Hi there Students,
My eldest is about to do this and having kittens.
How did you go about it??
She has decided to do a funeral, duet with 2 flutes in a minor key.
Any suggestions please.
Beverley.

I have just done my GCSE coursework, and sit the exam next week.

For a composition, find a theme. Something simple, but memorable.
Then use this in other ways. For example, move it up a 3rd, or imitate it onto another instrument.
With limited knowledge of chords you can harmonize on other instruments.

Which board is your daughter taking it with, and do they have to do Briefs and Appraisals?

Is it not now too late for GCSE music compositions to be handed in?

Well I'm the same as neo-romantic, I did a composition on a Fusion between african drumming and Jazz and then another one on Serialism

Doing a composition of a style you know intimately will help your composition go a long way

Getting a print out of the specifications on the composition will help a lot as well, as you'll know what you have to aim for and what you need to do to achieve the highest marks.

Hope that helps!

While my GCSE composition was 13 years ago , and I don't remember strict requirements, I definitely did something I knew. I had played Pachelbel's Canon in D as a cellist (bass line) and as a recorder player (bass line for a couple of performances, melody line for a couple of others). I played regularly in a recorder group and we seemed to do a lot of things with repetitive bottom lines (I was the default tenor player).
I ended up writing a canon for string quartet. My teacher happened to adore canon form, so he liked it lots (just as well, as he got to play the top three parts on the recording of it). I only had a recorder to hear it on as I was writing it, so it was great fun to hear it properly for the first time.

Hmm, I'm going to go home and hunt out the tape now (and then upload it on to my computer)

indeed

my composition has been handed in
i did 2, as the board required; one unique, original, drawing from study pieces
mine was a neo-romantic piece (thus the name), and yes, i did love the style
rachmaninoff through to vaughan williams, anything between 1850 and 2008

then for my 2nd i did a viennese waltz
again, i tried to know the style before i did it

basically, use the style for ideas

Thanks folks, she is only year 10 and so this is course work that has to be in for July.
It is interesting to hear what everyone has done.
A good friend feels that a funeral might be rather restricting, and go for something a little more upbeat. I shall go and ask the composer what she thinks
Bev.

It depends how restricted your view of funeral music is.
It could be solemn or you could have a lot of scope if you see it as writing something to celebrate a life.
Room for variation in there depending on ability.

Exactly. Faure's Requiem had exciting kickers in many of its movements, and Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony had even more of it. Life, torment, pleasure, downfalls, golden ages, it had it all.

I am not really sure if a piece for two flutes written for a funeral at GCSE level by a very novice composer could show the celebration of life in the same way as Faure. Better to play a little safer I think. A fantasia or a country dance style of piece might be more successful.

Would it be easier not to do it in a minor key??
I'm starting my GCSE music next year but I think for the board we are doing (OCR???) the category the teacher uses is 'music for special events.' Is she using a funeral as part of that?
(This might be a totally different part of the exam though)

Our yr11 have only just finished theirs!! And some of them didn't actually finish at all!

Not finished at all? That's stupid...composition makes up a huge part of your overall grade!

The good thing about GCSE is you can just compose ANYTHING you like and then decide what it is later. And it can be for ANYTHING! People in my class did things like Playing at a family members birthday party etc. So i'd say get some ideas of anything you like the sound of and write it down. Compose around that, introduce another theme and do the same. And then once all that is done THEN decide what its for. That way you'll have no restrictions whatsoever.

Weddings are good too - if you end up with something quite slow and soothing, you can say that it's for the signing of the register, whilst something more upbeat could be used for the bride's entry or hasty exit!

I wasn't allowed to do anything...we had a composition brief...but maybe you're talking about a different exam board? I did edexcel...

Music for a Special Event is AQA.

Well, I think in the end only one person didn't hand theirs in. To be fair to the music dept, they have to take anyone who signs up for the course.. and this student didn't really have any musical knowledge at all, and didn't ask for help.

We had a couple of similar people. One in particular was very spectacularly so. He signed up for the course on account of the free guitar lessons that were on offer. For two years, he never brought a piece to perform when told to do so, and this led to him not bringing any music for his performing exam. Those in charge were not happy with him, and he wasn't allowed to do the exam any other time, of course, and so he got 0.

He didn't remotely complete his integrated assignment composition, and so the head of music sent him away when he came to the exam.

By the listening exam on Friday, it was declared that he had been withdrawn.

Sadly, he didn't seem hugely bothered...