Assignment 1

1) Do an Internet search (for example, you could use Google.com) for some of the most acclaimed European composers, and write down the number of hits you find. Here is a very short list: (leave their first names out to maximize the number of hits)

Chopin:

Mozart:

Bach:

Now repeat the process using some of the names of the most acclaimed American composers. Here is a very short list: (leave their first names out to maximize the number of hits)

Gershwin

Villa-Lôbos

Ginastera

Is the difference you find in the number of hits in this experiment meaningful in any way? Could this difference represent the greater/lesser universal appeal these different composers have on people and institutions around the world? Could this mean that -insofar as the Internet is a gauge into humanity’s interests- composers like Bach or Mozart are viewed as more “legitimate” representatives of classical music than their American counterparts?

2) Look at a European map and try to get an idea of the distance between the great capitals of Europe. Now do the same with the great capitals of America. Since so much of the European cultural history depended in the cross-fertilization of ideas carried from one cultural center to another by practitioners and audiences alike, how does it compare to the cultural “map” of the Americas?

These are the names of some great cities in America, home of very distinct cultural traits:

Buenos Aires

Havana

New York

These are the names of some great cities in Europe, home of very distinct cultural traits:

Paris

Florence

Bonn

Use this site to find Buenos Aires in this map of South America, but make sure you enlarge the image before doing so. Keep an eye on the parallels drawn on the map to have an idea of distances. Havana is north of this map:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/south_america_ref02.jpg

Use this site to find Havana in this map of Central America, but make sure you enlarge the image before doing so. Keep an eye on the parallels drawn on the map to have an idea of distances. New York is north of this map:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/central_america_ref02.jpg

Use this site to find New York in this map of North America, but make sure you enlarge the image before doing so. Keep an eye on the parallels drawn on the map to have an idea of distances. Havana is at the lower right of this map:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/north_america_ref02.jpg

Use this site to find Paris, Florence and Bonn in this map of Europe, but make sure you enlarge the image before doing so. Keep an eye on the parallels drawn on the map to have an idea of distances:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/europe_ref02.jpg