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Exemplar Essays: Essay 1

The document provides sample essays and feedback from an examiner on analyzing musical works. It includes example essays comparing and contrasting works on their use of harmony, tonality, texture and melody. The examiner's feedback critiques the essays and provides tips for writing successful analysis essays.

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sablake12
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42 views

Exemplar Essays: Essay 1

The document provides sample essays and feedback from an examiner on analyzing musical works. It includes example essays comparing and contrasting works on their use of harmony, tonality, texture and melody. The examiner's feedback critiques the essays and provides tips for writing successful analysis essays.

Uploaded by

sablake12
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exemplar Essays

Essay 1

Compare and contrast the use of harmony and tonality in the three works
listed below:
(36)
 Arcangelo Corelli, Trio Sonata in D, Op. 3 No. 2: movement IV
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in B flat, K.333: movement I
 Dmitry Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110: movement I

Mozart Piano Sonata is in Bb major key. But in Bar 10 it modulates in


dominant key – F major and stays there till Bar 34. Also, it modulates to Eb
minor which is the subdominant of Bb major (in Bars 66-79). There is a use of
arnumentation such as trill in Bar 58 or bar 79. Also there are a use of
imitations, for example in Bars 43-44, some accidental notes – for example in
Bar 34. There are use of repetitions – for example in bars 50-51 and 54-55.
The cadances are mostly perfect cadances for example Bar 165.

The Trio Sonata written By Arcangelo Corelli is mostly diatonic and have only
one modulation. The key in which this piece starts and finishes is D major.
Violins mostly move together, although there is a call and response motif
Between
Between violin I, violin II and violone in Bars 11-14. There is also an imitation
Between violin I and violin II in Bars 37-38.

String quartet starts in Eb major. In this piece the are loads of expressions for
example in Bar 11 there is a use of diminuendo and in Bar 13 sf pp -> pp.
There is a use of short scalic movement in bars 28-30. Mostly there are
perfect cadances for example 124. Use of many passing and accidental
notes.

Essay 2

Compare and contrast texture and melody in the three works listed below:
(36)
 Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Pavane Lachrimae
 Hector Berlioz, Harold in Italy: movement III
 Ram Narayan, Rag Bhairav

Sweelink wrote a stately dance written for harpsichord. It is a piece based on


Flow my teares by Dowland. Harold in Italy is a piece based on the poem
‘Child Harold’ by Lord Byron. Rag Bhairav is a traditional Indian piece which
isn’t normally notated as it is taught aurally.
The melody in the A, B and C sections are free transciptions of Dowland’s
song ‘Flow my teares’. The A section is bar 1-16, B is 33-48 and C is 65-81.
Sweelink creates variation sections instead of the original repeats, A1 (bar 17-
32), B1 (bar 49-64) and C1 (bar 82-98). The melody in the A, B and C
sections move in step or small intervals with the variations doing the same but
using semiquavers instead of quavers. The semiquavers are used to
embellish the melody at cadene points, such as in bars 61-64. In bar 28(3) to
30(2), a 2 and a half octave scale rise is played which decorates one original
melody. Figural variation is also present in the variation sections, A1, B1 and
C1, as Sweelink decorated Dowlands original melody.

Berlioz’s piece is based around an Idée fixe which is fragmented to create


different themes. At bar 4, the saltarello theme is played on the piccolo and
oboe which was inspired by Italian folk music. The melody is accompanied by
a tonic/dominant pedal which is meant to sound like Italian bagpipes, also
inspired by the folk music. At bar 34, the serenade theme is played on the cor
anglais. This theme is then fragmented to create Harold’s theme at bar 65.
The melody is diatonic which chromatic tendancies, for example in bars 53-
57. The melodies are also embellished with acciaccaturas (bar 27 in piccolo)
and trills (bar 120 in piccolo).

The melody in the Rag is played on the sarangi, an instrument with3 main
strings and up to 35 strings that vibrate in sympathy. It is bowed or plucked. In
the Alap, the sarangi explore the notes of the rag in free improvisation which
is a series of pitches that are similar to a scale. Rag Bhairav is a morning or
dawn rag. In the rag there is the Sa and Pa which act as a tonic and dominant
(C and G) but aren’t because it isn’t tonal music. The melody is embellished in
a number of ways such as gamak, which means vibrato, sruti, which means
microtonal inflections of pitch and can be seen at 22(9) and lastly meends
which are slides, and can be seen a 1’ represented by the line. The mukhra -
3(3) is a melodic symbol to represent a new section. In the Jhalla section,
series of Tans are used which are rapid scallic runs.

