Music for a while

Question 1

what are the instruments?

Answer 1

• voice: mostly soprano

- continuo: harpsichord and bass viol

Question 2

what is the structure of this piece?

Answer 2

-ground bass structure

Question 3

what does ground bass structure mean?

Answer 3

• 3 bar long phrases
• quaver rhythms
• arpeggio based
• semitone intervals
• rising line

Question 4

what is the key of this piece? does it modulate?

Answer 4

-in a minor
-central section modulates a lot:
Em (14), Gmj (16), Cmj (21), Amj (23), Em (27)
-modulations are confirmed by perfect cadences

Question 5

what is the tonality like?

Answer 5

-the tonality is ambiguous due to chromatic and non-diatonic nature

Question 6

what is the melody?

Answer 6

• soprano line has the range of a ninth
• leaps are small
• rests used to break up phrases
• descending sequences
• extensive use of ornaments

Question 7

is the music conjunct or disconjunct?

Answer 7

• most of the music is conjunct (stepwise)

- passing notes are frequent

Question 8

how would you describe the metre and tempo?

Answer 8

• no tempo indication

- metre=4/4 (quadruple time)

Question 9

what is the accompaniment/harmony like?

Answer 9

-chords are diatonic
-suspensions
eg. 4–3 in b3
-dissonance is frequent
eg ‘pains’ (b12) ‘easd’ (b13-14)

Question 10

describe the texture

Answer 10

• melody and accompaniment
• accompaniment provided by ground bass in LH harpsichord
• RH harpsichord is an elaborate realisation and provides counter-point

Question 11

what is the word for melody and accompaniment?

Answer 11

-melody-dominated homophony

Question 12

what are the dynamics?

Answer 12

-no dynamics are written in

Question 13

explain the rhythm

Answer 13

• semiquavers and quavers; most pre-dominant
• dotted rhythms
• occasional syncopation (eg b20)

Question 14

what is the ground bass rhythm?

Answer 14

-ground bass is entirely quavers

Question 15

what are some of the performance techniques?

Answer 15

-WORD PAINTING
eg eternal (b20), drop (b23), all (b7-8)

Question 16

is the vocal line syllabic or melismatic? what do these words mean?

Answer 16

• melismatic
• syllabic
• mainly syllabic with melismatic moments

Question 17

what are some devices and features?

Answer 17

• trills (b13)
• appoggiaturas (b35)
• upper mordent (b1)
• lower mordent (b22)
• grace notes (b6)

Question 18

who is the composer?

Answer 18

-Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Question 19

what era was this written?

Answer 19

-baroque

Question 20

what are some features of the baroque era?

Answer 20

• ornamented melodic lines
• establishment of tonality
• use of diatonic chords