GCSE Music Revision Guide Edexcel Music. Name... Class... LG...

Transcription

1 GCSE Music Revision Guide Edexcel Music Name... Class... LG...

2 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

3 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

4 Important Features of Area of Study 1 Baroque Era (Handel is from this era) Instruments Composers Characteristics Fill in the gaps on this page- remember the historical eras are just as important as the set works Oratorio Classical Era (Mozart is from this era) Instruments Composers Characteristics Symphony Romantic Era (Chopin is from this era) Instruments Composers Characteristics Prelude 4

5 Harmony: 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. In this piece we see lots of chord I, IV and V. We also see many cadences- Plagal Cadences being the most common. Tonality: This piece is written in A major, it never completely modulates, but does pass through the dominant key- E major. 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 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. Many textures are used. Homophony Monophony Polyphony SATB Choir String ensemble- Violin, Viola, Cello Continuo- traditionally Harpsichord The time signature is ¾ throughout. 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. 5

6 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. Wolfgang Mozart Austrian Full Classical Orchestra. This is not as big as the modern day orchestra, notably, there are less brass and percussion. 6

7 Structure: The piece is split into 3 sections: ABA (Ternary Form). It also has a codetta to close the music. Frederic Chopin Polish 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. 7

8 Important facts anout Area of Study 2 Expressionism: Composers Characteristics Fill in the gaps on this page- remember the historical eras are just as important as the set works Contextual ideas Musical Theatre: Composers Characteristics Famous titles Minimalism: Composers Characteristics Possible compositional devices 8

9 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. Structure: The piece is in Loose Rondo Form- ABACA. You will also find clear examples of dissonance- a feature of this genre. Arnold Schoenberg Austrian

10 Structure: Leonard Bernstein Polish-American 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 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 20 th century. 10

11 Structure: The structure of this piece could be viewed as Binary Form. The piece has two main sections: A (b. 1-73) and B (b ), with a coda until the end. Steve Reich American present A piece written entirely for strings- guitairs. There are 2 bass guitairs, 7 guitars and a live guitarist. The piece uses computergenerated sounds. 11

12 Important facts about Area of Study 3 Jazz: Composers/performers characteristics Fill in the gaps on this pageremember the different styles and their features are just as important as the set works American Rock: Composers/performers characteristics Club Dance: Composers/performers characteristics 12

13 The main chord sequence is based around the 12-bar blues pattern- there have been some alterations to this. Structure: This piece is written using a HEAD ARRANGEMENT structure. This is very common within Jazz music. Miles Davis American Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Piano, Bass and Drums. The trumpet (played by Miles Davis) is the lead instrument- other instruments have solos too. 13

14 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 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

15 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: Am Am Em Em Gm Gm D D C C Am Am C C Am Am Moby (Richard Hall) American 1965-present 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

16 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

17 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 Vocals, Violin, Accordion, Pipe, Synth, Bouzouki, Wurlitzer Piano, Bass, Drum kit 17

18 Structure: Pitch is used fully within the different Rags. Pitch bending is a feature of Indian Music and can be heard within these works too Various artists Rag Desh Traditionally played at night 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) 18

19 Structure: Koko group Traditional West African group 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. 19

20 Useful websites:

21 Notes: 21