Hector Berlioz was born in 1803, and his use of large instrumental forces in his music led him to become one of the most influential French composers of the 19th century. His compositions include...
Hanh Doan Secondary education
In this second part of a two-part resource, we will look at the contributions to the genre of the three living composers of the five named by AQA – Stephen Sondheim, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Jason...
Simon Rushby Secondary education
This resource has been written specifically to support the classroom music teacher in exploring new, innovative ways of delivering the music curriculum. The activities are aimed at older students, but...
David Ashworth Secondary education
On Wenlock Edge is a song cycle by Ralph Vaughan Williams that sets some of AE Housman's poems from his collection A Shropshire Lad. Published in 1896, the 63 poems in A Shropshire Lad reflect a...
Hanh Doan Secondary education
In this resource we will look at music by the artists and composers prescribed by AQA in Area of Study 6: Contemporary Traditional Music. The focus will be on providing background on these artists and...
Simon Rushby Secondary education
The first movement of the Eroica is of epic length, built on a nexus of closely related themes, with rebellious touches that merit inspection in every paragraph.
This resource is about how to navigate...
All the GCSE boards stipulate that one of the two submitted compositions must be composed to a brief set by the board. The good thing about this is that choosing from a range of options is almost...
Jane Werry Secondary education
In the previous resource on Edexcel's film music Area of Study (Music Teacher, November 2017), we looked in detail at music from the film Psycho. In this second resource, we're going to consider the...
James Manwaring Secondary education
Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar's fifth album, Breathing Under Water, was recorded in numerous locations over the course of ten months, and released in August 2007.
Simon Rushby Secondary education
The Beatles’ seventh album Revolver was released in August 1966. Following Rubber Soul and preceding Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (discussed in its own Music Teacher resource, February 2017),...
Simon Rushby Secondary education
For each of the main pieces covered by this resource, there will be information about its context, background and programme (story). Details regarding each of the musical areas likely to come up in...
Jane Werry Secondary education
In this resource I want to go beyond just raising awareness. I want to help teachers and students get ‘under the bonnet’ by looking at some of the rich and diverse composing approaches and strategies...
David Ashworth Secondary education