Writing a Set-Work Comparison Essay

The 12-mark essay

Section B ends with a big 12-mark essay. You compare an extract from a set work you have studied against an extract from an unfamiliar piece, with both scores printed for you. One question, a lot of marks, and it is won or lost on a single skill. This module shows that skill in actual sentences rather than describing it, because the difference between comparing and describing is much easier to see than to define.

Two halves, or one argument?

Here is the same set of observations about two extracts, written twice. Most of the marks in this question separate the left column from the right:

What is actually missing?

A student writes three accurate sentences about the set work, then three accurate sentences about the unfamiliar extract, and stops. Every observation is correct. What is the single biggest problem?

• Nothing in the answer does the comparing: the observations sit side by side and the examiner is left to work out what they mean against each other
• It is too short, and six sentences will not fill a 12-mark answer
• Some of the observations must be wrong, since a correct answer would compare
• The student has not used enough musical vocabulary

Compare using the elements

Comparisons are only as precise as the vocabulary underneath them. Each element comes with the question it answers, which is what turns "it sounds different" into a point worth marks:

Which sentence compares?

Here is a paragraph from a student answer. Tap the ONE sentence that genuinely touches both pieces and weighs them against each other.

• The set work opens with a full orchestral tutti.
• The unfamiliar extract begins with a solo instrument.
• Both openings establish the mood within a few bars, but the set work does it through weight of sound while the extract does it through exposure.
• The extract is in a minor key.
• I find the second extract more interesting to listen to.

Building one paragraph

A comparative paragraph has four moves, and the last one is where the marks are: 1. Name the element you are comparing. 2. Give evidence from the set work. 3. Give evidence from the unfamiliar extract. 4. Make a comparative judgement linking them: which does more of it, and to what effect. The glue is comparative connectives. For similarities: *similarly, likewise, both, in the same way*. For differences: *whereas, in contrast, however, on the other hand*. Used properly they force a sentence to mention both pieces, which is why an essay full of them is very hard to write badly.

Build one paragraph

Put the parts of a strong comparison paragraph in order.

• State the element you are comparing
• Give evidence from the set work
• Give evidence from the unfamiliar extract
• Make a comparative judgement linking them

What is each sentence doing?

One paragraph, taken apart

Here is a complete comparative paragraph on a single element, with the four moves marked. The extracts are imaginary, and the shape is the part to copy. *(1) The clearest difference between the two extracts is in texture. (2) The set work builds a dense, layered sound, with the strings sustaining beneath a busy woodwind line and brass entering at the climax. (3) The unfamiliar extract, in contrast, rarely has more than two parts sounding at once, and for several bars only one. (4) The result is that the set work overwhelms the listener where the extract exposes them: both build tension, but the set work does it by adding and the extract by taking away.* Notice how short move 1 is, and how much work move 4 does. Notice also that no sentence after the first could have been written by someone who had heard only one of the two extracts. That is the test to apply to your own paragraphs.

Spot the comparison

Which of these sentences is doing the work the question asks for?

• The set work sustains a thick texture throughout, whereas the extract thins to a single line at its centre, which makes its return of the full ensemble far more striking
• The set work has a thick texture and uses a wide range of instruments
• The set work is loud and thick, while the extract is minor and slow
• Both pieces use instruments and both were written to be performed

Which are true?

Select ALL THREE statements that are TRUE.

• A useful test of a sentence is whether you could have written it having heard only one of the two extracts
• A comparison has to hold the element steady: setting the set work's texture against the extract's tonality compares nothing
• A full answer needs differences and similarities, not only whichever is easier to spot
• Describing each piece thoroughly in its own half is an acceptable structure, provided both descriptions are accurate
• Naming musical elements is optional, since the examiner can hear the extracts
• Saying which extract you preferred is a relative judgement

Write one paragraph

Write ONE comparative paragraph about two imagined extracts, on a single musical element of your choice such as texture, dynamics or tonality. In about 60 words:

• Name the element, and keep to that one element throughout
• Give evidence from BOTH the set work and the unfamiliar extract, joined by a comparative connective
• End with a relative judgement: which does more of it, and what that achieves
• Then check every sentence against the test: could you have written it having heard only one extract?

The comparison frame

The command word "compare" asks for similarities and differences together with a relative _____, not two separate descriptions. Keep the musical _____ steady across a paragraph, so that texture is set against texture rather than against tonality. Join the two pieces with a comparative _____ such as "whereas" or "similarly". And test each sentence by asking whether you could have written it having heard only _____ of the extracts.