Soundscapes | Leaving Certificate Music | The Prescribed Works|Group B

Soundscapes is a series of compact classroom coursebooks for Leaving Certificate Music. This book provides context, in-depth analysis and focused listening for the four Group B prescribed works (Mozart, Berlioz, The Beatles, Deane) and is suitable for both ordinary and higher level students.

The works are examined under four headings:

1. The Composer and His Times (Or The Group and Its Times)

Includes timelines and biographical information which place the composer/group and his/their music in both historical and musical contexts, covering such aspects as period style, background and cultural influences. In the Beatles chapter, this section includes information about ‘production using technology’.

2. The Work

Students get to grips with the prescribed work, with extensive background information and comprehensive bar-by-bar and thematic analysis.

3. The Exam

Takes students through the areas of study and focused listening necessary for the listening exam and includes numerous carefully-selected questions from past exam papers, as well as new questions formulated with future exams in mind.

4. Beyond the Exam

Students advance their own interests in one or more of the studied works and composers with related listening and further research projects in music, art or literature. This could take place as part of class study in Transition Year (or a special-project focus) or during the first year of a two-year study programme towards the Leaving Certificate Music exam itself.

Also Included

• over 120 music examples and picture illustrations
• numerous quotations from international music scholars and experts
• boxed definitions of key concepts and styles
• a comprehensive glossary of over 200 musical terms

'With its clear analyses and discussions of the four prescribed works of Group B, complemented by extensive discussions of the broader backgrounds and contexts of each (not least in providing a section on ‘20th-Century Art Music in Ireland’ within the chapter on Raymond Deane, a section which should be read and actively discussed in all schools), this second Soundscapes coursebook promises to encourage in both student and teacher the detailed appreciation and understanding which each one of these four disparate but representative works of our musical heritage deserves.'

– Barra Boydell, Senior Lecturer in Music, National University of Ireland, Maynooth