Music and Spirituality:

Final Paper

What would it mean to write a treatise, a “scripture,” or a manifesto of music?
Take a position on a “spiritual” question about music and work it out over 5-8 pages.
Here are a few examples, but you may come up with a question of your own.
• What can we learn from listening to “difficult” music?
• Music must change and evolve…and the next step in that evolution is…
• Music at one time was pure and untainted, but now it has become overly
secularized/simplistic/pedantic…
• How can one recognize music that is truly transcendent?
• Should one limit the types of music one listens to for spiritual reasons? Why or
why not?
You may choose to write about any type of music, whether or not we have listened ot it
in class. Your paper should do the following:
1) Use concrete musical examples to support your claims. In fact, include links to at
least THREE youtube videos, embedded in your paper.
2) Reference spiritual texts (or websites with manifestos) as you write.
3) Include at least TWO relevant references to class discussion.
4) Give some history and social context for the music you are discussing.
5) Include a counterexample.
Writing has