How do we talk about Music?

When we talk about Music – and really talk about it in a meaningful, musical way, there are a host of questions we should ask ourselves.

The brilliant Trevor Herbert wrote probably the best guide for this in 2001, in his book Music in Words: A Guide to Researching and Writing about Music, published by the ABRSM.

This list below of questions we should ask ourselves comes in part from his opening chapter, and builds on that:

Compositional and performance context 

• Who wrote the work? 

• Where and when was it first performed? 

• Why was it written – particular performers?What is a commission, a gift? 

• Is the music functional (i.e. dance, ceremonial) 

• Did the composer complete the work or was it completed by someone else? 

• Did the composer revise the work? 

• Was it published during the composer’s lifetime? 

• Is the edition you are looking at the original or a later version? 

• At what point in the composer’s life and output was the piece written? 

• Does it relate to or contrast with other pieces written at about the same time? 

• How does it fit into the general creative output of the composer? 

• Are their extra-musical factors concerning the composer’s life that might be reflected in the piece? 

• Does the title have a significance – is it the name of the genre (‘sonata’, ‘concerto’), or does it have a more descriptive title? 

• Is the work programmatic (portraying/evoking events and/or characters)? 

• How detailed are the performance instructions? 

• Are the performance forces (names and quantities of instruments/voices) given? 

• Are dynamics, tempi, accidentals, ornamentation specified? 

• How much discretion is given to performers? 

• Are performers expected to understand unwritten conventions such as ornamentation? 

• What was the reception of the work when it was first hear? 

• Have there been different attitudes to or receptions of the piece subsequently? 

• How or where does the work first into a broad historical context? 

• Does the work respond to or reflect broad cultural or historical movements or events? 

• How does the work fit into the development of repertoire for the forces for which it was written? 

Musical elements 

• Is it a complete work or an extract from something else? 

• Does that affect the structure? 

• Which forces have been used?  

• Where are the main musical ‘landmarks’ in the piece – what makes them prominent? 

• Harmonic language – is it diatonic, chromatic, atonal? 

• Textures used? 

• Is there prominent rhythmic or metrical complexity? 

• What are the prominent melodic phrases? 

• Are there any prominent contrasts and/or repetitions? 

• Is there any borrowed material in the work (such as themes of quotations)? 

• Does the composer draw on a borrowed framework (such as a much earlier form) or on some other material or ideas? 

• How is mood conveyed, and is there just one mood throughout the piece or does it change? 

• If the work is vocal, does the composer try to express the meaning of individual words or phrases in the music? 

• If there are words, who wrote them and in what language – is the setting you are looking at in the original language? 

• Are the instruments or voices used idiomatically (that is, are they used in a way that shows an awareness of their special characteristics and techniques?) 

• Are the performance directions (if any) distinctive in any way? Are dynamics and/or tempo changes frequent?