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A3421606F1

A342/A
Module Examination 2016
CENTRAL QUESTIONS IN THE STUDY
OF MUSIC
Tuesday, 31 May 2016

10 am 1 pm

Time allowed: 3 hours

There are THREE PARTS to this paper. You should answer ONE
question from Part 1, ONE question from Part 2 and ONE question from
Part 3. You are advised to spend about one hour on each part. The
marks are divided equally between the parts.
Write your answers in the book(s) provided.
NOTE: You may NOT use the same material in answer to more than
one question.
At the end of the examination
Check that you have written your personal identifier and examination
number on each answer book used. Failure to do so will mean that
your work cannot be identified.
Put all your used answer books together with your signed desk record
on top. Fasten them in the top left corner with the round paper fastener.
Attach this question paper to the back of the answer books with the flat
paper clip.

Copyright 2016 The Open University

PART 1

Part 1 is worth one-third of the total marks

Module themes
Write an essay on ONE of the following questions (Questions 13), spending
about an hour on your answer.

Question 1

In Block 1, you saw how film music could evoke particular physical settings. To
what extent do other genres you have studied use music in similar ways? Draw
on at least three examples from the module materials (should you wish, you may
discuss more than three examples, drawing on the module materials in the
additional examples).

Question 2

You have come across a number of performances and works that make use of
dance rhythms in A342. Discuss the significance and/or function of at least three
of these, drawing on examples from the module materials (should you wish, you
may discuss more than three examples, drawing on the module materials in the
additional examples).

Question 3

Discuss how Beethovens Sixth Symphony related to its musical and social
context (considering, for instance, how it reflected, responded to, or impacted on
this context).

A342 June 2016

PART 2

Part 2 is worth one-third of the total marks

Module subthemes
Write an essay on ONE of the following questions (Questions 46), spending
about an hour on your answer.

Question 4

To what degree can music notation be understood to communicate a composers

intentions? Refer to at least two examples, drawing on the module materials
(should you wish, you may discuss more than two examples, drawing on the
module materials in the additional examples).

Question 5

With reference to at least two examples drawn from the module materials,
discuss the kinds of relationships that can exist between musical recordings and
performance (should you wish, you may discuss more than two examples,
drawing on the module materials or your independent study in the additional
examples).

Question 6

The image below is a transcription of Basuubira Malayika, the akadinda piece

discussed at length in Unit 12. Create an alternative transcription of the music;
you may be as creative as you like in your notation of it. Provide a written
explanation of your transcription that explains and justifies what you have done.

Basuubira Malayika: opening ostinato (played by the abanazi) together with the
complete version of the interlocking pattern (played in the right and left hands of
the abawuzi). After Kubik (1994, p.80)

A342 June 2016

TURN OVER 3

PART 3

Part 3 is worth one-third of the total marks

Music of the twentieth century
Write an essay on ONE of the following questions (Questions 79), spending
about an hour on your answer.

Question 7

With reference to two or three examples from Unit 23, discuss the different ways
in which composers have drawn on folk traditions.

Question 8

Drawing on at least two examples from the module materials, discuss how
composers working in the twentieth century demonstrated different approaches to
melody and harmony (should you wish, you may discuss more than two
examples, drawing on the module materials).

Question 9

Discuss the various ways in which the title of Messiaens Quatuor pour la fin du
temps might affect how we find meaning in its musical content.

[END OF QUESTION PAPER]

A342 June 2016