Listening 3

Question 1

Violin Concerto in D, mvt. 3

Answer 1

Brahms

• classical form
• ​definition of concerto has not changed since Vivaldi:
  
  • 3 mvmts
  • virtuosity
• 3rd mvmt ⇒ rondo, A B A’ C B A’’ cad₁ cad₂ coda
  
  • Theme A = a a b’ a traditional form, quicker and quicker repetitions (seems to contradict meter ⇒ very Brahms)
  • Ep B = upward scale_solo , downward scale_orch
  • Ep C = ¾ time
  • coda = 6/8 time, swinging march tempo
  • transitions in mvmt = rapid virtuoso scales

Question 2

Symphony no. 1, mvt. 3

Answer 2

Mahler

• march and trio form (like Classical minuet and trio)
• irony - sentimentality, nostalgia
• tension
• high art (fugue) × pop/children’s tune
• use canon or chase (strict imitation)
• hyper-Romanticism
• excessive emotionalism
• between major and minor
• Section 1: distortions/alterations of Frere Jacques
  
  • minor mode @slow tempo
• Section 2: distorted, fragmentary dance-music phrases alternate with fragments of funeral march
• Section 3: “trio,” in warm major mode w/triplet harp accomp.
  
  • melody by strings, then oboe and solo violins
• Section 4: combines 1 and 2, in a diff key, new counterpoint in trumpets

Question 3

“Clouds” from Three Nocturnes

Answer 3

Debussy

• Impressionism?
• start = quiet chords by clarinet & bassoons
  
  • ​chords aren’t definitive; they don’t lead anywhere
• motive in English horn ⇒ vague rhythm and fading conclusion
• parallel chords ⇒ very Debussy
  
  • ​chords all share rich, complex structure
  • pitches slip downwards, moving parallel w/o est. a clear tonality
• approx A B A’ form; very fluid
• Romanticism
  
  • descriptive title
  • ref. Nocturne
• Anti-Romanticism
  
  • melody
  • harmony
  • rhythm & meter
  • orchestration
  • form

Question 4

The Rite of Spring

Answer 4

Stravinsky

• Introduction: puts bassoon in uncomfortable range (tbt to Mahler)
  
  • ​dissonant polyphony
  • like a static series of preliminary fanfares
• Omens of Spring - Dance of the Adolescents: rhythmic irregularity
  
  • ​very dissonant chord repeated until the end of time
  • heavy accents reinforced by French horns; upset ordinary meter
  • ostinato ⇒ repeating chords overlaid w/new motives
    
    • ​motives repeated w/slightly diff rhythms and lengths
• music interrupts itself
• polyrhythm
• ostinato

Question 5

Pierrot Lunaire

Answer 5

Schoenberg

• sprechstimme ⇒ Schoenberg’s invention, sound isnt fully organized into pitches; not exactly singing or speaking
• expressionism
• song cycle - singer, unusual –> ensemble
• text ⇒ Giroud, symbolist
  
  • tension, nervousness
  • insanity
• lunacy
• maximized dissonance
• “Night”: passacaglia; dominated by 3 note chromatic ostinato
  
  • nightmarish aspect of expressionism
• “Moonfleck”: dense, dissonant, atonal, intense motivic insistence
  
  • high pitched motives depict flickering moonlight

Question 6

Wozzeck

Answer 6

Berg

• play - Büchner
• expressionist opera
  
  • ​uses leitmotives, contains no arias
• master rhythm ⇒ single short rhythm, repeated over and over with slight modifications, but presented in many diff tempos
  
  • ​gives sense of nightmare and fixation
• dissonant, atonal

Question 7

“The Rockstrewn Hills”

Answer 7

Ives

• false starts
• dance fragment first in strings, then woodwinds, gets more dissonant and atonal
• passage of forceful, irregular rhythms
• @climax = homophony and irregular pounding rhythms ala Rite
• new section = fragmentary march in trombones