GCSE Music

Section B

Four Set Works Focus

G C S E E D E X C E L M U S I C – S E T W O R K S U M M A R I E S S W R A 1

W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S , C O . U K

“And the Glory of the Lord” from “Messiah” PART 1 - Placing the Set Work in its Musical, Social and Historical Context

About the Composer – Placing the Set Work in a Social and Historical Context George Frideric Handel - born in Germany in 1685 Appointed “Kappellmeister” to the Elector of Hanover who became King George I of England Handel became the “royal composer” to George I and lived and worked in England Handel’s sight failed him in later years, he died in 1759 and is buried in Westminster Abbey Related composers – J. S. Bach (1685-1750); Henry Purcell (1659-1695); Vivaldi (1678-1741)

About the Set Work – Placing the Set Work in a Musical Context “And the Glory of the Lord” is the first CHORUS for voices and orchestral accompaniment from Handel’s ORATORIO – “Messiah”. Handel wrote “Messiah” in 1741 in only 24 days! The words (LIBRETTO) were taken from the bible and tell of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. An Oratorio (a “religious opera”) consists of forms taken from Italian opera – RECITATIVES, ARIAS and CHORUSES. Unlike opera, oratorios had no acting, scenery or costumes.

Music comes from the BAROQUE PERIOD (c.1600-1750) – features of Baroque music include ORNAMENTED melodic parts (e.g. trills) MAJOR/MINOR key structures (replacing “modes) Basso CONTINUO (figured bass) played by Harpsichord (and Cello) to “fill in harmonies” Different musical textures – HOMOPHONIC, POLYPHONIC Baroque Orchestra – violin family, harpsichord, trumpets, horns and timpani One “mood” set and maintained throughout the piece TERRACED DYNAMICS – Loud or Soft

PART 2 – Musical Elements, Instrumentation & Musical Features Time Signature Tonality

A major

Tempo

Allegro Lively, fast dance

tempo to match joyous mood

Dynamics

To match joyful mood

of words - TERRACED

Pitch (vocal range)

Rhythm

“Driving” regular on-beat crotchet rhythms match “stately” mood Use of HEMIOLA – notes grouped in 2-beat units e.g.

Harmony Clear MAJOR harmonies – minor avoided to match joyful words. Uses PERFECT CADENCES (V-I) during piece with a PLAGAL CADENCE (IV-I) ending the chorus.

Texture Alternating HOMOPHONIC and POLYPHONIC sections. The chorus ends with a CHORDAL HOMOPHONIC coda.

Musical Features IMITATION & SEQUENCE– SYLLABIC word setting – one word per note MELISMATIC word setting – one word spread over many notes e.g. “revealed”

Melody and Form & Structure Chorus is based on 4 contrasting melodic ideas

IDEA 1 (based on triad of A major & syllabic) IDEA 2 (descending sequence & melisma)

IDEA 3 (repetition) IDEA 4 (notes of long duration - repeated)

Instrumentation

Written for four voices – SOPRANO, ALTO, TENOR and BASS with Instrumental accompaniment. The original accompaniment consisted of STRINGS (VIOLINS, VIOLAS and CELLOS) with continuo (HARPSICHORD or ORGAN) and TRUMPETS and TIMPANI. Handel went on to add parts for OBOES and BASSOONS to double the string parts and in places the voice parts.

Mock Question Section B

GCSE Music -

Miles Davis - All Blues

G C S E E D E X C E L M U S I C – S E T W O R K S U M M A R I E S S W R A 1

W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S , C O . U K

“All Blues” by Miles Davis PART 1 - Placing the Set Work in its Musical, Social and Historical Context

About the Composer – Placing the Set Work in a Social and Historical Context Miles Davis, born in Illinois in 1926 to a wealthy family, began learning the trumpet Davis performed in a number of bands before forming his own ensemble in 1948 Davis looked for a new way of playing jazz, feeling there was more to be found in the music than the “quest for speed” forming his first album “The Birth of the Cool”, which had a more “laid back” jazz sound. “All Blues” is taken from the album “Kind of Blue”, recorded in three 3-hour sessions in New York 1959, where Davis assembled an ensemble of some of the top jazz musicians of the time (see “instrumentation” in part 2 below)

