Beaumont School Music Department

As well as Locus iste, you should enjoy the following too:  

Hi Year 12, Click here for the abridged podcast version of Radio 3's 'Composer of the Week' on Tippett.

Ok folks, Modern music is hard to grasp, but the more you read about the stories and motivations behind its proponents, the more sense it makes. There are a lot of resources at your fingertips that will help: Books in the Beaumont library: The following books are either in, or on their way to, Beaumont's library. Have a read of the relevant chapters/sections in the following books: Alex Ross - The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (big, but quite easy to read) Paul Griffiths - Modern Music (the best book on early C20th classical music) Paul Griffiths - Modern Music and after (the follow-up, covering the 2nd half of the 20th Century) Norman Lebrecht - The Complete Companion to 20th Century Music (I haven't read this, but will check it out) Arnold Whittal - Serialism (Cambridge Introductions to Music) (pretty obvious what this is about) Grove Music Online Use your Herts library card to log in to Grove, the BEST online Music encyclopaedia. YouTube - T...

A list (non-exhaustive) to help with your Berio studies: Author's note A guide to Luciano Berio's music (The Guardian) Extracts from two interviews Narrative and gesture in Berio's sequenza III (a little more complex) Berio Sequenza for voice Berio Sequenza for trombone (the best one) Cathy Berberian - Stripsody Find, and listen to, the sequenza for your instrument (if Berio wrote one). Use your library card to access Grove , and read up on Berio and his sequenzas. You MUST listen in depth to the work, read and listen around it, and store this information. How you do it is up to you, but you will not be able to get away with not doing it, trust me. Be open-minded. Mr Guinane

Compare and contrast the structure, tonality, and melody of the Bach and Mozart (18).

Hello, Below are your A3 sheets on the son montuno , they are very good. A reminder about your homework; one page of research, on a. Francis Poulenc and b. Les Six. Get in contact if you need any more pointers. On Weds and Thurs, be prepared to make appointments for Beaumont's Year 12 PCE (Tues 2nd December). Mr G

Ok, 1. Finish the comparison grid of The Lamb and Monteverdi 2. Find, and analyse, a piece of music of your own choice. Some suggestions: - An old grade piece - Another piece from the anthology (not an exam work) - Something in the same style as one of your current set works - Anything else appropriate The shorter/simpler the better, really. Think back to Donna Nobis Pacem on the first lesson! A great source of scores is http://imslp.org. You will need to produce: - An annotated score - A summary sheet divided into the elements: Background, instrumentation, melody, structure, texture, harmony/tonality, rhythm Use your analysis skills from this half term, remember to make basic observations first, aim for clarity and accuracy. Good luck (I think it sounds fun). Due the first Thursday back. Any questions email or tweet, Mr Guinane

Please find your class recording of the opening ritornello of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no 4, first movement.  Well done, not a bad effort at all.  Michael and Harry, please talk to each other about transposing the rest of the movement. Email me if you run out of time. You should also listen to the whole concerto:

Ok, Here is the "Choices" sheet I have just explained. And some more notes: The Lamb 1 The Lamb 2 (also contains other pieces, ignore those) Waterloo Sunset Remember the sections: Background Instruments and how they are used Tonality Harmony Structure Texture Melody Rhythm and metre Plus this guy is quite useful is you need any individual/additional help:

Dear Year 12, From the Mr Guinane archives, for your listening pleasure: Click here  to download the highlights of Radio 3's Composer of the Week on Tavener. Enjoy!

Hi Year 12, Click here  for a blast of your performance of 'The Lamb'. Your homework: Draw up some comparisons between 'The Lamb' and 'Waterloo Sunset' under the following headings: Instruments Harmony Texture Tonality Melody Structure Rhythm I will take this in on Thursday. Additional info: Here and here are two scans from a book on postmodernism. Here and here is some additional info on Tavener's 'The Lamb'. Here is a short analysis of 'The Lamb' and some other works by Tavener. None of this is essential, and some of it might be too detailed, but it will all help give you a broader overview of the piece. Thanks, Mr Guinane

Hello Year 12, The video below may help in your preparations for this Thursday. It shows the sheet music along with the track. Enjoy.

Dear Year 12 and 13, Please find below some amazing videos to help with your revision. Year 12: Brahms Piano Quintet Year 13: Beethoven Septet Year 13 (and 12 if you are really interested): Overview of Musical Styles 1 Year 13 (and 12 if you are really interested): Overview of Musical Styles 2 Year 13 (and 12 if you are really interested): Overview of Musical Styles 3 I hope you find these useful. Mr Guinane

Year 12, Here are the files you will need to do your homework: Stravinsky Desmond Dekker If you struggle, I am available Fri lessons 4/5, Fri after orchestra, Tues after school if you want some extra help. Good luck. Mr Guinane

Dear Year 12, Attached are your Brahms presentations. I have changed the names to suit my filing system but kept your hilarious images and transitions. They are very useful resources, use them. Brahms Presentation Also, a reminder of your homework: Find 2/3 other Romantic Piano Quintets with a Scherzo movement. Compare their scherzos with that of the Brahms. (My favourite: 'Schubert's 'Trout' Quintet). Hand the text in to me next Tuesday. Finally, a picture of Brahms.

Hi Year 12, Please find your essay plans below. Click the images to increase their size and definition. I look forward to reading one of these written up next week. Any problems get in touch. Mr Guinane

Dear Year 12, Your homework for this week: Your essay: What are the stylistic features of the Haydn Symphony that are typical stylistic features of classical strum und drang works? (10)

Right, as you know, here is your homework for Wednesday: 1. Finish the grid we started in the lesson. 2. Have a go at the 'Find and Define' page in your packs. 3. Immerse yourself in the two playlists below. Cheers, see you Wednesday, Mr Guinane

Year 12, I stumbled across an article today on postmodernism ( Page 1 here , Page 2 here ) (apologies for the quality, it was from the book Information is Beautiful, which has an excellent website, completely unrelated to AS Music, that can be found here ). It might be useful background information as you revise Tavener's The Lamb (see YouTube revision videos below). Lots of material on this piece talks about t89he stylistic features of postmodernism found in Tavener's set work. You may also however come across the phrases  'New Simplicity' , or even 'Holy Minimalism' . It is worth doing some reading on these styles, though the stylistic features we have studied will apply to any of the terms. Thanks, Mr Guinane

Dear 12, I hope you are enjoying your holidays, getting some rest and working hard. Please find below links for the Edexcel notes for each of your set works. I hope you will find them useful, but please remember the notes you have taken in class, your annotations in your anthologies and any other work you have done will be far more useful as you revise. Please email me if you have any concerns. Mr Guinane Vocal Music John Dowland Howlin' Wolf Claudio Monteverdi Van Morrison Franz Schubert John Tavener Instrumental Music Claude Debussy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Francis Poulenc Steve Reich