Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T20:10:05.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating the canon in A-Level music: Musical prescription in A-level music syllabuses (for first examination in 2018)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2018

Adam Whittaker
Adam Whittaker*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, City South Campus: Room SRA214, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3TN
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The canon forming the backbone of most conceptions of Western music has been a feature of musical culture for decades, exerting an influence upon musical study in educational settings. In English school contexts, the once perceived superiority of classical music in educational terms has been substantially revised and reconsidered, opening up school curricula to other musical traditions and styles on an increasingly equal basis. However, reforms to GCSE and A-levels (examinations taken aged 16 and 18 respectively), which have taken place from 2010 onwards, have refocused attention on canonic knowledge rather than skills-based learning. In musical terms, this has reinforced the value of ‘prescribed works’ in A-level music specifications.

Thus far, little attention has been paid to the extent to which a kind of scholastic canon is maintained in the Western European Art Music section of the listening and appraising units in current A-level music specifications. Though directed in part by guidance from Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, the regulatory body for qualifications in England), there is evidence of a broader cultural trend at work. The present article seeks to compare the historical evidence presented in Robert Legg's 2012 article with current A-level specifications. Such a comparison establishes points of change and similarity in the canon of composers selected for close study in current A-levels, raising questions about the purpose and function of such qualifications.

Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 17 - 27
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ADAMS, R. (2017) Proportion of students taking arts subjects falls to lowest level in decade. The Guardian. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/21/proportion-of-students-taking-arts-subjects-falls-to-lowest-level-in-decade.Google Scholar
AQA. (2016) A-LEVEL MUSIC (7272) Specification for Teaching from September 2016 Onwards, AQA.Google Scholar
BATES, T. R. (1975) Gramsci and the theory of hegemony. Journal of the History of Ideas, 36 (2), 351–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC. (2018) Composers – BBC Proms. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/events/composers/by/a-z#B (Retrieved 10/05/18).Google Scholar
CITRON, M. J. (1993) Gender and the Musical Canon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
COOK, J., KOLASSA, A. & WHITTAKER, A. (2018) Introduction: Understanding the present through the past; the past through the present. In Cook, J., Kolassa, A. & Whittaker, A. (eds.), Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen (pp. 1–13). Routledge.Google Scholar
CULTURAL LEARNING ALLIANCE. (2017) Further 8% drop in creative subjects GCSE entries 2016 to 2017. Available at https://culturallearningalliance.org.uk/further-8-drop-in-creative-subjects-gcse-entries-2016-to-2017/ (Retrieved 10/05/18).Google Scholar
DINGLE, C. (2017) Commission and omission: The canon according to Messiaen. In Mawer, D. (ed.), Historical Interplay in French Music and Culture, 1860–1960 (pp. 214–232). London and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EASTBURN, S. (2017) We need more women composers – and it's not about tokenism, it's about talent. The Guardian. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/06/sound-and-music-susanna-eastburn-we-need-more-women-composers-talent-not-tokenism.Google Scholar
EDEXCEL (2016) A Level Music Specification: Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Music (9MU0). Edexcel.Google Scholar
FOWLER, J. (2017) ‘Proms Survey’. In Women in Music. Available at http://www.womeninmusic.org.uk/proms-survey.htm (Retrieved 24/04/18).Google Scholar
GIBB, N. (2016) The claim that EBacc squeezes out the arts is wrong. The Telegraph. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/leaguetables/12110986/The-claim-that-EBacc-squeezes-out-the-arts-is-wrong.html.Google Scholar
GOEHR, L. (1992) The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An Essay in the Philosophy of Music, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
GOVE, M. (2011) The Need to Reform the Education System. Speech at the University of Cambridge. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-to-cambridge-university.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (2010) Gender Identity, Musical Experience and Schooling. In Wright, R. (ed.), Sociology and Music Education (pp. 139–53). Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
HARKER, R. (1984) On Reproduction, habitus and education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 5 (2), 117–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KHOMAMI, N. (2015) A-level music to include female composers after student's campaign. The Guardian. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/16/a-level-music-female-composers-students-campaign-jessy-mccabe-edexcel.Google Scholar
KIRBY, P. (2016) Leading People 2016: The educational backgrounds of the UK professional elite. The Sutton Trust. Available at https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Leading-People_Feb16-1.pdf.Google Scholar
KURKELA, V. & VÄKEVÄ, L. (2009) Introduction. In Kurkela, V. & Väkevä, L. (eds.), De-Canonizing Music History (pp. vii–xiii). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
LEGG, R. (2012) Bach, Beethoven, Bourdieu: ‘Cultural capital’ and the scholastic canon in England's A-level examinations. The Curriculum Journal, 23 (2), 157–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LLOYD–WEBBER, J. (2017) The government is stifling the creativity we desperately need. The Times. Available at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-government-is-stifling-the-creativity-we-desperately-need-dnjlxplgp.Google Scholar
McPHAIL, G. (2013) The canon or the kids: Teachers and the recontextualisation of classical and popular music in the secondary school curriculum. Research Studies in Music Education, 35 (1), 7–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MORGAN, N. (2015) Why Knowledge Matters. Speech at the Carlton Club.Google Scholar
O'HEAR, A. (1992) Out of sync with Bach' The Times Educational Supplement, 22 February 1992.Google Scholar
OCR. (2016) A LEVEL Specification MUSIC H543 For first assessment in 2018. OCR.Google Scholar
OFQUAL. (2015) GCE Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for Music. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413314/gce-subject-level-conditions-for-music.pdf.Google Scholar
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE. (2016) The Annual Report, 2015/16. Available at https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.roh.org.uk/about/annual-review/pdfs/annual_review_1516.pdf.Google Scholar
SHREFFLER, A. C. (2011) Musical Canonization and Decanonization in the Twentieth Century. In Wald–Fuhrmann, K. P. M. (ed.), Der Kanon der Musik: Theorie und Geschichte. Ein Handbuch (pp. 1–18). Munich: Hanser.Google Scholar
SLATER, A. (2018) Illuminate: shining a light on the work of women composers and performers. Classical Music, (March 2018). Rhinegold Publishing.Google Scholar
SMITH, B. (1994) Peter Warlock: The Life of Philip Heseltine, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
SWARTZ, D. (2012) Culture and Power: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
TALBOT, M. (2016) Vivaldi, Antonio. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
THOMSON, D. (2017) Are more pupils really taking arts subjects? Vol. 2018, Education Datalab, online.Google Scholar
UCAS. (2018) A level or GCE A level – reformed Ofqual accredited (First awarded 2018). Vol. 2018. UCAS. Available at https://qips.ucas.com/qip/a-level-or-gce-a-level-reformed-ofqual-accredited-first-awarded-2018 (Retrieved 15/05/18).Google Scholar
UPTON, E. (2012) Concepts of authenticity in early music and popular music communities. Enthnomusicology Review, 17, 1–13.Google Scholar
WILKINSON, C. (2009) A new master narrative of Western musical history: An American perspective'. In Kurkela, V. & Väkevä, L. (eds.), De-Canonizing Music History (pp. 37–49). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
WRIGHT, R. & DAVIES, B. (2010) Class, power, culture and the music curriculum. In Wright, R. (ed.), Sociology and Music Education (pp. 35–50). Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar