GCSE Music Set Works, Explained

GCSE Music is the exam course students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take at about age 16. Set works are named pieces each exam board picks for detailed study: Pearson Edexcel has eight, including Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Queen’s Killer Queen. The nearest US equivalent is AP Music Theory, which has no set works.

Updated 28 October 2026 · By the Classfern Music Department

UKUSA UK subject, explained for US readers. This version uses US music words (measure, quarter note, staff) and US grades; the UK version uses bar, crotchet, stave and UK year groups. · UK version of this page

Kids’ mode: bigger buttons and text (shared with the other music pages)

Key facts

• Pearson Edexcel: 8 set works in 4 areas of study. The appraising exam is 1 hour 45 minutes and 80 marks: Section A (68 marks) covers six of the eight, and Section B (12 marks) compares a set work with an unfamiliar piece.
• Edexcel’s 2027 appraising exam is on 27 May 2027.
• AQA: four study pieces, one per area of study, new from 2026 (Beethoven, Queen, Esperanza Spalding and Bartók); they are Section B of the Understanding music exam (28 marks).
• Eduqas: 2 set works (Bach’s Badinerie and Toto’s “Africa”). WJEC (new course): 1 from List A and 1 from List B, first exams 2027. CCEA: 14 set works in 4 areas.
• OCR: no set works; its listening questions use unfamiliar music from five areas of study.
• In US terms, a set work is like a required listening piece in a course: students must know it in detail for the exam.

What is GCSE Music?

GCSE Music is a two-year course and exam that students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland usually finish at about age 16, at the end of what would be 10th grade in the US. It has three parts: performing, composing and a listening exam. Set works are the named pieces the listening exam asks about.

For the full course, grade boundaries and composing rules, see Classfern’s GCSE Music explained page. This page covers the set works in detail.

What are the Edexcel GCSE Music set works?

The eight Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music set works are: Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 3rd movement, and Beethoven, “Pathétique” Sonata, 1st movement (Instrumental Music 1700–1820); Purcell, Music for a While, and Queen, Killer Queen (Vocal Music); Defying Gravity and the Star Wars Main Title (Music for Stage and Screen); and Release and Samba Em Prelúdio (Fusions).

Each set work below has its date, key or style, structure, instruments and what to listen for. These are short study notes in Classfern’s own words; use them with your own score and recording.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 3rd movement (Allegro) – J. S. Bach

Area of study

Instrumental Music 1700–1820

Date

The six Brandenburg Concertos were dedicated in 1721 to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg

Key or style

D major; the middle section moves to B minor

Structure

Large ternary form (ABA); 2/4 time with gigue-like triplet and dotted rhythms

Instruments and voices

Soloists (concertino): flute, violin and harpsichord; with strings and continuo (ripieno)

Listen for

Imitative (fugal) entries at the start; a mainly polyphonic texture; the harpsichord as a soloist

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor “Pathétique”, 1st movement – Ludwig van Beethoven

Area of study

Instrumental Music 1700–1820

Date

Published in 1799

Key or style

C minor

Structure

Sonata form, with a slow introduction marked Grave: exposition, development, recapitulation and coda

Instruments and voices

Solo piano

Listen for

Sudden dynamic contrasts, dramatic chords and the Grave music coming back later in the movement

Music for a While – Henry Purcell

Area of study

Vocal Music

Date

1692, incidental music for the play Oedipus

Key or style

A minor in the Edexcel anthology version

Structure

Built on a ground bass three measures long

Instruments and voices

High voice with basso continuo (harpsichord and bass viol)

Listen for

Word painting, falling phrases and the ground bass repeating under the voice

Killer Queen – Queen (written by Freddie Mercury)

Area of study

Vocal Music

Date

1974, from the album Sheer Heart Attack

Key or style

Glam rock / rock

Structure

Verse–chorus form with a guitar solo

Instruments and voices

Lead and multitracked backing vocals, piano, overdubbed electric guitars, bass guitar and drums

Listen for

Layered vocal harmonies and the multitracked guitar solo (recording techniques)

Defying Gravity, from Wicked – Stephen Schwartz

Area of study

Music for Stage and Screen

Date

From the musical Wicked (2003); the end of Act 1

Key or style

Musical theatre

Structure

Verse–chorus form within a longer scene, with changes of tempo and mood

Instruments and voices

Elphaba and Glinda with the ensemble and a pit orchestra

Listen for

Leitmotifs, wide leaps in Elphaba’s melody and the changes of tempo and mood

Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner, from Star Wars Episode IV – John Williams

Area of study

Music for Stage and Screen

Date

From the 1977 film Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope)

Key or style

The main theme is in B♭ major

Structure

Fanfare, main theme in ternary form, a link, then the Rebel Blockade Runner music

