A Level Music

If you have any queries please contact Mr Baker at m.baker@thestreetlyacademy.co.uk

The areas of study provide an appropriate focus for students to appraise, develop and demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding of musical elements, musical contexts and musical language. The areas of study can also provide a rich source of material for your students to work with when developing performance and composition skills.

There are seven areas of study:

1 Western classical tradition 1650–1910 (compulsory)

2 Pop music

3 Music for media

4 Music for theatre

5 Jazz

6 Contemporary traditional music

7 Art music since 1910.

Students must study Area of study 1: Western classical tradition 1650–1910 and choose two from Areas of study 2–7.

For more information on the set works please see the AQA website - follow the link at the top of this page.

Area of Study 1: Western Classical Tradition 1650 - 1910 (Compulsory)

Strand 1: Baroque

Purcell - Sonata for trumpet and strings in D major Z.850 (complete)

Vivaldi - Flute concerto in D Il Gardellino op.10 no.3 RV428 (complete)

Bach - Violin concerto in A minor BWV1041 (complete)

Strand 2: The operas of Mozart

Le Nozze di Figaro k.492: Act 1, focusing on:

• overture

• No.1 Duettino (Figaro and Susanna, including following recitative)

• No.3 Cavatina (Figaro, including the previous recitative)

• No.4 Aria (Bartolo)

• No.5 Duettino (Susanna and Marcellina)

• No.6 Aria (Cherubino)

• No.7 Terzetto (Susanna, Basilio, Count)

• No.9 Aria (Figaro).

Strand C: The piano music of Chopin, Brahms and Greig

Chopin - Ballade no.2 in Fmajor and Nocturne in E minor

Brahms - Intermezzo in A major and Ballade in G minor

Grieg - Norwegian March and Notturno

Area of Study 2: Pop Music

Stevie Wonder

Joni Mitchell

Muse

Beyonce

Daft Punk

Labrinth

Area of Study 3: Music For Media

Bernard Herrmann

Hans Zimmer

Michael Giacchino

Thomas Newman

Nobuo Uematsu

Area of Study 4: Music for theatre

Kurt Weill

Richard Rodgers

Stephen Sondheim

Claude-Michel Schönberg

Jason Robert Brown

Area of Study 5: Jazz

Louis Armstrong

Duke Ellington

Charlie Parker

Miles Davis

Pat Metheny

Gwilym Simcock

Area of Study 6: Contemporary Traditional Music

Astor Piazzolla

Toumani Diabaté

Anoushka Shankar

Mariza

Bellowhead

Students must be able to perform music using one or both of the following ways:

• instrumental/vocal: as a soloist, and/or as part of an ensemble

• production: via music technology.

Students must perform for a minimum of ten minutes.

Care should be taken when selecting repertoire for ensemble

Students must learn how to develop musical ideas, including extending and manipulating musical ideas, and compose music that is musically convincing through two compositions. One must be in response to an externally set brief (Composition 1) and the other a free composition (Composition 2).

The combined duration of the compositions must be a minimum of four and a half minutes.

Compositions must demonstrate technical control in the use of appropriate musical elements and how they are combined to make sense as a whole. Please refer to the tables of musical elements in Subject content

Students must be able to compose music in one or both of the following formats:

• instrumental/vocal: produce notated score, written accounts and/or lead sheet by traditional means or by using music software as appropriate

• production: generated entirely digitally, by using music software, without notated score but with accompanying annotation.

Students must be able to make creative use of the musical elements appropriate to their chosen style or genre of music.