Download National 5 – WCM

In this unit you will investigate some of the styles and features of
Western Classical music.
You will do this through a combination of listening, practical and
composing tasks.
I can listen to and identify / analyse technical
aspects, make informed judgments and
express personal opinions on my own and others work.
I can identify and recognise the distinctive sounds, concepts
within a range of music styles.
Baroque Music
The Baroque Period is sometimes known as “The Age of Bach
and Handel”, as they were the two main composers of this
period.
The term Baroque was originally an architectural term used to
describe the highly decorative buildings that were designed at
this time. Duff House in Banff is an example of a Baroque
building. Baroque music reflected this trend by using lots of
ornamentation in the pieces. The music is generally very busy
and dramatic with many parts playing at the same time.
Bach example
Many of the instruments you are familiar with today were not
yet invented or fully developed in the Baroque era. We are now
going to look at some of the instruments common to this era.
Harpsichord solo
Harpsichord - group
Organ music
Continuo or Basso Continuo—– accompaniment traditionally
used in the Baroque era with cello and harpsichord or organ in
the bass.
Listen to a piece of baroque music containing a basso
continuo—what 2 instruments can you pick out?
Vivaldi – Spring
There were many other instruments used in the baroque era
that we still use today e.g. flute, trumpet, horns and some
timpani. However, the orchestra was a lot smaller than the
modern day symphony orchestra we know today.
Fill in the box on the next slide in your booklets.
Excerpt 1
Melody/harmony
(tonality, concepts
relating to the
tune/accompaniment)
Rhythm/tempo
(time signature and
speed)
Timbre/dynamics
(Instruments and
louds/softs)
Excerpt 2
Baroque music is mainly POLYPHONIC. This means it sounds
very busy with a lot of melodies and parts going on at the same
time.
This is how you describe the TEXTURE of the music.
Listen to this piece of music, Fugue No 1 in C Major by Bach
and notice how as each part enters, the music becomes
POLYPHONIC.
Another word for this is CONTRAPUNTAL.
In comparison, Listen to the start of the 1812 Overture by
Tchaikovsky This is an example of HOMOPHONY. Homophony
is when all the parts move together at the same time and the
result is more ‘chordal’.
As well as being mainly polyphonic, baroque music was also
highly ornamented and decorative. This means it contains
TRILLS and GRACE NOTES, which are extra bits added to the
melody to make it sound more interesting.
Have a listen to Bach’s ‘Aria’ from “Goldberg Variations” which
contains many ornaments including trills and grace notes.
A Canon is a piece of music whereby one part or voice is
closely imitated by one or more parts or voices—a bit like a
round. E.g. London’s Burning or Frere Jacques
Canon in D – Pachelbel
This bass line is an example of a GROUND BASS. A
ground bass is a theme in the bass which is repeated while
the upper parts are varied. This was a common technique
in the Baroque era.
Music composed after the Baroque Era ended and before the
Romantic Era is known as being from the Classical era.
Haydn and Mozart were the most famous composers of this
era.
Now compare the following pieces of music for piano—Bach’s
Fugue No.1 in C Major and Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major
K545 1st Movement
The first piece from the Baroque era and the second from the
Classical era.
Write down any similarities/differences you can hear.
Similarities
Differences

Listen again to the Mozart Sonata, concentrating on what the
left hand is playing at the beginning. This style of
accompaniment is called an ALBERTI BASS.

