The concept for TLA courses is “a search for beauty,” one of the ultimate human values. As such, music draws upon philosophical and historical inquiry. All students are required to write a 250-1000 word essay in which they will explore the intellectual and aesthetic elements in a particular example of music related to this course of study. The idea here is to examine what is expressive and beautiful about a certain piece of music In other words, you will need to justify that it does indeed contribute to the search for beauty in our lives. Aesthetics was, for the ancient Greeks, the study of the ‘nature of beauty -or, what it is that makes something beautiful. This essay should, then, reflect the student’s knowledge and conclusions in this personal search toward a more complete understanding of beauty.