2- Music for a while - Purcell

Question 1

Purcell context

Answer 1

Baroque
1692
word painting

Question 2

Melody Purcell

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Melismatic Defintion

Answer 3

A group of notes used to just one syllable of text.

Question 4

Syllabic Defintion

Answer 4

When singing, each syllable has a note.

Question 5

Articulation Purcell

Answer 5

…

Question 6

Dynamics Purcell

Answer 6

no dynamics

Question 7

Texture Purcell

Answer 7

Melody and accompaniment
Homophony

Acomp - harpsichord, ground bass and bass violin
Right hand harpsichord is an elaborate realisation and provides counterpoint with vocal line.

Question 8

Counterpoint definition

Answer 8

One or more independent melodies added above or below a given melody which creates a polyphonic texture.

Question 9

Structure Purcell

Answer 9

Ground bass structure
Basso ostinato
Ternary Form da capo aria structure. (bar 29)
Ternary ABA

Question 10

Ground bass Definition

Answer 10

A short, recurring melodic pattern in the bass

that acts as the principle structural element, while melodic change above it.
Common technique in Baroque.

Question 11

Features of the ground bass…

Answer 11

• Repeated phrases
  
  • Sequences
    Cadences

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

Question 12

Harmony Purcell

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Dissonance Definition

Answer 13

A clash between notes

Question 14

Diatonic Defintion

Answer 14

Notes belonging to the key of the piece

Question 15

Suspension Defintion

Answer 15

Prolonging a note to create a dissonance with the next chord.

Question 16

Instruments Purcell

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Rhythm, Tempo, Metre

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Quadruple Metre Defintion

Answer 18

A time signature that is split into 4 main beats

Question 19

Syncopation Defintion

Answer 19

A strong or stressed note occurs on the weak beat or a bar

Question 20

Conjunct Definition

Answer 20

Where a melody moves by steps and not by leaps

Question 21

Tonality Purcell

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Word Painting Definition

Answer 22

Depicting a word in music to imitate its meaning

Question 23

Word painting

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Soprano Defintion

Answer 24

A high pitched female singer

Question 25

Continuo Definition

Answer 25

The bass line in a Baroque orchestral, chamber and choral works. Most commonly played by low string instruments and chord playing instruments

Question 26

Figured Bass Defintion

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Chromatic Definition

Answer 27

Using notes that do not belong to the tonic key.

Question 28

3 characters of ground bass

Answer 28

Repeated phrases Sequences Cadences