The texture of the Sweelink is mainly melody dominated homophony and is


mainly in 4 parts, however there is a 3 part section at bar 24. The 4 part
texture represents vocal lines (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). Call and
response is used at bar 17-18, concentrated imitation is at bar 42-45 and
canon happens at 49 to 52. It is also in free counterpoint. It is thicker in the
variation section due to semiquaver runs, such as bar in bar 23.

The texture of Berlioz is also mainly melody dominated homophony. The


melody is accompanied by a series of pedals, such as the tonic/dominant
pedal at bar 1 in the clarinets. The cello plays an ostinato from 71 until 95.
The texture is also thickened by the octave doubling of the melody between
the piccolo and oboe at bar 4.

The texture of Rag Bhairav is 3 parts and becomes increasingly thick towards
the Jhalla section at 19’ because of the entrance of the tabla drums. The tintal
is a 16 beat rhythmic cycle that is made up of vibhags and a contrasting
vibhag, khali which is the third section.
Examiner’s Feedback
Essay 1

This candidate received credit for two basic points (mostly diatonic Corelli and
the fact that there are perfect cadences in the Shostakovich quartet) and for
two illustrated points (modulation to F major in Mozart and the located perfect
cadence in the same work).

Essay 2

A brief plan is sufficient to help the candidate organise the essay clearly. It
does not have to be ‘wordy’ (there are instances of some candidates
needlessly writing out an essay twice, with virtually no differences between
the plan and the essay proper).

Examiner’s Tips
Question 1

In a comparison question, be sure to specify which excerpt is being described.


If a particular texture only occurs in one place in the excerpt it is important to
state the location ie monophonic at start, as monophonic alone would not gain
a mark.
Try to cover both excerpts and both musical elements equally when
comparing.
The amount of space provided gives some idea of the quantity of information
required.
Avoid extensive descriptions – keep to the point and stay focused on the
demands of the question.
Avoid generalisations such as ‘very full and rich throughout’.
Questions on melody require information about the shape of the melody,
whether conjunct or disjunct, whether major, minor, modal or chromatic.
It may be helpful to make a few notes in rough showing the order in which you
hear the various musical events.
Avoid trying to draw a contrast by making a statement, and then simply
adding that the other excerpt ‘does not’.

Question 2

Keep counting the pulse to help you estimate the length of longer notes,
especially in slower-moving extracts.
Be aware of the context – take care to match up the beginning and end of the
melody with the surrounding context.
Practise working with intervals to help judge melodic distance including leaps
and semitones.
Always look at the time and key signatures.
Try placing a dot over the stave on the skeleton score for every sound you
hear. It should help you estimate the extent of the information needed.
Sometimes it also helps to work back from the end.

Question 3

You can answer in bullet points, and should not expect to write an extensive
preamble.
Often even in an excellent response, not all the points that could have been
illustrated were. Always keep giving examples.
Read the question carefully, especially where only one movement in a multi-
movement piece is specified.
Keep background information brief and focus immediately on the musical
features.
Bullet points help to keep responses precise.
Avoid an extensive introduction.
If you like writing continuous prose, don’t change your approach but simply try
to be as succinct as possible.
Use the anthology to support answers and turn basic points into illustrated
points.
Use the musical elements of Melody, Rhythm, Texture, Harmony, Tonality,
Structure to guide and organise your work.
Try to give detailed examples with bar references.

Question 4

Write a brief introduction and keep to the point.


Examiners always check plans to ensure that credit-worthy points that may
not have made it into the essay proper are taken into account.
It may be helpful to set out the lines of enquire briefly, but an extensive
introduction will probably not gain very many marks, and may prove to be a
waste of time.
In essay writing, try to avoid repetition.
Choose accurate and well-selected example from the anthology to support
your technical points.
When writing about metre in Q4, always give a full description referring to the
number of beats in the bar. 4/4 should be written as ‘quadruple time’.
Keep listening to the set works, but also make sure you explore the works of
other pieces by the same composer and works of composers in the same
genre.
Keep writing. Quality of written communication matters, but if all else fails, list
the points you wanted to make in note form.

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