Applied - Goldsmith

Question 0

What features of the 21st century does it use?

Answer 0

• Dissonance
• Unconventional instruments and techniques (percussion)
• Serialism, chromaticism
• Harsh, driving and syncopated rhythms

Question 1

What techniques do the brass section use?

Answer 1

• Mutes

• wood (horn, 10)
• straight (trombone, 23)
• plunger (trumpet, 55)

Question 2

What features of the genre (film) does it use?

Answer 2

• Tertiary modulations

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Question 3

What features does it use that display primitivism and terror?

Answer 3

• Unconventional instruments and techniques
• Dissonance
• Prominence of percussion (harsh sounds)
• Avoidance of traditional tonality
• Harsh, driving and syncopated rhythms that emphasize the chase
• Regular time signature changes that create a sense of unease
• Use of diminished 5th interval (26)
• Jagged intervals characterising landscape
• Pizzicato violins (46) - Brash,staccato
• Electric bass clarinet squeaks represent the apes chatter

Question 4

What are some standout of rhythm?

Answer 4

• Continuous quaver rhythms
• Syncopation
• Crossrhythms (42)
• Fragmentary phrases in xylophone (46) - Pointillist effect
• Metre changes
• Sextuplet scale (74)

Question 5

What are some features of harmony?

Answer 5

• Dissonance (opening chord)
• Bare octaves where no dissonance
• Verticalisation of chromatic melodic notes adds to dissonance
• Harmonic interval of semitone used a lot (e.g. violin end of bar 13)
• Tritone (trombone, bar 30)
• 12 note chord at end of bar 42
• Use of diminished 5th (26)

Question 6

What are some features of texture?

Answer 6

• Complex, built over riffs
• Homophonic and homorhythmic opening with tonic pedal in timpani
• Heterophonic (bar 10)
• Tutti climax but homophonic (42)
• Polyrhythm, polyphonic climax (52)
• Imitation counterpoint in strings (74)
• Heterophonic end with ostinati

Question 7

What is the structure?

Answer 7

No formal structure, merely based in the on screen action: 
A (0-9), 
linking bar 10
B (11-22), C (23-34) 
D climactic section (35-44) 
E climactic section (45-58) 
F (59-73, G (74-83)
H final climactic section (84-end)

Question 8

What is the tonality?

Answer 8

Atonal, using tonal centres

Question 9

What tonal centres does the piece go through?

Answer 9

• Begins in C
• G at bar 11
• Eb at bar 23
• Verticalisation destabilizes tonality
• G to Eb is a tertiary modulation