About the Set Work – Placing the Set Work in a Musical Context Jazz began as the coming together of many musical styles and cultures in the late 19th and early 20th century in New Orleans. African-Americans brought their rhythmic pentatonic work songs they developed while in slavery (the Blues). Singers would sing about their poor situation in life in songs giving the music its title. Blues would include CALL AND RESPONSE, IMPROVISATION and STRONG RHYTHMIC CONTENT. The fusion of African pentatonic scales and the seven-note Western scale produced the blues scale – with its characteristic “bending” of notes Popular types of jazz include – RAGTIME, SWING played by BIG BANDS in the 1920’s, NEW ORLEANS JAZZ – one of the first recognised jazz style originating in New Orleans and BEBOP – a jazz style requiring virtuosic technique including fast tempo and complex harmonies “All Blues” is an example of MODAL JAZZ – features of modal jazz include: The soloist is freed from the more “restrictive” former types of jazz where they had to “stick to the chords” and now use a scale or MODE to use, more of less ignoring the chords underneath - this led to a longer, freer improvisations. Modal jazz songs and numbers are significantly LONGER than the shorter songs of bebop and cool jazz allowing for EXTENDING SOLOING.

PART 2 – Musical Elements, Instrumentation & Musical Features Time Signature

Marked “Jazz Waltz”

Tonality All Blues is an example of MODAL JAZZ – this means that rather than relying on complicated chord patterns the harmony focuses on a MODE or scale and the improvised solos are freer. Davis improvises on the G MIXOLYDIAN MODE

Texture The texture is made up of RIFFS – a short rhythmic ostinato common in jazz. 3 riffs are used in “All Blues” – the first (G D ED F DED) is on the double bass, the second where the alto and tenor sax play in thirds (D/B, E/C, F/D, E/C)

Pitch & Melody The main melody (HEAD) and the solos are all played over the 12-bar blues chord sequence (the CHANGES) based on the notes of a MODE. The improvisations are ORNAMENTED and combine riffs together.

Dynamics The dynamics of “All

Blues” is mainly p throughout although

there is a diminuendo in the final “Head 4”

Rhythm The RHYTHM SECTION provides the harmony and rhythmic background – drums, bass and piano. This section provides the COMPING – or accompanying – playing the background chords and rhythms

Instrumentation FRONTLINE - Trumpet (Miles Davis), Alto Sax (Julian ‘Cannonball Adderley), Tenor Sax (John Coltrane), RHYTHM - Piano (Bill Evans), Bass (Paul Chambers) & Drums (Jimmy Cobb)

Tempo Tempo of crotchet = 156. Although this may seem rather fast, the bar feels like it is split into two slow beats (two dotted minims), so it feels like a laid back tempo of Dotted minim = 152.

Harmony “All Blues” is based around a REPEATED 12-BAR BLUES CHORD SEQUENCE (the CHANGES) with a FOUR-BAR LINKING RIFF between each section. The 12-bar blues chord sequences is based on the following chords where each box

represents one bar. Adding extra notes to a chord (as in bars 9 and 10 above) is known as EXTENDING or ALTERING a chord – a feature used a lot in jazz The structure of “All Blues” is based on the repeated 12-bar blues chord sequence, which is repeated 19 times in total!

G7 G7 G7 G7 C7 C7 G7 G7

D7#9 Eb7#9/D7#9 G7 G7

Form & Structure INTRO – drums (played with brushes), bass riff, piano trill then alto and tenor sax riff in thirds HEAD – this is where the original tune or melody is played – melody played on muted trumpet with a simple motif mainly stepwise movement LINK SECTION – 4 bars between repetitions of the 12-bar blues chord sequence – breaks up the repetitions and provides contrast HEAD 2 – same as the first time on muted trumpet but melody is slightly developed. LINK SECTION – ride cymbal added by the drums IMPROVISED SOLO – first solo performed by Miles Davis, mute now removed from trumpet. Uses 4 repetitions of the 12-bar blues sequence (no links) and uses the G Mixolydian mode to improvise. Ride cymbal now very prominent in the rhythm section. LINK SECTION – IMPROVISED SOLO – Adderly on also sax, uses 4-repetitions of the 12-bar blues sequence, very chromatic and technical - LINK SECTION – IMPROVISED SOLO – Coltraine on tenor sax, uses 4-repetitions of the 12-bar blues sequence, virtuosic playing. LINK SECTION – IMPROVISED SOLO – Evans on piano, continues COMPING in left hand, uses 2-repetitions of the 12-bar blues chord sequence, right hand plays a melody line like frontline instruments. LINK SECTION – alto and tenor sax play riff in thirds HEAD 3 – same as Head 1, trumpet muted again LINK SECTION – alto and tenor sax play riff in thirds, trill returns in piano part HEAD 4 – melody now developed with a more “minor” feel LINK SECTION – drums back down contributing to a diminuendo OUTRO – Davis plays a short solo on the tonic note G over the sax riff and piano trill before the song fades out

