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A2 Unit 3 Responding to Music

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What advanced aural and score-study skills does the A2 listening paper demand?

The A2 test of aural perception and unprepared score study: advanced recognition of harmony, modulation, cadences, texture and devices by ear, dictation, and the analysis of an unfamiliar score, identifying chords, keys, structure and stylistic features without prior study, as examined in the A2 Unit 3 listening paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the A2 test of aural perception and unprepared score study: advanced recognition of harmony, modulation, cadences, texture and devices by ear, dictation, and analysing an unfamiliar score to identify chords, keys, structure and style without prior preparation, with the strategies the A2 listening paper rewards.
13 min answer →

How did orchestral music change in the twentieth century, and what features identify its main styles?

Area of Study: Music for Orchestra in the Twentieth Century. Twentieth-century orchestral styles including impressionism, neoclassicism, nationalism and modernism, the techniques composers used (new harmony, rhythm, timbre and form), the set works studied for this area, and how to identify and analyse twentieth-century orchestral music in the listening and written paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the A2 Area of Study Music for Orchestra in the Twentieth Century: impressionism, neoclassicism, nationalism and modernism, the new approaches to harmony, rhythm, timbre and form, the kinds of set works studied (such as Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Bernstein), and how to identify and analyse twentieth-century orchestral music in the exam.
14 min answer →

What are the Mass and Requiem, and how have composers set their texts across the centuries?

Area of Study: Sacred Vocal Music (Mass and Requiem). The structure and texts of the Mass and the Requiem Mass, the development of settings from Renaissance polyphony to later styles, choral and orchestral forces, word setting and text expression, and the set works studied for this area, as examined in the listening and written paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the A2 Area of Study Sacred Vocal Music (Mass and Requiem): the movements and texts of the Mass Ordinary and the Requiem Mass, how settings developed from Renaissance polyphony to later orchestral styles, the choral and instrumental forces, word setting and text expression, and the set works (such as Byrd, Mozart, Faure and Chilcott) studied for the exam.
14 min answer →

How has secular vocal music for solo voice and ensemble changed from 1600 to the present day?

Area of Study: Secular Vocal Music (1600 to the present day). The development of secular song and vocal music across the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and modern eras, including aria and recitative, the Lied and the art song, word setting and the voice-accompaniment relationship, and the set works studied for this area, as examined in the listening and written paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the A2 Area of Study Secular Vocal Music from 1600 to the present day: how secular song developed across the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and modern eras, recitative and aria, the German Lied and the art song, the relationship between voice and accompaniment, word setting and text expression, and how to identify and analyse the styles in the exam.
14 min answer →