Objectives for this topic

In this topic you will appraise a piece of music referring to the use of the elements of music.

Instructions

Begin by listening to the theme from ‘Cinema Paradiso’, followed by watching the video that demonstrates the skills of listening and appraising music, linked to its use of the elements of music.

LISTEN - Proms 2011 Cinema Paradiso (YouTube)

Using Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, describe the piece with reference to the elements of music you have been revising.

WATCH - Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake (ClassicFM)

Comment on your opinion of how the elements have been used.
Explain what you particularly enjoy in relation to the use of elements. For example, do you particularly like how the composer varied texture throughout the piece? What story did it tell? Here is an example appraisal of a piece of music.

READ - Appraisal of Music Example

Review

Use the appraising prompts template as a checklist to help you create effective and thorough appraising. Choose another piece of your choice to appraise, using the checklist to help you.

DOWNLOAD - Appraising Prompts - Template

Support activity for this topic

Use the same appraisal prompts template provided to help write your descriptions of how the composer has used the elements of music within Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Use the vocabulary for Grades 1,2 and 3 here to practise using the correct terminology:

READ - Musical Terms (clementstheory.com)

Extension activity for this topic

Choose one of the other pieces, from the selection on the ‘Best Classical Music for Kids’ page of the ClassicFM website, to appraise how it uses the elements differently, such as Elmer Bernstein’s Great Escape, which uses timbre quite differently.

EXPLORE - 10 best pieces of classical music for kids (ClassicFM)