Ariel

Question 1

How does Ariel use tonality?

Answer 1

Ariel does not use major/minor keys or functional tonality, but neither is it atonal. The music is fluid and chromatic, not settling into tonal centres in the usual way. However, certain sections open out from and return to notes that become what might be called “anchor points”

Question 2

How is an “anchor point” used at the start?

Answer 2

The first note heard is a middle C from which notes” fan out” on either side (B- C# etc).

However, it continues to play an important part, is often repeated and returned to for the first few bars and the music returns to the same note in the final bar

Question 3

How are “anchor points” used in section 2?

Answer 3

At the beginning (bar 43), the flute outlines a G maior triad and the note G (as well as D) also remains an important reference point for the first 4 or 5 bars. At the end of the section it is returned to again (see bar 61 where a high G drops to D)

Also in section 2, the low C# to which the flute returns at the end of every phrase becomes an anchor

Question 4

How are “anchor points” used in the 5/8 section (bars 102-111)?

Answer 4

The principal repeated chord has a bass note of C#, while the uppermost voice has a repeated note of D

Question 5

Which part is more important?

Answer 5

Neither - both the flute and piano parts are of equal importance : the way in which the two instruments react to one another lies at the heart of this piece

Question 6

What is the texture like in bars 1-10?

Answer 6

Fragmented texture - the two instruments pass the tiny 2 and 3-note figures back and forth, constantly adding new pitches to them, almost like a conversation.

Question 7

What do textural changes in bars 10-17 represent?

Answer 7

The introduction of harmony in the piano at bars 10-11 is similar to introducing a new idea into the conversation.

The long piano chord at bars 15-17 continues this - the composer writes of it, “ The piano, daunted, lapses into silence”

Question 8

How is tessitura used in the work?

Answer 8

The tessitura of the flute gradually rises in baars 1-18 from its lowest notes to its highest at the end of the section.

This use of tessitura is important in helping to shape sections throughout the work and define their climactic points. See also similar focal points such as bars 35 or 68

Question 9

How do the flute and piano interact in bars 24-36?

Answer 9

In the section starting at bat 24 the flute and piano seem to restart their conversation, but the flute’s part becomes increasingly independent, the two only coming back together in unison at bars 35-36

Question 10

What purpose does the section for flute alone between bars 43-61 serve?

Answer 10

Develops the idea of the instrument as an independent character and helps create variety of texture, adding dramatic weight to the re-entry of the piano at bar 62

Question 11

What purpose does the section for flute alone between bars 43-61 serve?

Answer 11

Develops the idea of the instrument as an independent character and helps create variety of texture, adding dramatic weight to the re-entry of the piano at bar 62

Question 12

What does the texture throughout Section 3 convey?

Answer 12

Emphasises the emotional difference between the two parts. Both seem to have entirely different material, the flute free and extravagant while the piano, in the composer’s words, “attempts to coax the flute back into the ensemble with insistent, rhythmic chords”

Question 13

Where and how does the interaction between the two instruments reach its climax?

Answer 13

In section 4 (bars 90-1201 where an “energetic dance” is introduced. The difference between the two instruments is emphasised by the polyrhythmic relationship of this passage

Question 14

What is the goal of the final section in the storyline?

Answer 14

Attempts to bring the two disparate parts back together. The flute attempts “to return to its earlier lyricism, the piano, ever patient, gently joins in, supporting the dying melody. The flute is too exhausted to protest”

Question 15

What pieces also use the fragmented style of texture seen in this work?

Answer 15

This style of texture was common in much avant-garde music of the 1950s and early 60s. In works like Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître (1954) or Stockhausen’s Kontrapunkte (1953) the texture is often similarly fragmented in this pointillistic manner

Question 16

What form is most of the texture in Ariel in?

Answer 16

Two or three-part counterpoint, with the piano often moving in independent lines in response to the flute port. this underlines the importance of the harmonic passages when they do occur

Question 17

What happens harmonically at bars 10-12?

Answer 17

The first harmonic passage of the piece. All the chords here are based around major and minor triads (Bb major, G maior, F major (no 5th), E minor, A minor, and E minor). to these there is an added one extra note, a semitone apart from one of the other notes in the chord.

Most other chords in the same passage are variations of this (sometimes the 5th might be missing from the triad)

Question 18

What happens harmonically in bars 72-87?

Answer 18

The chords are mainly (but not exclusively) bitonal in their makeup.
Eg.
75-77: F / E maior
77: C minor / D minor
80: A / D major, D minor / C major
etc.

The chords’ ‘lean’ sound is achieved by not sounding one full (ie. 3-note) chord against another; instead the chord is reduced to 2 notes - a 5th or a 3rd

Question 19

What is the harmony in the penultimate section (bars 91-120) like?

Answer 19

The chords in bars 102-110 consist of ccommon chords in the right hand (for instance G# minor against Bb major) or clusters of notes in bitonal combinations (for instance B-C-D in the right hand against Eb major in the left hand)

Question 20

How is metre used in Ariel?

Answer 20

The use of time signatures is generally restricted to simple metres such as 3/4 and 4/4 (with one 7/8 bar in Section 4).

However, within these there is much use of either polyrhythm or other devices for disguising where the actual bar line falls

Question 21

Where is the barline disguised?

Answer 21

In the opening bars where the space between the beginning of each group of notes between both instruments gradually opens out by a quaver and then closes back in again: 2:3:4:5:5:3:3 etc.

A similar device can be seen in the quaver rests between the reiterated piano chords from bar 72 onwards: 3:4:2:3:3:3:2:2:3:4:3:5 etc.

Question 22

What are some examples of polyrhythm within the piece?

Answer 22

Between bars 90-93, the flute and piano open in overlapping polyrhythms of 5/8 (although the passage is notated in 4/4 and 3/4)

From bar 102-08, the piano reiterates a 5/8 rhythm (though notated in 3/4) against a constantly fluctuating rhythmic passage in the flute (from 102 in quavers: 5+3+3+2+3+3+5+4+3+3+3+3+2 etc)

Question 23

How does Ariel use serialism?

Answer 23

some of the melodic lines in Ariel outline the 12 notes of the chromatic scale as used in serial technique. For instance, at the outset of the work, the flute and piano gradually introduce 11 of the 12 notes. This differs from classical serial technique insofar as notes are repeated as others are gradually introduced (normally notes would not be repeated until all 12 are introduced).

The composer writes: “The piece is basically highly chromatic, not 12-note; it avoids the obvious repetition of pitches in some areas and the cultivation of it in others!”

Question 24

What are 3 ways dynamics are used in Ariel?

Answer 24

To create the overall shape of sections and establish moments of climax (eg. bars 1-17 moving from pp to ff)

To create a sense of dialogue between the flute and piano (eg. bars 1-10, 61-71 or 125-132)

To create an insistent call and response between the two instruments using just one f dynamic marking (eg. bars 74-82)