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GCSE Music
Revision Guide
Edexcel Music
Name......................
Class......... LG........
Contents
Success criteria..................................................................3
Area of Study 1- facts........................................................4
Handel................................................................................5
Mozart...............................................................................6
Chopin................................................................................7
Area of Study 2- facts.......................................................8
Schoenberg.........................................................................9
Bernstein..........................................................................10
Reich.................................................................................11
Area of Study 3- facts......................................................12
Davis.................................................................................13
Buckley..............................................................................14
Moby.................................................................................15
Area of Study 4- facts......................................................16
Capercaillie.......................................................................17
Rag....................................................................................18
African.............................................................................19
Useful links.......................................................................20
Notes................................................................................21
2
Success Criteria
Your Listening and Appraising written paper (summer year 11) will
focus on the following set works:
Area of Study 1:
1. Handel’s ‘And the Glory of the Lord’
2. Mozart’s ‘Symphony in G minor’
3. Chopin’s ‘Prelude for Piano’
Area of Study 2:
1. Schoenberg’s ‘Perepitie’
2. Bernstein’s ‘Something’s Coming’
3. Reich’s ‘Electric Counterpoint’
Area of Study 3:
1. Davies’ ‘All Blues’
2. Buckley’s ‘Grace’
3. Moby’s ‘Why Does My heart?’
Area of Study 4:
1. Capercaillie ‘Sky Waulking Song’
2. Rag Desh
3. Koko’s ‘Yiri’
You will need to know each of these pieces in detail in order to
achieve a high result in your final paper. This guide simplifies all
of these works and gives you the essential information needed to
answer the paper.
3
Important Features of Area of Study 1
Baroque Era- 1600-1750 (Handel is from this era)
Instruments
Fill in the gaps on this
page- remember the
historical eras are just as
important as the set
works
Composers
Characteristics
Oratorio
Classical Era- 1750-1815 (Mozart is from this era)
Instruments
Composers
Characteristics
Symphony
Romantic Era- 1800-1900 (Chopin is from this era)
Instruments
Composers
Characteristics
Prelude
4
Harmony:
Tonality:
‘Functional Harmony’ is the best term to use
when describing Baroque harmonies. This is
the era when major\minor keys were
established- therefore, composers wanted to
use them appropriately.
This piece is written in A major, it never
completely modulates, but does pass through
the dominant key- E major.
Pitch:
In this piece we see lots of chord I, IV and V.
Instruments use a variety of pitches. The vocal
parts stay within their vocal range and the
strings cover a broad range from the violin
down to the cello.
George Handel
German
1685-1759
We also see many cadences- Plagal Cadences
being the most common.
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
SATB Choir
Dynamics would not have been
written in the manuscript during the
Baroque era. Instead, we use the
term ‘terraced-dynamics’ to
describe dynamics in the Baroque
era.
String ensemble- Violin, Viola, Cello
Continuo- traditionally Harpsichord
Rhythm/Metre:
Texture:
The time signature is ¾ throughout.
Many textures are used.
The rhythm is varied, but uses straight
rhythms rather than swung/syncopated.
There are 4 main melodic ideas- these
each have a lyrical line attached to them.
Homophony
Monophony
Polyphony
5
Structure: This piece uses traditional Sonata
Form. This means there are three main
sections- Exposition (repeated), Development
and Recapitulation. There is also a short Coda.
Harmony & Tonality:
Wolfgang Mozart
Austrian
1756-1791
Pitch:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
Full Classical Orchestra. This is not
as big as the modern day orchestra,
notably, there are less brass and
percussion.
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
6
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
The piece is split into 3 sections: ABA (Ternary
Form). It also has a codetta to close the music.
Frederic Chopin
Polish
1810-1849
Pitch:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
A Prelude for solo Piano. The term
prelude indicates that the music
comes before another piece. Chopin
wrote this prelude as a single piece,
therefore it does not open any large
musical work.
Rhythm/Metre:
Texture:
7
Important facts anout Area of Study 2
Expressionism:
Composers
Fill in the gaps on this
page- remember the
historical eras are just as
important as the set
works
Characteristics
Contextual ideas
Musical Theatre:
Composers
Characteristics
Famous titles
Minimalism:
Composers
Characteristics
Possible compositional devices
8
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
The piece uses very complex harmoniesthese are built up due to the piece being
written atonally. The piece therefore does
not have a key signature. There is a strong
use of ‘hexachords’ within this work.
The piece is in Loose Rondo Form- ABACA.
Pitch:
Arnold Schoenberg
Austrian
1874-1951
You will also find clear examples of
dissonance- a feature of this genre.
