I hate you right now. Well, that's not true entirely, I just hate studying for this diagnostic exam that I have on Friday. Technically, I could just take it on August 27. The only thing I am struggling with is this list of about 60+ terms that they will chose 20 from for me to 'provide short definitions or identifications" for. What causes further complications is the guideline that all definitions can be found in History of Western Music by this guy, this edition. So, I got it from Amazon for $0.50 (+ expedited shipping), and, of course, it is the vaguest, most convoluted 800 pages I have ever skimmed through.
For example, I have define "hymn," "isorhythm," and "sturm und drang." For the first two, the book provides about 15 definitions across three stylistic periods, none of which are anything more than "Hymns were used in fifteenth century church services." Um. Okay? That is not a definition. My absolute favorite is "Sturm und drang was a literary movement. We will discuss this more in the next chapter."
I go to the next chapter.
"Sturm und drang was a literary movement. Now let's talk about Haydn for 70 pages."
And my favorite piece of contradictory information ever:
"Motets were the most popular form of secular music in the medieval ages."
In the glossary: "Motets: a polyphonic, vocal composition, almost exclusively written using sacred texts."
So, this is stressful. Luckily, the majority of the exam is on things like
"Who wrote [insert piece of music]?"
Or "Who is [insert composer's name]?"
This blog post is intensely boring, but I thought that I would inform you all of my current frustrations.
Good news? I have a job interview tomorrow to telemarket for Paper Mill Playhouse. Yes...telemarketing. But it's basically just convincing people to buy theater tickets who like theater. I like theater, too! It's part-time, so it'll hold me over financially until the fall comes, and I can find something more stable since part of the salary is based on commission.
Boring. Sorry. Hugs.
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