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AQA Music A2 Unit 4 Music in Context, 10th June 2015

How is everyone's revision going for this? I feel in the minority doing AQA!! I'm doing jazz and Shostakovich.

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Reply 1

Littlebean

Hi
I am also doing Shostakovitch and Jazz and I am SO worried! I am so confused about the themes in the first movement of Shostakovitch! I missed the lessons on it and it is really holding me back!

can anyone explain them?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 2

username1138622

Original post by Littlebean

Themes in first movement:

In the first movement there are three motifs, and three themes, and they're all interconnected.

The three motifs you hear at the very beginning. We call them:
Motif A (which is the dotted rhythm that you hear in canon in the strings at the very start). This has an erratic sense of key, is disjunct, characterised by double dots and accents. (bar 1 and 2)
Motif B - is the falling dotted stepwise motif straight after that (bar 3)
Motif C - the three repeated notes (bar 4)

At figure 1 there is what we call the 'figure 1 violin melody' - falling, in Dm with a dissonant Eb

At figure 5 - the 'figure 5 oboe theme'

At figure 9 - the 'second subject theme' (which is actually an augmented version of motif A)

If you look at the development section, all the motifs and themes are used, eg. Look at figure 19 in the woodwind - the figure 1 violin melody and the figure 5 oboe theme are put together.
And at figure 22 - the melodic shape in the lower strings comes from the 2nd subject

Hope that helps :smile:

Glad to find someone else - I was beginning to think there were only 5 people (my class) taking this exam!

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Reply 3

lilypark_

Original post by indigorain

How is everyone's revision going for this? I feel in the minority doing AQA!! I'm doing jazz and Shostakovich.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi I'm doing this exam as well,im doing shostakovich and chamber music :smile:

I feel so unprepared for this exam, its the one ive least revised for and Im only properly starting revision the day before because I had other exams :frown:

Reply 4

poppy216

I'm doing Elgar and english choral music....

Very unprepared :frown:

Reply 5

beckm

I'm doing shostakovich and jazz too!!! I have to say I'm more prepared than I was last year. Ive literally not even finished my exam notes yet :s-smilie:

Im just going to think about the kind of jazz questions there will be for example, two pieces from the same era, one from jazz blues and one from swing etc. don't really know how else to prepare myself haha...

Reply 6

Littlebean95

I am literally panicking so much! I don't know anything on Jazz.. Im so stressed... any tips :P

Reply 7

beckm

All I can say is remember that main features like blues notes, instruments used and the structures. Also syncopation, very important

Reply 8

lilypark_

I just hope the grade boundaries arent high!

Reply 9

amygreenn

Does anyone have any essay predictions for Shostakovich?

Reply 10

paddyddap

I think first or third movement for Shosty, and one of them will possibly be a bit more philosophical, like about context. And I'm hoping for bebop comparison for the jazz

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 11

amygreenn

Original post by paddyddap

I think first or third movement, and one of them will possibly be a bit more philosophical

Hoping and praying for 1st!!

Reply 12

paddyddap

Original post by amygreenn

Hoping and praying for 1st!!

I sort of am, but I'd also like an open one where you can pick the passages yourself, then you can refine it to the better bits of the first (i.e. exposition, later development)

Reply 13

paddyddap

I'm really hoping the last listening question isn't awful, did anyone do last year's elgar one as a practise? because that was too hard

Reply 14

amygreenn

Original post by paddyddap

I sort of am, but I'd also like an open one where you can pick the passages yourself, then you can refine it to the better bits of the first (i.e. exposition, later development)

yeah thats true! I'm hoping that the 4th movement won't come up, just because theres not as much to say! But I guess there is two questions so :smile:

Reply 15

amygreenn

Original post by paddyddap

I'm really hoping the last listening question isn't awful, did anyone do last year's elgar one as a practise? because that was too hard

Was that enigma variations?

Reply 16

paddyddap

Original post by amygreenn

yeah thats true! I'm hoping that the 4th movement won't come up, just because theres not as much to say! But I guess there is two questions so :smile:

I feel like they won't do the fourth again, last years question sounded a bit forced and like they'd struggled so fingers crossed :smile:

Reply 17

paddyddap

Original post by amygreenn

Was that enigma variations?

yeah, the one where they gave you the motifs? but then you had to identify how they'd been changed?

Reply 18

amygreenn

Original post by paddyddap

yeah, the one where they gave you the motifs? but then you had to identify how they'd been changed?

oh yeah! Hate questions like that, you just don't know what they're looking for!

Reply 19

paddyddap

Original post by amygreenn

oh yeah! Hate questions like that, you just don't know what they're looking for!

It's things like how does the instrumentation change, does it modulate etc etc, but usually, they're all to different to notice any similarities, so its too confusing to talk about