Programmatic Music and The Compositional Process

This assignment involves watching two videos, and applying the lessons of the first to the music you will listen to in the second video. Watch the videos, and click on the links for explanation of the foreign words.

First, watch this fascinating TEDx Talk from Denver, featuring composer Scott O’Neill who takes us inside the mind of the composer in his 15 minute lecture/demonstration, “Inside the Score: Creating Meaning in Music.” (Links to an external site BELOW.)

Just for context, Scott O’Neill is not nuts: what he spoke about are the sorts of “compositional devices” that composers have used for centuries. With this in mind, watch this video of “The Moldau” (Links to an external site.) or “Vltava” (in Czech) by the Bohemian composer Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884).

In composer’s own words, “the composition describes the course of the Vltava (Links to an external site.), starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava (Links to an external site.), to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer’s wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night’s moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St John’s Rapids (Links to an external site.); then it widens and flows toward Prague (Links to an external site.), past the Vyšehrad (Links to an external site.), and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Labe (Elbe River) (Links to an external site.)”.

Here are the video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1sQZxrBMXk – inside the score (video 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhAwqPBPIEM – Smetana- The Moldau (video 2)

WHAT THE PAPER NEED TO BE ON.
Write a response to the following prompts in 600-800 words.

What surprised you most about the compositional process as described in the first video?
Considering the first video and the music of the second, where do you hear the two small springs? How are those two springs specifically expressed in music?
At what point in the music do you perceive the two springs unify into a single current? List the moment using the timer (min:sec) and support your opinion.
Given the composer’s description, what do you think is happening at 2:53 in the video? Support your opinion.
What are your thoughts about The Moldau as a work of art? Does it seem to depict the river, or does this all seem ludicrous to you? Whatever your opinion, please support it as best you can with evidence.