This unit encourages students to develop their composition skills leading to the creation of a final 3-minute piece in response to a chosen brief. Students also write a CD sleeve note to describe aspects of their final composition and explain how other pieces of music have influenced it.
Students have a maximum of 15 hours to complete their composition. The 15 hours may be divided into any number of sessions but each session must be supervised. Students have a maximum of one hour to complete their CD sleeve note. It is envisaged that this will be a single session.
Suggested Listening list for Composition Brief 2016
Topic 1: Composing expressively
Students should investigate the creation of different moods and emotions in music (eg by the manipulation of range, dynamics, tempo and key), and the effective transition from one mood to another either gradually or abruptly. They may write in any style for any instrumental forces, acoustic and/or synthesised, subject to the brief.
Topic 2: Variation structures — composing idiomatically for instruments
Students should investigate variation type structures, and how these may demonstrate idiomatic instrumental writing. They should learn about the practical ranges of the instruments they want to write for, and commonly-used instrument techniques and timbres. Subject to the brief they may write in any style, and for any combination of acoustic instrumental forces involving any two, three or four instruments, or for solo piano.
Topic 3: Words and music: structure in vocal music
Students should investigate the relationship between the structure of vocal pieces and the structure of their texts by studying a variety of simple forms appropriate to the types of music they wish to compose (eg strophic, verse-plus-chorus structures). Students may write in any style, for any vocal forces (with or without instrumental/synthesised accompaniment), subject to the brief.
Topic 4: Text, context and texture
Students should investigate how different types of text are characteristic of different performance situations and how textures and styles of singing may be varied in vocal music (eg through antiphony or variations in the numbers of parts). Students may write in any style for any vocal forces (with or without instrumental/synthesised accompaniment), subject to the brief.