AoS E Case Studies Flashcards
What is classical about the Poulenc Brass trio?
- Repetitive, diatonic melody (with one chromatic note that brings on the modulation)
- Broken chords
- Modulation to the dominant at the end of the first theme
- Regular cadences
- MDH
What’s the first non-classical idea to notice about the Poulenc brass trio?
The instrumentation, as trombones were never used in the classical period, brass almost never had the melody, and did not have valves to play complex passages and chromatic notes.
What are the features of the section subject of the Poulenc brass trio?
- Time signature changes occasionally for individual bars to add or take away a beat from a phrase.
- Slightly more chromaticism in the harmony, but the melody is still diatonic.
Describe how the B section of the Poulenc brass trio is different to the A section?
- Contrasting legato articulation
- Slower tempo
- The horn gets the melody after the trumpet
- Note the almost virtuosic intervals that the horn and trombone must play in the accompaniment, and then the even larger intervals of two octaves in the trumpet part towards the end
Describe the second Webern bagatelle for string quartet.
- 5/4 throughout (complete rhythmic ambiguity, although beat groupings of bars vary and are specified in the score)
- Uses the full range of most instruments, especially the violin
- Uses multiple different extended techniques, in different instruments at once.
- Playing techniques include Arco, pizzicato, tremolo, spiccato, harmonics, glissando, ‘am Steg’ (at the bridge).
What are the impressionist characteristics of Voiles?
- Short melodic ideas
- Bb pedal, staccato
- Wholetone scales
- Rhythmic ambiguity
- Parallel chords
- Spacious melody
How does Debussy create rhythmic ambiguity in Voiles?
- The melodic ideas regularly change which beat of the bar they start on.
- The piece starts with anacrusis.
- The staccato bass note is rhythmic, but not periodic, and has no note seems to have emphasis over the other, creating quite a flat rhythmic framework with no obvious beat structure.
Comment on the structure in Poulenc’s brass trio.
- Ternary form
- Two themes in each section
- Altered by the second B section theme returning in the middle of the second A section
What are the impressionistic features of Prelude à l’Après Midi d’une Faune?
- Opening flute solo has much rhythmic ambiguity
- Chromatic and pentatonic elements in opening melody
- Tritone intervals in horn line
- Wind dominated, not much brass, harmonic bed of string tremolos, harp glissandi
- Extended chords – first time the main theme is heard, it is harmonised over a Dmaj7
- The second time it is heard, it is harmonised over an inverted C#m7
- The third time it is heard, it is harmonised over an E9 chord
- Strings don’t get melody until start of ‘B section’ (3/4 section)
- Hemiola in B section – woodwind accompaniment in double time, string melody in triple.
What are the characteristics of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire?
- Fragmented, angular melody
- Sprachgesang
- Flute, violin, cello, piano, soprano
- Regular time signature changes
- Irregular phrasing (but there is noticeable phrasing because of the singer, and the time signatures account for this – notice in the Webern piece he just don’t bother with changing the time signature).
- Chromatic ostinato pattern in piano, high in pitch for first four bars
What are the features of Prokofiev’s Symphony 1 (in D)?
- Lots of imitation
- Extra 2/4 bars in the 2/2 movement
- Sonata form
- Modulation to dominant for S2, but unexpected F major chord is used
- Use of Gavotte mvt3 from suite of dances, which has lots of unexpected chordal progressions and modulations.
Describe the Webern quartet op 22.
- The shape of phrases is mimicked and inverted between instruments
- Changing time sig, no pulse or tonal centre
- Many playing techniques (pizz, with mute)
- One tempo used mainly throughout although with rits and a tempos
Describe Webern 6 bagatelles
- Extreme high pitch
- Many techniques (pizz, trem, mute, harmonics, double stopping, at the bridge, glass)
- First bagatelle occasional time sig change, but never pulse
- Second all in 5/4, varying note groupings
- Varying tempo and expression
- Huge intervals