Instruments and voices

Large symphony orchestra with a big brass section

Listen for

The brass fanfare with triplets, leitmotifs, pedal notes and ostinatos

Release – Afro Celt Sound System

Area of study

Fusions

Date

From the album Volume 2: Release (1999)

Key or style

Fusion of Irish (Celtic) and West African music with electronic dance music

Structure

Builds by gradually layering the texture

Instruments and voices

Uilleann pipes, whistles and bodhrán; kora and talking drum; synths, drum loops and voices

Listen for

How the layers are added, the drones and the mix of acoustic and electronic sounds

Samba Em Prelúdio – Esperanza Spalding (song by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, 1962)

Area of study

Fusions

Date

Spalding’s recording is on her 2008 album Esperanza

Key or style

Fusion of bossa nova (Brazil) and jazz

Structure

Sections with contrasting moods, led by voice and bass

Instruments and voices

Voice, bass and nylon-string acoustic guitar

Listen for

Bossa nova rhythms, syncopation and jazz harmony

Every GCSE Music set work, by board

Choose a board to show only its set works. Students only study the works for their own board.

Show set works for

All boards Edexcel AQA Eduqas WJEC CCEA OCR

21 rows shown

What are the AQA GCSE Music study pieces from 2026?

From 2026, the AQA GCSE Music study pieces are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, movement 1; three Queen songs (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Seven Seas of Rhye and Love of My Life); three Esperanza Spalding songs (I Know You Know, Little Fly and I Adore You); and Bartók’s Hungarian Pictures, movements 1, 2, 4 and 5.

They replaced the earlier pieces (Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, Little Shop of Horrors, Paul Simon’s Graceland and Kodály’s Háry János), which were last assessed in 2025. Make sure any revision guide you use is for exams from 2026 onwards.

Set works quiz and revision tracker

The quiz and the tracker run in your browser. Answers and ticks stay on this device.

Ten questions on the set works, new every time. Marked by Classfern – the answers are checked in your browser.

Start the set works quiz

Edexcel set works I can describe from memory

Self-assessed Tick a set work when you can say its structure, instruments, key or style and one detail from the score without looking.

• Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 3rd movement (Allegro) (J. S. Bach)
• Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor “Pathétique”, 1st movement (Ludwig van Beethoven)
• Music for a While (Henry Purcell)
• Killer Queen (Queen)
• Defying Gravity, from Wicked (Stephen Schwartz)
• Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner, from Star Wars Episode IV (John Williams)
• Release (Afro Celt Sound System)
• Samba Em Prelúdio (Esperanza Spalding)

Nothing ticked yet.

Clear all ticks

How do you revise GCSE Music set works?

Revise each set work with the score and a recording: learn its context, then go through the elements one at a time – instruments, texture, melody, harmony and key, structure, rhythm and dynamics – and find a measure that shows each one. Then practice comparing it with music you have not heard before.

1. Listen with the score at least three times, marking where each section starts.
2. Fill in a revision sheet (below) for each set work, one element per line.
3. Test yourself with the quiz above, and tick the tracker when you can describe a work from memory.
4. Compare each set work with one unfamiliar piece of a similar style, using the same headings.
5. Practice timed answers with the board’s own past papers and mark schemes.

Printable set work revision sheet

Print one for each set work and fill it in with your score open. Self-assessed

How do you answer the Edexcel Section B comparison question?

Edexcel’s Section B (12 marks) asks you to compare one set work with an unfamiliar piece you hear in the exam. Plan for a few minutes, then make clear points about similarities and differences, each with a precise musical example from both pieces, and finish with a short judgement.

Use the elements as a checklist: instruments and voices, texture, melody, harmony and tonality, structure, rhythm and metre, tempo and dynamics. Strong answers name exact features (“the ground bass repeats every three measures”) rather than general ones (“it repeats a lot”). Classfern’s GCSE listening practice helps with the unfamiliar-music part.

Is there a US equivalent of GCSE Music set works?

There is no exact US equivalent. AP Music Theory, the nearest US exam, uses unfamiliar music rather than set works. Some state and All-State music tests, and college music history classes, use required listening lists that work in a similar way.

See Classfern’s AP Music Theory guide for the US exam, and music grades explained for graded music exams.

Classfern is not connected with or endorsed by Pearson Edexcel, AQA, Eduqas, WJEC, CCEA or OCR. Names are used only to describe and compare. This page is not an official specification, syllabus or past paper; always check the board’s own documents.

Classfern’s free GCSE Music set works guide on lessonplanner.info gives study notes only. It does not reproduce any board’s anthology, scores or recordings. Set works can change; check your board’s current specification.

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