Sleeve Note
Area of Study 1: Instrumental Music
Topic 1: Composing expressively
Composition brief 1
Many stories and cartoons feature toys coming to life in the night while children are
asleep.
Compose a piece to suggest such a scenario using instrumental timbres of your choice
(acoustic and/or synthesised) and other musical elements such as texture, harmony,
melody and rhythm, to create variety and atmosphere.
The toys could be, for example, dolls and puppets, mechanical toys, monsters, or toys
based on science fiction.
Complete a sleeve note for your composition by answering the following three
questions. This must be handwritten. You must refer to works that you have
found helpful when composing your piece in Section A. Some or all of these
works may come from the New Anthology of Music.
I would suggest printing your score out so you can annotate your work!
1. Explain and comment on form and structure, indicating in particular how
repetition and contrast are balanced.
2. Mention four other features of interest. You can refer to any two or more
of the following:
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rhythm
melodic development
texture
handling of instrument(s) and/or voice(s)
harmony.
3. Refer to pieces from the New Anthology of Music and/or elsewhere, to
explain how other pieces of music have influenced you in your
composition.
Suggestions of pieces you may want to listen to on Youtube or Spotify (I can give you a
link to my playlist if you have Spotify) to help with task 3. You may need to do a bit of
research on the composer to give so you know which period/genre the piece was written
in (if you can’t tell from listening!!). Think about the instruments used, any structures,
tonality, timbres, melodies etc:
Mozart – Toy Symphony (Allegro, Menuetto, Finale).
Debussy – Jimbo’s Lullaby, Serenade for the doll, The little Shepherd,
Golliwog’s cakewalk,
Randy Newman (Toy Story Composer) – You’ve Got a Friend In Me, The
Cleaner, Al’s Toy Barn (this is great piece), Jessie And the Round Up Gang.
Chick Corea - 20 Children’s Songs
Alan Menken – Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – Prologue (gives ideas for
fantasy).
Any of the songs used on Bagpuss
The Flumps Theme Tune
Magic Roundabout Theme Tune
Paul J Smith, Leigh Harline – Disney’s Pinocchio – The Blue Fairy, Turn on
The Old Music Box,
John Williams – Flying Theme from E.T
Victor Herbert – Babes in Toyland: March of The Toys.
Jerry Goldsmith- taken from the film Small Soldiers – Assembly Line, Alan and
Archer, Roll Call, Prepare for Assault, Branded, Special Design, I’m scared, Trust
me, Off to Gordon.
Trevor Jones (and various Artists) – taken from the film Labyrinth with David
Bowie – Into The Labyrinth, Magic Dance, Sarah, Chilly Down, Hallucination, As
The World Falls Down, The Goblin Battle, Within You, Home At Last.
Tchaikovsky – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell – Shrek – Fairytale.
Murray Gold – Doctor Who Music – All the Strange Creatures, Martha’s Theme,
Drowning Dry, The Carrionites Swarm, Gridlocked Cassinis, Boe, Evolution of
the Daleks, My Angel Put the Devil In Me etc.