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New Directions in 20th Century Music

4 Composing briefs based on different directions. 

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Serialist

TASK: Compose a piece based on a 12-note row. The chosen row should be used to generate melodic and harmonic material according to a set of pre-determined rules.

BRIEF: Make some incidental music for a theatre drama using serial techniques. e.g. The Witches’ scene in ‘Macbeth’, A fight scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Minimalist

TASK: Compose a piece of systems music. You should employ ostinati processes and interlocking repeated phrases and rhythms.

BRIEF: A local museum is to stage an exhibition of mechanical objects. Make a process piece, which will be heard by visitors to the exhibition. This could be a vocal or instrumental piece.

Experimental

TASK: Compose a piece of music which makes use of non-standard notation (e.g. 3 line stave showing relative pitch high, low, medium), graphic notation, prose score), Chance performance, art, or extended vocal or instrumental techniques.

BRIEF: Take a piece of visual art as the basis for a piece of music. This could be a well-known 20^th century work (e.g. Munch’s ‘The Scream’), Escher’s ‘Metamorphosis’. or a film still, or a piece of photojournalism. Explore ways in which the visual; information can give musical information.

Electronic

TASK: Compose a piece of electro-acoustic music. The sounds used may be recorded (from life or sound effects, CDs etc.) or created from scratch using electronic instruments.

BRIEF: Make an electro-acoustic piece entitled ‘A day in the Life’ for an exhibition of photographs chronicling dawn to dusk in a situation specified by the candidate (e.g. city centre factory)

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