Mock Question Section B

GCSE Music -

Schoenberg - Peripetie

G C S E E D E X C E L M U S I C – S E T W O R K S U M M A R I E S S W R A 1

W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S , C O . U K

Peripetie from Five Orchestral Pieces, Op.16 - Schoenberg PART 1 - Placing the Set Work in its Musical, Social and Historical Context

About the Composer – Placing the Set Work in a Social and Historical Context Arnold Schoenberg – Austrian, born Vienna in 1874; died 1951 Painter as well as a composer – composed and painted in Expressionist style. Created the “twelve-note system” or serialism – new compositional technique Related composers – Alban Berg (1885-1935); Anton Webern (1883-1945)

About the Set Work – Placing the Set Work in a Musical Context The term Expressionism was originally borrowed from visual art and literature. Artists created vivid pictures, distorting colours and shapes to make unrealistic images that suggested strong emotions. Expressionist composers poured intense emotional expression into their music exploring their subconscious mind. Expressionist music often features: A high level of dissonance; Extreme contrasts of dynamics; Constantly changing textures; ‘Distorted’ melodies and harmonies; Angular melodies with wide leaps Music comes from the TWENTIETH CENTURY (c1900-1999) – features of 20th century music include

• Melody – likely to include wide leaps, using chromatic and dissonant intervals, angular and spiky, short and fragmentary, glissandi, melodies based on note rows

• Harmony – extreme dissonances, more discords, note-clusters, hexachords • Rhythm – vigorous and dynamic, syncopation, irregular metres, changes of metre,

polyrhythms, ostinato, motor rhythms • Timbre – greater concern with tone-colour, strange, intriguing, exotic, striking, explosive,

contrasting; expansion of percussion section and emphasis on percussive sounds, unfamiliar sounds from familiar instruments, extreme pitch-ranges, instruments being played in different ways, new sounds such as those involving electronic and magnetic tape.

PART 2 – Musical Elements, Instrumentation & Musical Features Form & Structure – Free RONDO – A B A1 C A2

Tempo & Rhythm Instrumentation & Texture

Pitch & Melody Harmony & Dynamics

A sehr rash (very quick) contains mostly triplets,

sextuplets and demisemiquavers

Full Orchestra Homophonic & Solo Sections

Use of MUTED brass for timbre effects

Opens with motif played by

Flutes, Clarinets and Bassoons

Then a chromatic scale by MUTED trumpets and

Trombone GLISSANDO

Instruments play “as families”

Opening Motifs:

Motifs based on HEXACHORDS

Dissonant Harmony

(use of the interval of a 7th)

Sudden loud bursts Ranges from fff to pp

B Uses different rhythms which overlap

Very THICK TEXTURE in percussion and woodwind

Starts off VERY SOFT

A1 Variation of A

Return of a HEXACHORD on the Horns

Dissonant Harmony and extreme dynamic range

C Alternates between ruhiger (calmer) & heftig (passionate)

Sparse texture – with solo instruments overlapping

Bassoon tune, taken over by the cello & double bass

range from pp-fff. A few Loud semi quaver passages

A2 Another Variation of A Speeds up with use of triplet

motifs.

Builds up from clarinets & strings to the full orchestra (tutto) . Double bass play

TREMOLO chord in very high register.

Motifs are piled up on top of each other and are played in

COUNTERPOINT and CANON

crescendos very quickly from pp to fff dissonant chords &

immediately dies away to finish with a pp chord

Instrumentation – Five Orchestral Pieces is written for a very large orchestra using some unusual instruments. There are three flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons (instead of the normal pairs) plus piccolo, cor anglais, clarinet in D, bass clarinet and contrabassoon. There are extra horns, trumpets and trombones plus a tuba. The percussion section includes xylophone, cymbals, tam tam (a large gong) and bass drum. Instruments often play at the extreme of their registers. There are many performance directions in the score. Schoenberg was looking for very specific tone colours or timbres.

Mock Question Section B

GCSE Music -

Capercaillie- Skye Waulking Song

Mock Question Section B

G C S E E D E X C E L M U S I C – S E T W O R K S U M M A R I E S S W R A 1

W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S , C O . U K

Skye Waulking Song from the album Nàdurra - Capercaillie PART 1 - Placing the Set Work in its Musical, Social and Historical Context

“Waulking” is an ancient Scottish process used for making tweed fabric more flexible and windproof. A “Waulking” song refers to a song used to make this process into a more sociable occasion. To keep everyone IN TIME, the work was accompanied by song. There would be one person leading with lyrics, based on a well-known story and others would join in after each line with some NONSENSE SYLLABLES, called VOCABLES. It was considered unlucky to repeat a whole verse, so the songs often had many verses. Technology has now replaced the need of manual “Waulking” by the hands or feet, but the tradition still continues in some parts of Scotland and “Walking songs” are still sung by these societies and collections of “Waulking” songs have been produced in notation and recordings.

