Forensic review of a listening answer on an unfamiliar extract
An unfamiliar orchestral extract is played three times in a mock listening paper. No score is provided; the candidate’s annotated listening chart reads: 0:00–0:15 solo oboe melody, G–A–B-flat–A–G–F-sharp–G, sustained strings on a G pedal; 0:15–0:30 the same melody on violins, oboe adds a countermelody, bass moves G–D, and the section ends on a D major chord; 0:30–0:45 a new lyrical idea in B-flat major, cellos take the tune, woodwind chords, ending on an F major chord; 0:45–1:00 the opening melody returns on full orchestra and ends on G minor. The candidate writes: ‘This is sonata form because there are two themes and a return. The D major chord at 0:30 is the recapitulation. The piece is Baroque because the oboe plays the tune.’ The teacher asks for a forensic review of that answer, not a new description of the extract.
1. From the chart, identify the form and the cadence at 0:30 and 1:00. Explain why the candidate’s sonata-form label is not supported.
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The chart shows A (0:00–0:30) ending on D major, a contrasting B (0:30–0:45) in B-flat major ending on F major, then A-prime (0:45–1:00) back in G minor. That is rounded binary or ternary, not sonata form. The D major chord at 0:30 is the dominant of G minor, so it functions as a dominant arrival or half cadence closing the first section, not a recapitulation. A recapitulation would restate the opening theme in the tonic after a development; here the opening returns only at 0:45, after a single contrasting idea, and there is no development section. The 1:00 close on G minor is a tonic arrival, but the chart does not show a leading tone resolving or both chords in root position, so it should not be called a perfect authentic cadence on this evidence alone. The candidate has confused two ideas plus a return with sonata form, which needs a tonal and thematic argument, not a count of themes.
2. Evaluate the claim ‘The piece is Baroque because the oboe plays the tune.’ What two features from the chart would you use to argue for or against a Baroque label, and what evidence would you need?
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Instrumentation alone is weak: oboes existed in Baroque, Classical and Romantic music, and the chart says full orchestra at 0:45, which is not typical of a small Baroque trio sonata. Two usable features: first, the sustained tonic pedal and the dominant arrival at 0:30 suggest a clear harmonic framework, but that is not period-specific. Second, the return of the opening melody after a contrasting relative-major episode is a binary or ternary design common in Baroque dance movements, but it also appears in later music. To argue Baroque, I would need articulatory and textural evidence: terraced dynamics, a continuo, ornamentation, a dance rhythm, or a repeated binary structure. To argue against, the full-orchestra return and the 15-second phrase lengths may point later. The safe answer is to withhold the period label and describe what is actually heard; a label needs converging evidence, not one instrument.
3. Write a three-sentence model answer for a 4-mark question: ‘How do tonality and texture shape this extract?’ Use the chart only.
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The extract begins in G minor with a solo oboe over sustained strings, creating a thin, exposed texture that focuses attention on the melody. At 0:30 it moves to B-flat major for a cello-led lyrical idea with woodwind chords, brightening the tonality and thickening the accompaniment without losing clarity. The opening returns at 0:45 in G minor with full orchestra, so the texture expands at the moment the tonic returns, making the close feel both familiar and heavier. This answer earns marks by linking each texture change to a tonal event; it avoids unsupported claims about form or period.