What is the New Directions area of study, and how do its three set works break with tradition?
Area of Study 6 New Directions: the three set works (Cage's Three Dances, Saariaho's Petals, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring), and the twentieth-century techniques of prepared piano, live electronics, extended techniques, and rhythmic and harmonic innovation.
An overview of Area of Study 6 (New Directions) for Edexcel A-Level Music. Introduces the three set works by Cage, Saariaho and Stravinsky and the twentieth-century techniques of prepared piano, live electronics, extended techniques and rhythmic innovation that the appraising exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
Area of Study 6, New Directions, studies how twentieth-century composers broke with tradition: Cage's prepared piano, Saariaho's live electronics and extended techniques, and Stravinsky's rhythmic and harmonic revolution in The Rite of Spring. This overview introduces the works and the new techniques that the appraising exam rewards, before the dedicated pages on each set work.
The three set works
The new techniques
Context: the twentieth-century break
How Edexcel examines New Directions
Section A poses short questions on extracts (the new techniques, rhythm, harmony, timbre, texture), supported by the anthology. Section B may set the 30-mark essay on one work, or the 20-mark links essay may relate an unfamiliar twentieth-century or experimental extract to them. Comparison questions reward paired, attributed points about how each composer broke with tradition.
Try this
Q1. Name the three New Directions set works and one innovation in each. [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Cage's Three Dances (prepared piano), Saariaho's Petals (live electronics and extended techniques), Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (irregular rhythm and polytonality).
Q2. What are extended techniques, and which set work uses them? [Short explanation]
- Cue. Unconventional ways of playing that expand timbre (cello harmonics, sul ponticello, pressure noise); used in Saariaho's Petals.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20198 marksExplain how composers in your New Directions set works broke with earlier tradition. (Component 3, Section B style, rescoped)Show worked answer →
A question on innovation, marked on accurate, attributed examples of new techniques.
Cage. The prepared piano (objects placed on or between the strings) turns the piano into a percussion ensemble of altered, unpitched timbres.
Saariaho. Extended cello techniques and live electronics transform the cello's sound in real time.
Stravinsky. Driving, irregular rhythms, polyrhythm, dissonance, polytonality and huge orchestration broke with Romantic norms.
A strong answer pairs two set works and names the specific innovations (prepared piano, live electronics, extended techniques, irregular rhythm) with attributed examples. Markers reward attributed, paired points.
Edexcel 20216 marksDefine the prepared piano and name the set work that uses it. (Component 3, Section A)Show worked answer →
A short definition-plus-attribution question.
Definition. A prepared piano is a piano altered by placing objects (screws, bolts, rubber, felt) on or between the strings, changing the timbre and often the pitch so the instrument produces percussive, gong-like or muted sounds.
Attribution. It is used in John Cage's Three Dances for two prepared pianos. The mark scheme rewards a correct definition and the right set work, not "a piano that sounds odd".
Related dot points
- John Cage: Three Dances for two prepared pianos, No. 1. The prepared piano, rhythmic structure (proportional/nested rhythm), percussive altered timbres, ostinato and the influence of gamelan and percussion music.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, the first of John Cage's Three Dances for two prepared pianos. Covers the prepared piano, rhythmic structure, percussive altered timbres, ostinato, the gamelan influence and the features the appraising exam rewards.
- Kaija Saariaho: Petals for solo cello and optional live electronics. Extended cello techniques, the contrast of pure and noisy sounds, live electronic processing (reverb, harmonisation), spectral timbre and free form.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, Kaija Saariaho's Petals for cello and live electronics. Covers extended cello techniques, the contrast of pure and noisy sounds, live electronic processing, spectral timbre, free form and the features the appraising exam rewards.
- Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, first three sections (A-level only): Introduction, The Augurs of Spring, Ritual of Abduction. Irregular and additive rhythm, polyrhythm, ostinato, dissonance, polytonality, and huge orchestration.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work (A-level only), the first three sections of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Covers irregular and additive rhythm, polyrhythm, ostinato, dissonance, polytonality, the huge orchestration and the features the appraising exam rewards.
- The musical elements (melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology) and the analytical vocabulary the Component 3 appraising paper rewards across all six areas of study.
A focused answer on the musical elements that underpin every Edexcel A-Level Music appraising answer. Covers melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology, with the precise vocabulary and bar-referencing the Component 3 exam rewards.
- Texture, structure (form) and rhythm as analytical tools: textural types, the standard forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre across the six areas of study.
A focused answer on texture, structure and rhythm for Edexcel A-Level Music appraising. Covers textural types, binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, ritornello and verse-chorus forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre, with the vocabulary and bar-referencing Component 3 rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Music (9MU0) specification (Issue 7) — Pearson Edexcel (2016)