What are the main innovations in music from 1900 to the present, and how do I recognise them?
Area of Study 6, Innovations in Music 1900 to the present day: the major twentieth- and twenty-first-century developments (Impressionism, atonality and serialism, neoclassicism, minimalism, electronic and new timbres) and their signature features.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 6, Innovations in Music 1900 to the present. Covers the major developments (Impressionism, expressionism and atonality, serialism, neoclassicism, minimalism, electronic music and new timbres and techniques) and their signature features, for Section A unfamiliar listening and Section C essays.
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What this dot point is asking
Area of Study 6, Innovations in Music 1900 to the present day, covers the major twentieth- and twenty-first-century developments that broke with the tonal tradition: Impressionism, expressionism and atonality, serialism, neoclassicism, minimalism, and electronic and new-timbre music. To answer Section A and Section C on this area you need the main styles, the innovations each introduced, and the signature features that identify them by ear, described through the elements.
The main styles
What the innovations changed
Recognising the styles by ear
How OCR examines Area of Study 6
Section A plays unfamiliar twentieth- or twenty-first-century extracts and asks you to identify the style and its features. Section C may ask you to discuss the move away from tonality, or the development of a style, in a 25-mark essay. The marks reward style-specific features matched to the right development, and, in essays, an argued account of the innovations with evidence.
Try this
Q1. What is serialism, and how does it differ from free atonality? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Serialism organises the pitches with a twelve-tone row (an ordered set of all twelve pitches) generating the work; free atonality has no key centre but no such systematic row.
Q2. Name two features that identify minimalism by ear. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Any two of: repeating cells or patterns, phasing or additive process (gradual change), a steady underlying pulse, and slowly evolving texture.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 2020 (H543/05 Section A, style)4 marksIdentify the twentieth-century style of the extract and give three features that support your answer. (Section A, unfamiliar listening, Area of Study 6)Show worked answer →
Up to four marks (one for the style, up to three for features). Match style to features: Impressionism (whole-tone and pentatonic scales, parallel chords, blurred washes of colour, modal harmony); expressionism/atonality (no key centre, angular leaps, extreme dynamics and dissonance); serialism (a twelve-tone row organising the pitches, atonal and highly structured); neoclassicism (Classical forms and clarity with modern harmony); minimalism (repeating cells, phasing, gradual process, steady pulse); electronic/new timbres (synthesised or manipulated sound, extended techniques). Markers reward a style correctly matched to genuine features. They penalise a label with no evidence, or features from the wrong style.
OCR 2021 (H543/05 Section C, style)20 marksDiscuss how composers since 1900 have moved away from traditional tonality, with reference to specific styles. (Section C extended essay; on the paper this carries 25 marks)Show worked answer →
A Section C essay (the real paper tariff is 25 marks). Argue the move away from functional tonality: Impressionism loosens it with whole-tone, pentatonic and modal scales and parallel chords; expressionism and atonality abandon a key centre for dissonance and angularity; serialism systematises atonality with the twelve-tone row; while minimalism and other styles find new organising principles (repetition and process) instead of tonal harmony. Support with named styles, techniques and composers, and evaluate. Markers reward a clear argument, accurate development and specific evidence with evaluation, not a list. The asterisked essays also assess extended-writing quality.
Related dot points
- Choosing at least one of the five optional areas of study (Popular Song, Instrumental Jazz, Religious Music of the Baroque, Programme Music, Innovations) and a transferable method for learning its styles, context and signature features for Section A and Section C.
A focused answer to choosing and studying an optional area of study in OCR A-Level Music. Explains the five options, how the chosen area is examined in Section A (unfamiliar listening) and Section C (extended essays), and a transferable method for mastering a style's context, development and signature musical features.
- Area of Study 2, Popular Song: the blues, early jazz song, swing and big band, their context and development, and signature features (the twelve-bar blues, blue notes, swing rhythm, AABA form, big-band scoring).
A focused answer to OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 2, Popular Song. Covers the blues, early jazz song, swing and big band, their context and development, and signature features (the twelve-bar blues progression, blue notes, swing rhythm, call and response, AABA song form, and big-band instrumentation and scoring), for Section A listening and Section C essays.
- Area of Study 3, Developments in Instrumental Jazz 1910 to the present day: the evolution from early jazz through swing, bebop, cool, modal and fusion, and the signature features (improvisation, swing, extended harmony, the rhythm section) of each.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 3, Developments in Instrumental Jazz 1910 to the present. Covers the evolution from early jazz through swing, bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz and fusion, and the signature features of each (improvisation, swing rhythm, extended and modal harmony, the changing roles of soloist and rhythm section), for Section A and Section C.
- Area of Study 4, Religious Music of the Baroque: the sacred music of Bach, Purcell and Handel, its genres (cantata, oratorio, anthem, mass) and signature features (counterpoint, fugue, ground bass, continuo, word-painting, choruses and arias).
A focused answer to OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 4, Religious Music of the Baroque. Covers the sacred music of Bach, Purcell and Handel, its genres (cantata, oratorio, anthem, mass) and signature features (counterpoint and fugue, ground bass, basso continuo, word-painting, terraced dynamics, recitative, aria and chorus), for Section A and Section C.
- Area of Study 5, Programme Music 1820 to 1910: Romantic music that tells a story or paints a scene, its genres (the symphonic poem, programme symphony, concert overture) and signature features (the idee fixe and leitmotif, thematic transformation, descriptive orchestration, chromatic harmony).
A focused answer to OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 5, Programme Music 1820 to 1910. Covers Romantic music that tells a story or paints a scene, its genres (the symphonic poem, programme symphony, concert overture) and signature features (the idee fixe and leitmotif, thematic transformation, descriptive orchestration, chromatic harmony, the expanded orchestra), for Section A and Section C.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Music (H543) specification — OCR (2016)