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March 7 Journal Update

Today, the bulk of my work was organizing my research, while doing more in-depth research. I read several essays talking about the group of songs of which the Cavatine is a part. This was only partially helpful, as at most there was a paragraph talking about the specific piece. In this one , they talk somewhat in-depth about the piece, which is helpful, but it is (as seems to be a theme about my research into Raff) too short, though helpful. In this essay , there is only one sentence with any value: " as it proves an ideal showcase for the violinist’s imaginative use of rubato, glissando, and color. " In all, doing any sort of research into this song and composer specifically feels like an exercise in futility, so I did some research into romantic music in general, but made little progress. Many of the sources that I do find seem to be either locked behind a paywall or in german. Perhaps I will be able to get more information this week. 
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March 3 Journal Update

 The bulk of my work today was searching for sources on Joachim Raff, or the Cavatine he wrote. There is a frustratingly little amount of anything about him. In the Enjoyment of Music, for example, he isn't even mentioned, while he has 6 pages in Famous Composers and Their Works . The most exhaustive source I could find on him was Raff.org , but it is difficult to verify their sources, as many are in german. Raff.org seems to be trustworthy and has a large amount of information, so it may be my largest source. They also seem to have a partial-copy of Joachim Raff: Portrait of a Life. Raff seems to have dragged himself out of poverty, but as a result, much of his compositions were written primarily for money, and 'drudgery. I will begin to do focused research on the Cavatine soon after I have finished the research on his life.
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February 28 Journal Update

     This weekend, I did 2 main things: I chose what piece I will be studying for my capstone project  ( Joachim Raff - 6 Morceaux for Violin and Piano -- 3: Cavatina (1862) Op. 85 No. 3 ), and I did some basic research about it.      The research that I did boils down to 2 main things, the musical genre (which is in the Romance Era), and some biographical research into Joachim Raff, who composed the piece.      Put simply, Joachim Raff was a self-taught romance composer who lived in Germany in the 19th century. As such, one would expect his music to be impacted by this. Most of his music is relatively obscure (this piece being the most remembered of his pieces), and he isn't a household name like Bach or Beethoven, so it was difficult to find resources on his music or life. Indeed, I could not find a complete copy of Joachim Raff: Portrait of a Life, by Helene Raff anywhere without buying it. Some of the articles that I researched are: ...
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February 24 Journal Entry

Today, I did some light surface-level research on the different modes of Classical Music (as a preface to the genre of music that I will be picking tomorrow). This was mostly about the Classical vs. Romantic musical styles, and some of their contrasts. At this stage of my project, there isn't a lot of in-depth research that I can do (as I will be choosing what piece to study tomorrow), so most of the research is over-reaching in its scope. I will be able to do more focused and in-depth research on the weekend Some of the sources that I researched are: Western Music - The Classical Period Sonata - The Classical Period and Later Classical Music Classic and Romantic Music; A Comprehensive Survey by Friedrich Blume
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