About the Set Work – Placing the Set Work in a Musical Context Capercaillie were formed in the early 1980’s by Donald Shaw and a few friends. Singer, Karen Matheson joined the band in 1984. The band preserve Scottish Folk Music often singing in SCOTS GAELIC dialect. “Skye Waulking Song” - taken from the album “Nadurra” released in September 2000. The band is made of up 7 members, each with their INDIVIDUAL VIRTUOSITY on their own instruments and their ability to blend together so well in an ensemble The song lyrics tell the tale of Seathan, son of the King of Ireland. The original song (nearly 200 lines long) was a LAMENT sung by Seathan’s wife, telling of his deeds and recollections and is a way of grieving and sharing her feelings of loss. Only a few lines are used in this set work interspersed with VOCABLES (nonsense syllables like “Fa-la-la”) in a CALL AND RESPONSE pattern. The full title for the song, as recorded by Capercaillie, is 'Chuir M'Athair Mise Dhan Taigh Charraideach' (My father sent me to a house of sorrow). “Skye Waulking Song” is an example of FUSION FOLK MUSIC – features of FOLK MUSIC include: “Music of the People” – performed by lower classes of a society expressing something about their way of life, how they used to live, or about local mythology Passed on by the ORAL TRADITION and rarely notated, often performed at INFORMAL occasions such as jam sessions at pubs of social gatherings. Folk Music is about everyone taking part, enjoying the music and passing on tales of life, legend and heritage. Folk Music also popular in the US where BOB DYLAN wrote songs in a folk style but with political lyrics – PROTEST SONGS Folk Music is traditionally played on ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS – accordion, bagpipes, banjo, bodhran, bouzouki, concertina, double bass, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, piano, tin/penny

whistle, uileann pipes. Electric Instruments such as the bass, keyboard and electric guitar have been used in folk music but some purists feel this isn’t traditional. FUSION is a combining of more than one musical style or culture. Capercaillie are an example of a band that FUSE CELTIC FOLK MUSIC with the instruments and production values of WESTERN POPULAR MUSIC

PART 2 – Musical Elements, Instrumentation & Musical Features Time Signature

Harmony The harmony is very SIMPLE using only FOUR CHORDS in the whole song. The changes in CHORD SEQUENCE highlight a change of section or mood. The intro established the chord sequence Em-G This changes to C-G-Em-G in Verse 4 adding some harmonic interest In verse 7, the chord sequence changes to Am7-Em-Em-G for one verse only returning to C-G-Em-C in verse 8 and alternating C-G chords in the outro

Rhythm The shaker and hi-hat play every two beats giving the rhythm a TRIPLE feel. The vocal part has a characteristic LILTING rhythm The second and fifth beats of the bar are emphasised by the accordion in the instrumental section

Dynamics The dynamics build with the texture of the song, dropping considerably in verse 7 leaving room for the intimate vocal sounds A long FADE OUT brings the song to an end

Pitch & Melody Melodic lines are played in the FOLK STYLE – instruments IMPROVISE AROUND A MELODY The “Waulking” song tradition can be heard in the use of VOCABLES between each sung line and the repetition of each line of verse

Tempo Slow and calm

Tonality The vocal part is sung using

the scale of E MINOR PENTATONIC (or G major

pentatonic) throughout Texture

HETEROPHONIC TEXTURE is created when instruments perform a very similar melodic line together, but in slightly different ways (Uilleann pipes solo along with the fiddle in the Instrumental) . There are also examples of instruments weaving a complex improvised COUNTERPOINT around the melody and scale (G major) and the vocals improvise in COUTERPOINT during the outro. Backing vocals thicken the texture when they join in vocalising the nonsense syllables in between each line of lyrics (starting in verse 4). Contrasts in texture, such as the UNACCOMPANIED last line of verse 3 serve as a link between sections and all instruments drop out of the last line of verse 7 similarly. The instruments tend to provide an ACCOMPANIMENT TEXTURE to the vocal parts but instruments (such as the accordion in verse 4) provide a COUNTER MELODY to the vocals

Form & Structure INTRO VERSE 1 BREAK VERSE 2 VERSE 3 VERSE 4

VERSE 5 VERSE 6 INSTRUMENTAL VERSE 7 VERSE 8 OUTRO

Instrumentation Donald Shaw: accordion, piano, synth; Michael McGoldrick: flutes, whistle, uilleann pipes; Karen Matheson: vocals; Ewen Vernal: acoustic and electric bass; Charlie McKerron: fiddle; Manus Lunny: bouzouki, guitar, bodhran, vocals; James MacKintosh: drums and percussion

Mock Question Section B