Music

A level music requires good theoretical knowledge. There is very little time for remedial work once the course starts, so please get to Grade 4 and 5 standard before arrival in September.

Harmony workbooks:

 Music Theory in Practice, Grade 4 and 5 (Associated Board). These workbooks will fill the gaps between GCSE and A level, particularly if you are not very confident in working with chords. Please look at different grades if necessary.

Listening (set works):

Your set works over the course are:

Vocal Music ● J. S. Bach, Cantata, Ein feste Burg ● Mozart, The Magic Flute ● Vaughan Williams, On Wenlock Edge Instrumental Music ● Vivaldi, Concerto in D minor, Op. 3 No. 11 ● Clara Wieck-Schumann, Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17: mvt 1 ● Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique Music for Film ● Danny Elfman, Batman Returns ● Rachel Portman, The Duchess ● Bernard Herrmann, Psycho Popular Music and Jazz ● Courtney Pine, Back in the Day ● , Hounds of Love ● Beatles, Revolver Fusions ● Debussy, Estampes ● Familia Valera Miranda, Caña Quema ● Anoushka Shankar, Breathing Under Water New Directions ● Cage, Three Dances for Two Prepared Pianos ● Kaija Saariaho, Petals for Violoncello and Live Electronics ● Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring

Further Listening

The A Level course makes it impossible to complete the course without having a wide listening base to work from. Create a listening diary over the summer: Listen to pieces of music by different composers, performers and styles. Try to make a critical judgement on the performance you listen to, as well as a note of when you listened to it, where you found it, and what you thought of it. For example:

 Symphonies by CPE Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruckner, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich, Maxwell Davies  Solo songs/lieder/melodie by Schubert, Schumann, Fauré, Richard Strauss, Berg, Wolf, Copland, Finzi  Solo instrumental music by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Ravel, Britten  Vocal works (sacred and secular) by Palestrina, Byrd, Tallis, Monteverdi, Henry Purcell, J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Bernstein, Penderecki, Whitacre  Performances by famous jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Pat Metheny  Film music features quite extensively on the new course; watch the original Batman film with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson in it, as well as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, and The Duchess if you can. In addition, any film by Hitchcock with music by Bernard Herrmann, Tim Burton films with music by Danny Elfman, and Rachel Portman composed films such as Chocolat, Miss Potter and One Day.  Pop music from 1950 onwards – Elvis Pressley, Cliff Richard, , The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, The Eagles, , Abba, Bob Marley, Sex Pistols, Blondie, Squeeze, The Bee-Gees, T-Rex, James Brown, Santana, Madness, Duran Duran, The Specials, Wham, , Grandmaster Flash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Suede, Pulp, Blur, Oasis, Ash, Fatboy Slim, The Spice Girls, Westlife, The Chemical Brothers, Daftpunk, Jay-Z, Take That, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, etc.

Reading list:

 A History of Western Music, Donald J Grout & Claude Palisca (Norton, several editions available) – dip in and out of this  Music: A Very Short Introduction, N. Cook (OUP)  The Cambridge Music Guide, S Sadie & A Latham, ed. (Cambridge)

You should also look to get a Music dictionary, along the lines of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, ed. Michael Kennedy, Joyce Bourne (OUP) to support your studies. This could be paperback, or indeed the app is cheaper.

Journals, including Gramophone and the BBC Music Magazine can offer insightful articles and reviews of recordings and performances.

Fictional books include An Equal Music by Vikram Seth, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway and Clara by Janice Galloway.

LIVE MUSIC

The single most exciting and informative way of learning about music is to perform it. Failing that, going to live performances is an essential part of your learning. Look out for local gigs and concerts.