Friday, I figured out that there’s no easy way to choose the focus question/two concepts, and finding connections between each of those. However I did learn that are a few possible connections that can be made between them. By choosing the focus question first it helps you decide which key concepts will work with art, music and literature. For the Romantic period I decided to choose the focus question what is reason? This question goes well with literature and music piece however it was somewhat lacking in the art part. However, I think there’s a way to describe it in so that it can be done. For the two key period concepts I chose The Imagination/States of Consciousness and Powerful Emotions, Moods, and Experiences. It works well for Goethe’s Faust because during the play Faust struggles to see a poodle in the mist, he thinks he sees fire around its feet however, his student claims to see nothing. The Powerful Emotions concept also fits well because when Faust was away he didn’t know what had happened to Gretchen and he feels angry at Mephisto for deceiving him. It also works in Schubert’s Erlkonig because the father of the boy reasons away the boy’s illusions to nothing more than the mist playing tricks on him. The piece of composition shows a powerful emotion of fear as the boy sees the angel of death and his father doesn’t believe him. Another powerful emotion in this piece is the sadness of the father as he arrives in the courtyard and he realizes his son is dead. As for the piece of art I chose the Monk by the sea, it can be said that the darkness around the monk could leave one open to imagine what is actually there. It also conveys a somewhat spiritual emotion that can tie in with the Powerful Emotion concept. Now all I need to do is figure out how to tie everything together.
326 Words.

The Flea, Las Meninas & Four Seasons

The Baroque Period was a complex time when people were trying to decide who should be in charge of the government but also the church. There was actually a war that lasted 30 years because of this. An important concept during the baroque period was the concept of the complex but simple. John Donne was poet who wrote several complex poems, “The Flea” is a good example of the complex but simple concept. It’s about a man that wants to be with a woman but refuses him. Donne’s poem used the metaphor of the flea sucking the blood of the girl and of the poet as a metaphor for sex. The poet was trying to convince the girl to have sex with him because if the flea could suck her blood and she didn’t care for the flea, why wouldn’t she let him do the same. However the argument doesn’t work and she squashes the flea with her nail. For the art we looked at several different pieces however, Velasquez’s Las Meninas fits the concept of complex but simple also. It is a painting of a princess getting her portrait done but also of the people surrounding her and the artist himself. Although the painting appears very complex from afar, close up you can see the simplicity of the brush strokes. Also the shadowing of the painting looks very real from afar, the painting sort of draws you in. For the music of the baroque we listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this also fits the concept of the complex but simple. The Spring part is very beautiful just like a spring day. While the piece sounds complex it actually uses imitation where it repeats itself but in a different form. The piece uses imitation and creates a complex series of sounds. The concept of complex but simple can be found throughout the art music and literature of the Baroque Period.
320 words.