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, were manifested in music production and performance.

Though this project will most likely not be of any great interest to the average student, and is not on a subject that would receive more than a few lectures of attention in the typical music history couse, it holds a great deal of lure for me.  I know I will enjoy exploring this little corner of the World of Music.