OCR A Level Music Paper 5 2025 Question Paper

Download the official OCR A Level Music H543/05 Listening and Appraising question paper from the June 2025 examination series. This downloadable PDF contains the complete OCR A Level Music exam sat on Monday 9 June 2025, including listening-analysis tasks, score-reading exercises, melody dictation, contextual music-history questions, jazz analysis, comparative evaluation, and extended essay questions across multiple Areas of Study.

The OCR H543/05 June 2025 question paper examines a broad range of advanced listening and appraising skills, including melody construction, harmonic analysis, texture, tonality, orchestration, jazz interpretation, Classical string-quartet writing, Haydn symphonic style, programme music, Baroque religious music, twentieth-century innovation, improvisation, and contemporary composition techniques. Candidates are required to demonstrate detailed analytical knowledge, contextual understanding, and evaluative musical discussion throughout the paper.

Section A begins with a detailed listening-analysis question on Barry Manilow’s 1998 recording of “You Make Me Feel So Young” from Area of Study 2: Popular Song: Blues, Jazz, Swing and Big Band. Students analyse key, melody construction, bass devices, tonality, vocal treatment, and melodic variation while responding to score-based listening tasks linked to jazz and swing performance practice.

The paper also includes a score-reading and dictation task based on a Mozart string quartet from Area of Study 1: Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Candidates describe contrasting textures, complete missing second violin and cello parts from a skeleton score, identify the date of composition, and explain how Mozart earned money through composition and publication during the Classical period.

Section B contains extended analytical questions on Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 “Drum Roll” and Cécile McLorin Salvant’s recording of “Wives And Lovers” from the prescribed album *For One To Love*. Students evaluate melody and harmony, compare Haydn’s London symphonies with his earlier symphonic style, analyse jazz vocal interpretation, compare recordings by different singers, and assess the effectiveness of Salvant’s wider recorded performances.

Section C requires candidates to answer two extended essay questions from different Areas of Study. Essay topics include improvisation challenges in jazz, the popularity of jazz after 1960, influential Baroque religious composers, the effectiveness of recitative and aria writing, melody in Romantic programme music, the popularity of the symphonic poem, the influence of traditional music on twentieth-century composition, and the effectiveness of post-1960 compositional techniques.
The Area of Study 3 essay questions assess understanding of jazz improvisation, free jazz, head arrangements, and developments in instrumental jazz from New Orleans traditions to contemporary jazz styles. Students are expected to reference named musicians and stylistic examples while constructing evaluative arguments about jazz performance and popularity.

The Area of Study 4 questions focus on Baroque religious music, requiring students to compare recitatives and arias, discuss Biblical text-setting, and evaluate the influence of major Baroque composers on sacred-music development.

Area of Study 5 explores Romantic programme music between 1820 and 1910, including melodic expression, social influences, symphonic poems, and orchestral storytelling techniques used by nineteenth-century composers.
Area of Study 6 investigates innovations in music from 1900 to the present day, including traditional-music influence, nationalism, world-music inspiration, electronic composition, minimalism, avant-garde techniques, and contrasting compositional approaches used after 1960.

This OCR A Level Music H543/05 question paper is ideal for timed exam practice, listening-analysis revision, score-reading exercises, essay-planning activities, classroom discussion, and improving analytical and evaluative writing under authentic OCR examination conditions. Pair this paper with the official OCR H543/05 June 2025 mark scheme for complete examiner-standard revision and advanced music-analysis preparation. Updated for the 2025/2026 academic year, fully mobile-friendly, and instantly downloadable.

This document is designed for OCR A Level Music students preparing for the 2026 examination series, resit candidates improving Listening and Appraising exam performance, home-educated learners, and independent candidates studying advanced music analysis and contextual evaluation.

It is especially valuable for students practising listening skills, harmony analysis, score interpretation, melody dictation, comparative evaluation, and extended music essays across jazz, Classical, Romantic, Baroque, and contemporary repertoire. Teachers, tutors, music departments, and revision-course providers can also use this official OCR question paper for mock examinations, classroom listening activities, essay-planning exercises, and benchmarking analytical responses against live OCR assessment standards.