An ALBERTI BASS is a series of broken chords played by the
left hand outlining harmonies whilst the right hand plays the
melody. Classical composers such as Haydn and Mozart used
this technique extensively in their piano music
MELODY (Played in right hand)
ALBERTI BASS
(Played in left hand)
The CONCERTO was a form of music that became more
popular in the Classical era.
A CONCERTO is a work for SOLO instrument accompanied by
orchestra.
It was usually in three movements—Fast, Slow and a final fast
movement.
Andante from Trumpet Concerto – Haydn
Now we are going to listen to a Trumpet CONCERTO. The
tempo of the piece is ANDANTE (walking pace) and it is written
in COMPOUND TIME.
As you are listening, answer the questions in your booklets,
using the score and enjoying music book to help you.
CONCERTOS in the Classical Era often contained something
called a CADENZA. A Cadenza was a chance for the soloist to
show off his/her skills on the instrument, a bit like a guitar solo
in rock music!
Listen from just before 6 minutes in Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.
3 – Allegro to hear a CADENZA from the solo horn. At the end
of the CADENZA, the horn plays a TRILL to indicate to the rest
of the orchestra that the CADENZA is finished.
Another style evolving in the Classical period was the
SYMPHONY.
A SYMPHONY is the name given to a large work for
orchestra usually in four movements.
In the Classical period the movements were normally fast,
slow, minuet and trio, fast.
Listen to some of Mozart’s 40th Symphony and insert your
answers in the gaps provided.
Now fill in the meanings of the concepts at the bottom of
your page.
A lot of the music in the Classical and Baroque eras followed
certain FORMS.
We are now going to look at the most common.
BINARY form is music in two sections—A then B. The sections
may differ in key, rhythm, melody etc, but should be different
enough for you to hear when one section finishes and the other
begins.
Listen to Bach’s Minuet in G from the Baroque Era, can you
identify parts A and B?
Follow the score in your booklet and on the following slide..
TERNARY form moves on from binary, returning to section A
again. This makes a ‘sandwich’ effect. The sections A being the
‘bread’ and the B being the ‘filling’.
Listen to the following piece of music by Schubert (A composer
from the Romantic era, which we will be looking at next).
Follow the score and listen for sections A, B and the return to A
as indicated on the score.
Answer the questions in your booklet at the bottom of the
page.
RONDO form moves on again from ternary, with the
section A returning in between contrasting sections.
Listen to Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Rondo
Allegro from the Classical Era.
The first theme you hear is the returning theme ‘A’. Can
you hear in the music when it returns?
Have a look at the score on the next slide, this shows A,
the returning theme.
Theme and Variations is exactly what it sounds like—a main
theme, followed by variations based on the main theme.
Have a look at the music below, which can be played on the
piano or keyboard.
The Romantic Era followed the Classical Era from around
1810—1900.
The Romantic orchestra grew in size and added piccolo,
trombone and more varied percussion.
Music became more expressive, less structured and composers
began to explore different timbre with the introduction of new
instruments to the orchestra.
There was much use of RUBATO. Rubato translates as 'robbed
time' which means the music will speed up and slow down in
order to allow for expression, therefore there will not be a strict
tempo maintained.
Listen to Prelude in E-Minor by Chopin and notice his use of
RUBATO.
Now listen to 3 violin concertos from the baroque, classical
and romantic eras and identify which piece comes from which
era and give a reason for each choice.
Concerto 1
Concerto 2
Concerto 3
As composers became bolder with their use of different
instruments and techniques, this progressed into the even more
varied styles and sounds of the 20th Century.
We are going to take a look at some of the techniques and
characteristics of 20th Century Western Classical music.
Atonal music is music without a key. It is very dissonant and
lacks a 'nice' melody and accompaniment.
Listen to a piece of Atonal music by Arnold Schoenberg,
6 little pieces op. 19 - Orchestral version
This piece is ATONAL and also contains DISCORDS—A chord
in which certain notes clash. In the 20th century, many
composers used discords in their music. These can also be
called CLUSTERS.
If you go to a keyboard or piano, and play a group of notes
which are close together, for example C, C# and D, this creates
a DISCORD or CLUSTER.
On the stave in your booklet, draw some DISCORDS. The first
has been completed as an example for you.
Not all music in the 20th Century was ATONAL. Debussy is said
to have led us into 20th century music with his use of timbre,
dynamics and beautiful shimmering melodies to create a style
known as IMPRESSIONISM.
Listen to Debussy’s Voiles. The piece begins with another
concept you need to learn—WHOLE TONE SCALE.
A WHOLE TONE SCALE is a scale based entirely on WHOLE
TONES—no semitones.
You can play a whole tone scale by playing the following on the
piano
Listen to another piece of music by Debussy— Prelude to the
Afternoon of a Faun
Q.1 What is the solo instrument at the beginning of the piece?
Q.2 What is the name given to the string instrument heard in
the accompaniment?
Minimalism is a late 20th Century style of music where
simple patterns/ostinati are developed, extended and
added to each time they are repeated. The music
sometimes uses only one or two elements such as
rhythm or pitch to create the whole piece. The result
sounds very repetitive and quite often the music is
percussive. This style is suited to an age dominated by
machines because the constantly repeating melodic and
rhythmic patterns sound like the motion of a machine.
Listen to a piece of Minimalist music by Steve Reich and
fill in the box in your booklet first as rough work, then
complete your final answer in the box on the following
page.
Rhythm/tempo
Melody/harmony
Instruments/voices
and how they are
used
Dynamics