2- Music for a while - Purcell Flashcards
Purcell context
Baroque
1692
word painting
Melody Purcell
conjunct
passing notes
leaps small
rest
descending sequence
ornaments
syllabic
melismatic
Soprano line - range of a ninth from the lowest note of E just above middle C to F just over an octave higher.
Conjunct or stepwise
Passing notes are frequent (bar 5 - are non-harmony
notes and do not belong to the chord but link to notes from the chord.)
Leaps are small and generally no greater than a perfect fourth (e.g. bar 7).
Rests are used to break up phrases
Descending sequences (e.g. bar 20)
Ornaments:
Trills (bar13)
Appoggiaturas (bar35)
Grace notes (bar6)
Upper mordents (bar22)
Lower mordents (bar1)
Syllabic
Melismatic
Melismatic Defintion
A group of notes used to just one syllable of text.
Syllabic Defintion
When singing, each syllable has a note.
Articulation Purcell
…
Dynamics Purcell
no dynamics
Texture Purcell
Melody and accompaniment
Homophony
Acomp - harpsichord, ground bass and bass violin
Right hand harpsichord is an elaborate realisation and provides counterpoint with vocal line.
Counterpoint definition
One or more independent melodies added above or below a given melody which creates a polyphonic texture.
Structure Purcell
Ground bass structure
Basso ostinato
Ternary Form da capo aria structure. (bar 29)
Ternary ABA
Ground bass Definition
A short, recurring melodic pattern in the bass
that acts as the principle structural element, while melodic change above it.
Common technique in Baroque.
Features of the ground bass…
- Repeated phrases
- Sequences
Cadences
- Sequences
It is three bars long.
Quaver rhythms
Melodic shape is arpeggio based.
Semitone intervals.
Rising line, starting on A then moving up to a B, C, D and E before falling at the end
of the phrase.
At the end of the ground, fall of an octave.
Ends with chord V but a sense of a perfect cadence
The Ground bass is heard 4 1⁄2 times in the Tonic key before it starts to modulate in bar 14, using motifs from the original ground bass.
The ground returns in the original key in bar 23
beat 3 for a three-bar reminder. It returns, complete in bar 29 and is heard a further three times before the close of the piece
Harmony Purcell
Diatonic and functional.
Perfect cadences (bars 3–4)
Suspensions (bar 3)
Dissonances ( word ‘pains’ in bar 12 )
Dissonance used is false relation, which can be seen in bar 1 with an F♯ in the ground bass and a F♮ in the right hand of the harpsichord.
Dissonance Definition
A clash between notes
Diatonic Defintion
Notes belonging to the key of the piece
Suspension Defintion
Prolonging a note to create a dissonance with the next chord.
Instruments Purcell
Voice (most usually a tenor) continuo.
For soprano, harpsichord and bass viol
Right hand harpsichord is an elaborate realisation and is highly decorative and embellished , frequent dotted rhythms, ornamentation such as upper and lower mordents, grace notes and appoggiaturas.
Chords are frequently arpeggiated or spread rapidly from the lowest to highest note (e.g. bar 13).
The left hand of the harpsichord plays the ground bass and Bass violin played ground bass.
Rhythm, Tempo, Metre
No tempo marking
Slow tempo applied
4/4 metre quadruple time
wide variety of rhythms
quavers, semiquavers
Dotted Rhythm (bar 10)
Syncopation (bar 20)
Off- beat rhymes (bar 24)
Ground bass presented in quavers
Quadruple Metre Defintion
A time signature that is split into 4 main beats
Syncopation Defintion
A strong or stressed note occurs on the weak beat or a bar
Conjunct Definition
Where a melody moves by steps and not by leaps
Tonality Purcell
A minor
Chromatic ground bass
non diatonic ground bass
Modulations, E minor (bar14), G Major (bar 16),C major (bar 21), A major (bar 23), E minor (bar 27).
Tonic key again bar 28, A minor
Modulations confirmed by perfect cadences.
Word Painting Definition
Depicting a word in music to imitate its meaning
Word painting
Vocal Line syllabic
Paired slurring (e.g. bar 5, for and a)
Melismatic moments (bar 10, Wondering)
Extended Melisma (bar 20, eternal)
“music” “drop”
“pains were eas’d” - descending sequence bar 13-14
“Drop” ddesciding pattern on offbeat bae 23-25
“wondering” bar 10, descending legato melismatic melody.
“eternal” bar 20, Lengthy melisma with repetitive alternating notes
“free the dead” bar 16-17, G major, containing rising melodies
Soprano Defintion
A high pitched female singer
Continuo Definition
The bass line in a Baroque orchestral, chamber and choral works. Most commonly played by low string instruments and chord playing instruments
Figured Bass Defintion
A type of musical shorthand for a keyboard player.
The figures indicate the chord to be played above the bass note and whether or not this is in the root position, first or second inversion.
Chromatic Definition
Using notes that do not belong to the tonic key.
3 characters of ground bass
Repeated phrases
Sequences
Cadences