How do I analyse the prescribed work movement by movement for the structured Section B questions?
A movement-by-movement method for analysing the prescribed work: its structures and key schemes, themes, instrumentation and harmonic devices, prepared in the detail Section B's structured listening questions demand.
A focused answer to analysing the prescribed work for OCR A-Level Music Section B. Covers a movement-by-movement method (structure and key scheme, themes, instrumentation, harmony and signature devices), worked through Haydn's Symphony No. 103, so you can answer the detailed structured listening questions and recognise extracts by ear.
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What this dot point is asking
Section B rewards detailed, work-specific analysis of the prescribed piece, so you need to know each movement closely: its structure and key scheme, its themes, its instrumentation, its harmony, and its signature devices. This dot point gives you a movement-by-movement method and works it through the current prescribed work, Haydn's Symphony No. 103, so your preparation matches what the structured questions demand. The same method applies whatever the set work for your year.
A method for each movement
First movement: slow introduction and sonata form
Second, third and fourth movements
Recognising extracts by ear
Because Section B plays extracts, your analysis must be audible knowledge: you should be able to hear a few bars and know which movement, which section, and which theme it is, then describe its features. Practise by playing extracts cold and identifying their place in the work, then checking against your summaries.
Try this
Q1. What are the five things to capture for each movement of the prescribed work? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Structure and key scheme; main themes; instrumentation; harmony (cadences and modulations); distinctive devices.
Q2. What is distinctive about the way Haydn handles the slow introduction in the first movement of Symphony No. 103? [Short explanation]
- Cue. The slow introduction (with its timpani drum-roll) returns later in the otherwise fast sonata-form movement, before the coda, unifying it, a striking and frequently examined device.
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 B, style)6 marksWith reference to the first movement, explain how the composer uses sonata form and the slow introduction. (Section B, prescribed work)Show worked answer →
Up to six marks. For Haydn's Symphony No. 103, explain the slow introduction (the timpani drum-roll and a dark, slow theme in the lower strings), then the sonata-form Allegro: the lively first subject in the tonic, the transition modulating to the dominant, the second subject, the development working the material through new keys, and the recapitulation returning to the tonic, with the striking return of the slow-introduction material before the coda. Markers reward accurate structural labelling, the key scheme, reference to the actual themes, and the distinctive reappearance of the introduction. They penalise a generic sonata-form description not tied to the work.
OCR 2022 (H543/05 Section B, style)5 marksDescribe the structure and themes of the second movement of the prescribed work. (Section B)Show worked answer →
Up to five marks. For Haydn's Symphony No. 103, identify the second movement as a set of double variations, alternating two themes (the first in C minor, the second a major-key, Croatian-style folk tune), each varied in turn through changes of decoration, scoring and dynamics, building to a fuller texture. Markers reward correctly naming the variation structure, identifying the two contrasting themes and their keys, and describing how the variations transform them (ornamentation, instrumentation, dynamics). They penalise calling it simple ternary or through-composed, or missing the double-theme design. Confirm the current prescribed work for your exam year.
Related dot points
- The prescribed work for Area of Study 1 (a named Classical work studied from the score, currently Haydn's Symphony No. 103 'Drum Roll'), what it requires, and how Section B of H543/05 examines it through structured listening and dictation.
A focused answer to the prescribed work in OCR A-Level Music. Explains what a prescribed work is, the current set work (Haydn's Symphony No. 103, the Drum Roll), why it changes on a published cycle, what you must know about it from the score, and how Section B of the Listening and Appraising paper examines it through structured listening and dictation.
- The dictation and score-completion tasks in Section B (completing missing melody, rhythm or harmony on a printed extract from the prescribed work), and a reliable method for hearing and notating pitch and rhythm under exam conditions.
A focused answer to the dictation and score-completion questions in OCR A-Level Music Section B. Covers what the tasks ask (completing missing notes, rhythm or chords on a printed extract from the prescribed work), and a step-by-step method for hearing intervals, contour, rhythm and harmony and notating them accurately within the set number of playings.
- Relating the prescribed work to its Classical context and to unfamiliar Section A extracts: using the set work as a reference point to identify and compare the style, structures and devices of Classical music heard cold.
A focused answer to placing the prescribed work in context for OCR A-Level Music. Covers using the set work as a reference point for the Classical style, distinguishing its typical and distinctive features, and applying that knowledge to identify and compare unfamiliar Section A extracts and to argue Section C essays on Classical instrumental music.
- Sonata form (exposition, development, recapitulation) and the other Classical structures, the minuet and trio, scherzo, rondo, sonata-rondo and theme and variations, and the multi-movement plan, as examined in Area of Study 1.
A focused answer to sonata form and the Classical movement structures for OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 1. Covers sonata form in detail (exposition with first and second subjects, development, recapitulation, coda), the minuet and trio, scherzo, rondo, sonata-rondo and theme and variations, and the four-movement plan, with how OCR examines structure by ear.
- The Classical orchestra (its instrumentation and the rise of the piano) and the characteristic textures of the era (melody-dominated homophony, the Alberti bass, periodic phrasing and orchestral tutti), as examined in Area of Study 1.
A focused answer to the Classical orchestra and texture for OCR A-Level Music Area of Study 1. Covers the make-up of the Classical orchestra (strings, paired woodwind, horns, trumpets and timpani), the rise of the piano, and the characteristic textures (melody-dominated homophony, the Alberti bass, periodic phrasing, tutti and solo contrast), with how OCR examines sonority by ear.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Music (H543) specification — OCR (2016)