diminishing species - essay notes

Question 1

what is the CONTEXT?

Answer 1

• 10 Australian species in the 1990s decade going extinct
• repetition of ‘time’ and ‘ten’

Question 2

what is the STRUCTURE

Answer 2

• 10 sections, 6 bars each
• 4 bars of cohesive music & 2 bars of extended techniques and dissonance, followed by a pause

Question 3

what is the PITCH

Answer 3

• 10 note scale –> loses 1 note per section
• repeated ‘E’ ostinato in Violin –> representing time & “tick tock”
• very dissonant but tonal centre is E, established by Violin

Question 4

Texture

Answer 4

• thick & busy (hints of polyphony in the 1st 4 bars of each section)
• usually thinner in the last 2 bars
• Violin crotchet ostinato on ‘E’

Question 5

Duration

Answer 5

• metronomic in the 1st 4 bars –> kept in time with Violin ostinato
• last 2 bars = indefinite rhythm
• ^Sometimes multimetric –> represents uncertainty, destruction & chaos

Question 6

Dynamics, Expressive Techniques & Tone Colour

Answer 6

• use of many extended techniques i.e. Pizzacato, Flutter Tongue, “with sizzle”, trills, tremolo, vibrato
  wide range of dynamics: pianissimo - forte