Dynamics:
Instruments/Forces:
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
9
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
Leonard Bernstein
Polish-American
1918-1990
Pitch:
Dynamics:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics vary in this work. It is a vocal solo
(sung by the male lead character Tony)- he
sings ‘Forte’ (Loud) markings and also sings
‘Pianissimo’ (Very Quiet). The ensemble who
accompany vary the dynamics to suit the
vocalist
Rhythm/Metre:
Texture:
Bernstein is famous for writing music where
the time signature (metre) constantly
changes- this is no exception. The piece
moves from 2/4 to 3/4 constantly. The
rhythm is also highly syncopateddemonstrating the composer’s influences
from jazz and music of the early 20th
century.
10
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure: The structure of this piece could be viewed as
Binary Form. The piece has two main sections: A (b. 173) and B (b. 74-113), with a coda until the end.
Steve Reich
American
1936- present
Pitch:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
A piece written entirely for strings- guitairs.
There are 2 bass guitairs, 7 guitars and a
live guitarist. The piece uses computergenerated sounds.
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
11
Important facts about Area of Study 3
Jazz:
Composers/performers
Fill in the gaps on this pageremember the different
styles and their features are
just as important as the set
works
characteristics
American Rock:
Composers/performers
characteristics
Club Dance:
Composers/performers
characteristics
12
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
The main chord sequence is based around
the 12-bar blues pattern- there have been
some alterations to this.
This piece is written using a HEAD ARRANGEMENT
structure. This is very common within Jazz music.
Miles Davis
American
1926-1991
Pitch:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor
Saxophone, Piano, Bass and Drums.
The trumpet (played by Miles Davis) is the
lead instrument- other instruments have
solos too.
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
13
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure: ‘Grace’ uses 4 main sections which are
broken down into smaller sections. They are made up of
a series of verses, choruses, pre-choruses, a middle 8, an
intro and an outtro. There are also brief link passages.
Jeff Buckley
American
1966-1997
Pitch:
Dynamics:
Instruments/Forces:
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
The metre used within ‘Grace’ is a 12/8
time signature. This means the piece is in
compound time. It remains in this time
signature throughout. The rhythms used
get repeated and at times they are fairly
complex- especially on some guitar riffs.
14
Harmony & Tonality:
The piece is written in the key of A minor.
The composer uses repeating chord
sequences throughout the piece. There
are, in fact, only two differing chord
sequences:
Structure:
Pitch:
Am Am Em Em Gm Gm D D
Moby (Richard Hall)
American
1965-present
C C Am Am C C Am Am
Dynamics:
Instruments/Forces:
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
Textures in this piece vary. The piece
opens with a fairly static homophonic
texture played by piano. The texture
thickens throughout the piece, at times
we have a melody-dominated
homophony sound and at other times
the piece uses polyphony.
15
Important facts from Area of Study 4
Gaelic Music/Fusion
Fill in the gaps on this pageremember the world music
keywords and traditions are
just as important as the set
works
Indian Rag
African Music
16
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
The structure of this piece is quite unique- it has 8
verses with no choruses. There is one instrumental
break and an intro and outtro.
Capercaillie
Scottish Group
Formed early 1980s
Pitch:
Dynamics:
Instruments/Forces:
Vocals, Violin, Accordion, Pipe, Synth,
Bouzouki, Wurlitzer Piano, Bass, Drum kit
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
17
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
Pitch:
Various artists
Rag Desh
Traditionally played
at night
Pitch is used fully within the different Rags. Pitch
bending is a feature of Indian Music and can be heard
within these works too
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
Sitar, Bansuri (Indian Flute), Tabla (Indian
hand drum), voice, sarangi (string
instrument), sarod (string instrument),
cymbals, tambura (string instrumentdrone), esraj (string instrument), pakhawaj
(Indian drum)
Rhythm/Metre:
Texture:
18
Harmony & Tonality:
Structure:
Koko group
Traditional West
African group
Pitch:
Instruments/Forces:
Dynamics:
Balafons (African xylophones), Vocals,
Drums (Djembe and Dun-Dun), Rattles
(Maracas), Flute and tam-tam
The dynamics in this piece are generally fairly
static. As with most African music, the
dynamics tend to be unvaried- mainly loud.
This is because the music is about
communication and celebration and less
about creating artistic statements.
Texture:
Rhythm/Metre:
19
Useful websites:
WWW.BBC.CO.UK/GCSEBITESIZE
WWW.EDEXCEL.COM
20
Notes:
21