Ariel Detailed Analysis

Question 1

When was the work premiered?

Answer 1

June 27th 1988

Question 2

Who was the work commissioned for?

Answer 2

Nicola Ellis and Sadie Harrison

Question 3

How is the flute characterised?

Answer 3

Spontaneous and demonstrative

Not good at taking the feelings of others (e.g. the piano) into account

Rushed headline into situations without thinking of the consequences

Question 4

How is the piano characterised?

Answer 4

Patient

Tries all sorts of ways to partner the flute

Sometimes daunted by the situation

Question 5

What is “narrative form”?

Answer 5

Proposing a narrative to the listener through a programme note

Can bring alive a piece of music and stimulate the imagination

Question 6

What does the title refer to?

Answer 6

The character Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Question 7

What is the overall structure?

Answer 7

Section 1 (Capriccioso): 1-42
Section 2 (Andantino) flute alone: 43-60
Section 3 (Tempo 1): 61-89
Section 4 (Allegro): 90-119
Section 5 (Lento): 120-132

Question 8

What are the grace notes at the start based on?

Answer 8

Semitones - major 7ths and minor 9ths

Question 9

What what notes are covered over the first 9 bars?

Answer 9

Almost all notes of the chromatic scale (excluding D)

Question 10

How is the texture thickened from bar 9 onwards?

Answer 10

Harmonisation of motifs in the piano - major and minor triads with added semitone

Question 11

How does the flute part develop in bars 13-18?

Answer 11

Gets longer and more complicated, now using a wide variety of intervals as almost the whole range of the instrument is explored

Question 12

Where is the A-F fall in the flute part in bars 18-20 echoed in the piano?

Answer 12

D-Bb in bars 22-23

Question 13

What is happening in bars 24-34?

Answer 13

Another build-up of the two-note motif

Question 14

What happens in bars 35-36?

Answer 14

A clear homophonic declaration of a 9-note phrase by both instruments

Question 15

What happens in bars 37-41?

Answer 15

Winding down of the material

3-note figure in flute bar 37 is extended into a 4-note figure in the piano RH in bar 39

Question 16

Describe bar 42

Answer 16

Flute plays version of 4-note figure

Very high B in flute helps define the total range of the piece

Final long D in piano LH completes the initial series of 12 notes from the start

Question 17

What is section 2?

Answer 17

A cadenza for flute alone

Question 18

How does the C# anchor the harmony in the cadenza?

Answer 18

Reoccurs at the ends of phrases

Sonorous pitch

Question 19

What happens at the end of the cadenza?

Answer 19

Phrases end with dropping 4ths (B-F#; F-C; G-D)

Links in with end of section 1 (dropping 4th B-F#) which is heard an 8ve lower at bar 58

Question 20

Describe Section 3

Answer 20

Scherzo-like passage

Develops and expands material from Section 1

Introduces material of following section

Question 21

Where is the highest point in the piece reached?

Answer 21

Bars 68-69: High A in the flute

Question 22

How is the highest note in the music approached?

Answer 22

With a gradual increase in activity and dynamic

Question 23

Where do we previously hear the triplet figure in bars 68-69?

Answer 23

Bars 30-32

Question 24

How do the staccato repeated chords develop through Section 3?

Answer 24

Introduced in piano in bar 62 then disappear until bar 72 where they become more regular below the flute’s two-note figures

Question 25

Where does the 3-note figure return in Section 3?

Answer 25

Returns in bas 83-84 and is obsessively repeated In bars 88-89