Music subject report · November 2009

November 2009 Extended Essay reports Page 1 © International Baccalaureate Organization 2009 MUSIC Overall grade boundaries Grade: E D C B A Mark range: 0 - 7 8 - 15 16 - 22 23 - 28 29 - 36 The range and suitability of the work submitted There were many impressive essays, with an interesting range of topics. Most were based on music, and well planned, with some thoughtful and industrious research, some with an excellent range and use of sources, confident & engagingly written. Some effectively tackled complex issues, such as: “To what extent do Mozart‟s Haydn Quartets demonstrate an influence from Haydn string quartets? ”or “Dynamics of Tension & Release in two preludes and fugues from J.S. Bach‟s WTC book II ”. Others impressed with analysis or comparing/ contrasting works of contemporary composers. Generally most essays were suitable, focu sed on specific music pieces; with variable degrees of success in adhering to the general guidelines and fulfilling the assessment criteria to the full. The weaker essays demonstrated inadequacies in the application of research methods, topic definition, s election & use of sources, research st rategy and relevance of argument. Some provided a general analysis of pieces, but with no real rationale for the choice of topic, nor with a specific research question in mind. Candidate performance against each criterion A: research question There was generally effective definition in the research questions. Most of them indicated a precise range of music to be used in the research. A few essays had questions that were too