GCSE Music Notes

1. Renaissance Music

• Introduction
• Composers of the Period
• Church Music
• German Chorales
• Secular Music
• Elizabethan Madrigals
• 16th Century Venice
• Instrumental Music
  • English Consorts
  • Variations and the Ground Bass
  • Elizabethan Keyboard Music
• The Main Characteristics of Renaissance Music

2. Baroque Music

• Introduction
• Composers of the Period
• Monody
• Early Opera
• The Italian Overture
• The French Overture
• Baroque Opera in England
• Oratorio
• Passion
• Cantata
• Instrumental Music
  • Fugue
  • The Chorale Prelude
  • The Suite
  • Baroque Sonatas
  • The Concerto Grosso
  • The Solo Concerto
  • The Orchestra
• The Main Characteristics of Baroque Music

3. Classical Music

• Introduction
• Composers of the Period
• Later Classical Style
• Texture
• The Orchestra
• Music for Piano
• Sonata
• The Symphony
• Sonata Form
• The Concerto
• Opera
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
• The Main Characteristics of Classical Music

4. Romantic Music

• Introduction
• The Orchestra
• The German Lied
• Music for Piano
• Programme Music
• Incidental Music
• Suites
• The Concerto
• Wagner
• 19th Century Nationalism
• Late Romanticism
• The Main Characteristics of Romantic Music

5. Musical Terms

GCSE Study/Revision Notes