Year 11 Mandatory Topic
Welcome to the Year 11 Mandatory Topic, Music of the 1600-1900s. Through the study of this topic, students will develop knowledge and understanding of the context surrounding music of the classical era and the life and music of Mozart, while developing skills related to composition, score reading, arranging and performing.
Our Set Works
familiarise yourself with these two works by clicking on each image and following the links
Violin Concerto No. 1 K.207
Everything you need to know about Violin Concerto No. 1
Queen of the Night Aria
Everything you need to know about the Queen of the Night Aria - Die Holle Rache kocht in meinen Herzen from Die Zauberflote - K.620
Activity 2
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Read the synopsis of The Magic Flute here from the English National Opera website.:
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In small groups, create a short script and act out the scene assigned to you by the teacher. Your skit should be less than a minute long - feel free to make it as dramatic as possible while conveying the plot to your classmates.
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You will have 30 minutes in your groups to prepare.
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In creating your script, you should look at some of the arias/recitative contained in your scene and translate them. You can find the full opera (with English translation) linked here.
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Perform your scenes in order, one after the other. A specific costume item or prop should be used to represent each character (eg. a crown for the Queen of the Night, a bird feather for Papageno) - your teacher will provide these.
Activity 3
Complete two Blookets on the Queen of the Night Aria and Violin Concerto 1.
These blookets will challenge your score reading skills, your musical analysis skills and your languages skills. Take your time -- accuracy is more important than speed.
I've chosen Blooket over Kahoot because it will give you a little more time to search through your scores for the correct answer so you don't have to guess!
The Queen of the Night Blooket
(sample questions linked here for MUED4602 assessment)
Violin Concerto No. 1 Blooket
(sample questions linked here for MUED4602 assessment)
Activity 4
Complete a harmonic analysis of the piece of your choosing, focusing on the main theme -- (bars 1 - 15 in the Violin Concerto No. 1) (bars 24 - 35 in the Queen of the Night Aria. Students will be swapping their work with a classmate afterwards so they both have notes for each piece -- make sure your notes are clear and double check your answers.
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Name each chord -- identify the notes in the first beat of each bar and figure out which chord they create -- for example, a C, F and an A would create an F major chord. (hint: if you are having difficulty, use a keyboard and play the notes you have identified, this will help you hear whether it is major, minor or diminished. Watch out for added 7th chords as well!!
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Label your chords with Roman Numerals.
In C major it looks like this:
C d e F G a b (diminished)
I ii iii IV V vi vii° (the little circle indicates a diminished quality)
Major chords use uppercase letters, minor and diminished should be in lower case.
Seventh chords are indicated with a small 7 next to the numerals like so -- G7 -
If you finish all this, please all indicate the inversion of your chords.
Root Position -- the tonic note of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- Roman numeral only
1st Inversion -- the third of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- indicated with a 6
2nd Inversion -- the fifth of the chord is the lowest note i the chord -- indicated with a 6 4
This is a bit different for added 7th chords:
Root Position -- the tonic note of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- Roman numeral only
1st Inversion -- the third of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- indicated with a 6 5
2nd Inversion -- the fifth of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- indicated with a 4 3
3rd Inversion -- the seventh of the chord is the lowest note in the chord -- indicated with a 4 2
Activity 5
As a class, briefly discuss the use of compositional techniques and devices used to develop the main themes and motifs used in both pieces.
A brief glossary of compositional devices: https://www.learnmusictogether.com/compositional-devices-in-music/
Violin Concerto One - you should define and then identify the use of:
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imitation (more specifically sequences)
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fragmentation
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ornamentation
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repetition
Queen of the Night - you should define and identify the use of:
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imitation (sequences)
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imitation (between the melody and orchestral accompaniment)
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fragmentation
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repetition
To give students more ideas surrounding compositional devices and ideas for variation (important to their next task), listen to Mozart's 12 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je maman (score linked)
As a class, students should listen to the theme, and then variations
1 and 3. Discuss how Mozart has developed the main theme, citing specific compositional devices.
Once students have labelled these two movements with compositional devices (justifying their decisions accordingly), they should break into small groups to similarly label the remaining 10 variations, before sharing their findings with the class, presenting each device alongside bar numbers. Students who complete this with ease should be tasked with finding harmonic changes and labelling them appropriately with roman numerals/inversions.
Activity 6
Using the harmonic analysis they have completed for Activity 4 and the compositional devices identified in Activity 5, students are to recompose the main theme of their chosen piece for a different instrument/ensemble and create a variation (or 2 if you have time!). Students should use Mozart's variations as a model.
For extension, students should think about using multiple devices in one variation, and include some harmonic changes as well.
Instructions:
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Choose your compositional device(s)
Use this link to refresh your memory on which compositional devices we have looked at. https://www.learnmusictogether.com/compositional-devices-in-music/
Keep in mind that some compositional devices will be more difficult to implement in your compositions. Some may require you to also change the harmony in your variation, for example, augmentation will make your chord changes slower, inversion may require new chords entirely. Some will suit ensembles better than solo instruments, for example a change in tonality. Choose your device wisely, but don't be afraid to choose a challenge! -
Choose your instruments
These do NOT have to be the same as the original piece, and using less instruments will create less work for you. -
Use a notation software of your choosing like Musescore, Sibelius or Flat.io to open a score and input your chords (these will be the chords you found during Activity 4) as chord symbols.
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Rewrite the original melody and chords (if applicable) into this new instrumental setting, staying as close to the original work as possible with regard to melody, harmony and texture.
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Begin writing your variation. Step away from your computer to do this and experiment on an instrument. Your variation can be as similar or different from the original composition as you like, so long as you can justify each change. Check in with your teacher regularly for help and advice.