User:Iwamotp/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Rondo

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
A rondo is one of the most important musical forms in Western Classical repertoire. This is a topic that any music major should be able to explain and evaluate simply by relying on their prior learning. It is necessary that the Wikipedia article provides an accurate and focused overview of the form for anyone who has never encountered the term before or may need a quick reminder. My initial impression of this article is that the lead section seems a little long and some content sections a little short, but the article still appears informative and reliable.

Lead section
The introductory sentence effectively defines a rondo. The lead section does include information on each of the article's major ideas; however, the descriptions in the lead section of each idea are sometimes comparable in detail and length to those in the article sections themselves. Additionally, the lead section contains information on usage of the rondo form from the 19th century to the present day which is not necessarily repeated in the article content.

Content
The content included in this article is relevant and appears to be up to date. As mentioned regarding the lead section, the article could elaborate more on the usage of the rondo after the 19th century. Even if the form itself has not changed much, the aesthetics of music composition have changed considerably, and the rondo's relationship with modern and contemporary composition techniques warrants some explanation. There is not likely to be much information about the rondo that relates to underrepresented topics or demographics; the only improvement that might be made in this regard is to include examples of how female composers or composers of color historically interacted with the rondo form.

Tone and balance
The article employs a neutral point of view throughout. The contributions of individuals to the development of the rondo form are presented in quantifiable terms and do not rely on opinionated language. No component of the article is over- or under-emphasized.

Sources and references
The sources cited in this article are all reliable, and citations appear consistently in each section. The provided links work and lead to sources that are sufficiently up to date. Looking at each citation in the article, though, it appears that the content relies disproportionately on only one of the sources. The information in the article is also based mostly on entries in music encyclopedias. There is a wide range of other sources available that could diversify the reference list and the article's discussion of the rondo's history.

Organization and writing quality
The content of this article seems to be organized well. A critical analysis of the grammar and sentence structure reveals some small errors in the writing, such as a few occurrences of semicolon misuse. However, as the grammar is generally strong throughout and the intent of the writing is otherwise conveyed clearly, these errors are unlikely to impede the average reader's understanding of the content.

Images and media
Because the rondo form by nature encompasses an entire movement of a musical work or the entire work itself, providing images and other media of particular examples relating to the topic without breaking copyright rules could be difficult. This article does include a table that demonstrates how a Classical rondo often progresses harmonically, as well as an audio-visual excerpt from a sonata-rondo composed by Beethoven and a list of Wikipedia links to other rondo examples. Images or media that might be added to improve understanding of the topic could include a phrase analysis of an example piece that shows how long each episode or refrain of the rondo would be expected to last, as well as some score excerpts that illustrate possible transitional strategies between episodes and refrains.

Talk page discussion
This article is part of the Music genres task force within the WikiProject Music, as well as part of the WikiProject Classical music. It does not seem to have been rated by either project. The talk page and article history indicate that one user made a massive change to the way the lead section and a good portion of the content were written just a few months ago in January 2023. The user explained that they rewrote the article to make the information more factually correct and eliminate issues likely relating to neutrality and original research. However, it would seem that this user's mass edit is also the reason the article content is now excessively reliant on references to a single entry in the encyclopedia Grove Music. Prior to this edit, most discussions in the talk page related to more minor conflicts of terminology to describe the topic.

Overall impression
I would say that on a broad scale, this article is good but can still certainly be improved. The included content provides a clear explanation and history of the rondo form. However, the article would benefit from some structural changes to expand the main content, as well as to make the lead section more concise and ensure that it accurately reflects the content presented. Additionally, even if the information currently included in the article is all correct, the credibility of the article would be helped by including citations from a wider range of sources instead of repeatedly citing one source.