Area of Study 1 (compulsory): the Western classical tradition 1650 to 1910, covering Baroque, Classical and Romantic style features, the development of tonal harmony, form and the orchestra, and the named set works.

What this dot point is asking

This is Area of Study 1, the only compulsory area in the appraising exam. AQA wants you to recognise and explain the style features of Baroque (about 1650 to 1750), Classical (about 1750 to 1820) and Romantic (about 1820 to 1910) music, to trace how tonal harmony, form and the orchestra developed, and to apply this to the named set works and to unfamiliar extracts in Section A and the Section B essay.

The three style periods

The growth of tonal harmony and form

Functional tonal harmony, built on the relationship between tonic and dominant, underpins the whole tradition. Cadences (perfect, imperfect, plagal and interrupted) define phrase endings, and modulation to related keys gives structure. In the Baroque period a single affect (mood) often drives a movement in continuous, spun-out lines over a walking or driving bass, with forms such as binary, ground bass, the fugue and the ritornello structure of the concerto, where a recurring tutti idea returns between solo episodes. The Classical period prizes balance and clarity: regular four-bar phrases, lighter homophonic textures and, above all, sonata form, in which the structural drama comes from leaving the tonic for the dominant in the exposition and resolving everything back to the tonic in the recapitulation. The Romantic period stretches this inherited tonality with rich chromatic harmony, distant modulations and large, sometimes cyclic forms, while still relying on the tonic-dominant framework as a reference point even when it is heavily decorated.

The development of the orchestra

The Baroque ensemble centred on strings and continuo, with wind and brass added for colour and grandeur in larger works. The Classical orchestra standardised a wind section (pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, with timpani) and used contrasts of orchestral colour and dynamics, including the new gradual crescendo, to articulate form. The Romantic orchestra grew much larger: a full brass section with valved horns and trumpets, expanded percussion, and extra colour instruments such as the cor anglais, bass clarinet and harp, all serving a wider dynamic range and richer, more dramatic timbre. Tracing this growth is a reliable way to date an unfamiliar extract.