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Carmina Burana Programme Notes
Carmina Burana is a divisive work and always has been. Its premiere at the Oper Frankfurt in 1937 took place within the complex cultural climate of 1930s Germany, and the work’s bold musical language and salaciousness quickly made it a subject of debate. Initial responses from the Nazi press were cautious. The party newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter, criticised the work’s syncopated bounce, drawing…
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Fauré and Duruflé Programme Notes
Composing a musical setting of the Requiem Mass is widely regarded as one of a composer’s most significant artistic achievements. The Requiem Mass is the Catholic liturgy for the dead, intended to pray for the repose of the departed’s souls it is easy to see why it attracts composers, instilling a solemn sense of hope…
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2025 Score Excerpt Competition Answers
Each Bold Answer is 1 Mark, alternative answers in Italic– 24 in total
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2025 Score Excerpt Competition
Every year, I have a competition for all my GCSE and A level music students. This competition is designed to further their score reading abilities, and also provide them with some wider listening. The booklet contains 10 excerpts of musical scores. The score is out of 24, as each question requires 2 or 3 pieces…
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A Baroque Christmas
Bach was born in the 1685 the youngest of eight children in Eisenach, in what is now Germany. In 1723, he left the comfortable employ of Prince Leopold in Köthen and was appointed Director of Church Music in Leipzig. Bach’s duties included providing music for church services at both the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche. He remained…
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Giving a voice to boys in the curriculum: What boys need to sing in the secondary music classroom
Introduction ‘The reason boys may not be singing is because something is wrong with the music teaching not the boys.’ (Ashley, 2015, p. 190) The inclusion of boys in singing within the secondary music curriculum is an essential yet often overlooked aspect of music education, due to both the social pressures and the male vocal…