BHMCT 113 Question Paper December 2025, IGNOU Study of Elementary Western Music and Interdisciplinary Study of Music

BHMCT 113 Question Paper December 2025 is the paper to rehearse on if your exam falls in 2026. It is the unusual one in the degree, moving from the Western notation system and the life of Mozart to how music links with cognition, then back to Raga Todi and Rag Bahar. Let's break it down the way a senior would.

What is the BHMCT-113 December 2025 Question Paper?

The BHMCT 113 December 2025 question paper is the official IGNOU Term-End Examination for the Study of Elementary Western Music and Interdisciplinary Study of Music, set in English and Hindi, worth 100 marks over 3 hours, where you answer any five of seven questions.

In practice it is a single list with no sections, each question carrying twenty marks. The content is genuinely mixed, ranging from the Western notation system and Mozart to the interdisciplinary idea of music and cognition, and then to the Hindustani ragas Todi and Bahar with Drut Khayal notation.

About IGNOU BHMCT-113 Western and Interdisciplinary Music Study

BHMCT-113 looks outward from the Hindustani core of the degree. Its first concern is elementary Western music: the Western notation system that records pitch and duration on a staff, and the system of rhythm that organises Western music in time.

It also studies one towering figure, Mozart, asking you to know his life and musical work as a window into the Western classical tradition.

The interdisciplinary half is where the course turns reflective. You examine what cognition is and how music relates to it, and how music can be applied as a tool to teach other subjects. The history strand brings in the medieval treatises Madan-ul-Mausiqi and Sarmaya-e-Ishrat, while the practical link to Hindustani music comes through Raga Todi and Rag Bahar with the notation of their Drut Khayals.

This page is written by Prateek Talwar and reviewed by the Unnati Educations academic team, including our Performing Arts and Western-music content reviewers. It sits within the BHMCT-113 course of the IGNOU B.A. (Honours) Performing Arts Hindustani Music (BAPFHMH) programme and reflects the official IGNOU Term-End Examination of December 2025. Last updated: June 2026.

BHMCT-113 Question Paper December 2025 Exam Pattern and Marks

How the BHMCT-113 Seven Questions Are Set

This paper has no sections and only seven questions, of which you answer five. That leaves just two skips, so you cannot walk in having ignored a whole strand. Reading the seven by theme makes the risk clear.

The Western-music strand holds the notation system, the system of rhythm, and the life and work of Mozart. The interdisciplinary strand carries cognition and its link to music, plus music as a tool to teach other subjects. The history strand is the single treatise question on Madan-ul-Mausiqi or Sarmaya-e-Ishrat, and the practical strand is the Raga Todi and Rag Bahar notation question.

Here's the part that matters: with only two skips, the practical notation question is hard to dodge. If you fear the Drut Khayal notation, you have effectively spent both your skips before the exam starts, so it pays to prepare Todi and Bahar properly.

All Questions in the BHMCT-113 December 2025 Paper

Topics Covered in the BHMCT-113 Paper

• The notation system of Western music
• The system of rhythm in Western music
• The life and musical work of Mozart
• The meaning of cognition and how music relates to it
• Music applied as a tool to teach other subjects
• The content of the medieval treatise Madan-ul-Mausiqi or Sarmaya-e-Ishrat
• A brief description of Raga Todi and Rag Bahar with the notation of their Drut Khayals

Key Terms in the BHMCT-113 Paper Explained

Western notation system: The staff-based system that records music in the West, fixing pitch on five lines and spaces and duration through note shapes, key signatures and time signatures.

Mozart: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the eighteenth-century Austrian composer of the Classical era, whose symphonies, operas and concertos define much of the Western canon studied in this course.

Cognition: The mental processes of perceiving, attending, remembering and understanding, which question 4 links to how the brain processes and is shaped by music.

Madan-ul-Mausiqi: A medieval treatise on music whose content forms one option in the history question, paired with Sarmaya-e-Ishrat as the alternative.

Drut Khayal: The fast-tempo section of a khayal performance, the bandish set in a quick laya, which question 7 asks you to notate for Todi and Bahar.

Raga Todi: A morning raga of the Todi thaat, marked by its komal swaras and serious, plaintive mood, set here alongside the spring raga Bahar.

How to Use BHMCT-113 December 2025 Question Pape to Score in the 2026 Exam

Rehearse this December 2025 IGNOU paper against a real 3-hour clock and plan your five answers, remembering you have only two skips from the seven. That tight margin means you should not gamble on dropping both the notation question and a Western-music question.

For a twenty-mark answer, open with a clear definition or context, build four or five solid points, add a worked example, and close briefly. A Mozart answer should name actual works and his place in the Classical era, while a cognition answer needs the concept defined before you link it to music.

The practical and history questions reward specifics. Question 7 wants the actual Drut Khayal notation of Raga Todi and Rag Bahar written out, not just a description, and the treatise question rewards naming concrete content of Madan-ul-Mausiqi or Sarmaya-e-Ishrat.

Sample Answer Approach (not a full answer)

Take question 3, the life and musical work of Mozart. Here is the shape of a full-marks answer, not the answer itself.

Opening: place Mozart in eighteenth-century Salzburg and Vienna as a central figure of the Classical era.

Points to cover: his childhood as a prodigy, his major genres of opera, symphony and concerto, his clarity of form and melodic gift, his relationship with patrons, and his early death.

Worked example: name a representative work such as a famous opera or symphony to anchor the answer with concrete detail.

Conclusion: a two-line judgement on Mozart's lasting influence on Western classical music.

Frequently Asked Questions about the BHMCT-113 Question Paper December 2025

Unnati Educations is an independent IGNOU study-resource platform that prepares practice papers and solved material for learners.

Disclaimer: Unnati Educations is an independent academic support service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or associated with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The original question paper is the property of IGNOU and is provided here only as a reference for student practice.