Composition (for the end of Tuesday 15th November)

1. Write a period of 8 bars for the beginning of a minuet. Have a brisk minuet tempo and keep everything really simple. You should write for string quartet and just have chords in the lower parts and a melody in the first violin.

2. Do a new version of 1. in which the consequent modulates to the dominant. EITHER use a diminished seventh onto the new tonic OR a secondary dominant onto ii of the new key.

Symphony (in lesson on Wednesday 16th November)

Write a short essay (about 500 words) explaining the development of the orchestra as seen from the perspective of the minuet. Start with the Corelli Concerto (just briefly as context) to the early Classical orchestra (Filtz, Stamitz then Haydn) through to the later Romantic orchestra (i.e. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Brahms). You should illustrate your explanation with at least five references to pieces we have studied in class, making specific reference to these pieces and the features of their orchestration.

Before you start, you should read at least the first three pages of “Classical Style 2 (HAM)” in the General Readings folder on Moodle and the link below the folder: Development of the Orchestra (BBC)