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.
Don't sell yourself short, if your passionate about something other people will be too, it's contagious! It does seem like your narrowed your topics down immensely and I although I do not know a lot about this topic I think that you have a really great lead about where to go!!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Ali on this one. I think the most important thing all of us can right now while we choose our topics, is to find a topic that we are passionate about. After all, you're going to work on this project for the next year at least. That being said, I think that it sounds like you have an interesting start. I heard part of what you were saying to Dr. Cook a few weeks ago about how when the church split, the music did as well, etc. and it has been a controversial topic since then. That's something that I don't really know anything about, but I'm definitely interested to learn more. I'm sure that throughout this class as we learn more from you about your topic we'll be able to help you come up with additional ideas and things to investigate!
ReplyDeleteLuke: This is a great distillation of your topic, from the broad to the specific, written for the layperson to follow along. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI want to urge you not to discount your research as insignificant...ever! There will be enough people doing that without you needing to join the fray. It's your job to believe in the significance of your research, no matter how obscure or small, and to make a case for its significance in the very body of the research itself. We can't very well go around writing research that we, ourselves, claim isn't important! You have to be the champion of your own work, of your research and of the integrity of your research.
I love how passionate you are about the Reformation and its impact on sacred music vis a vis the splitting of the church. Your passion rings through in your writing, specifically in your word choice and tone, and makes your writing, and this blog, engaging to read. Thank you. Keep going! (Your passionate writing is why your last paragraph, where you begin, "Though this project will most likely not be of any great interest to the average student..." comes as such a harsh surprise.)