Night Dances Mvmt II

Question 1

How is this movement structured?

Answer 1

1-25 Dance 1a
26-33 Dance 2a
34-45 Dance 1b
46-144 Dance 2b

Question 2

Where is Dance 1a?

Answer 2

Bars 1-25

Question 3

How can the flute line generally be described in Dance 1a?

Answer 3

Long and unbroken, but falling into 3 sections

Question 4

Where does start of the flute melody in bar 3 derive from?

Answer 4

Starts with the motif from movement 1 first heard in bar 51 and last heard in 143-150

Question 5

How can the LH in bars 1-8 be described?

Answer 5

Unchanging rising Aeolian bass in crotchets

Question 6

How can the tonality of the flute line in bars 1-8 be described?

Answer 6

Tracing a line in A, but with major/minor ambiguity around the third.

With the exception of bar 3, the remainder of the line uses a minor form of the blues scale on F#

Question 7

How does the rising bass figure change in Dance 1a?

Answer 7

Root changes from A (1-6), to C (7-13), back to A (15-19), then finally moves through A-Ab-D-Eb

Question 8

How can the flute melody in bars 9-16 be described?

Answer 8

A continuation of the previous melody, still in the same tonality and using the blues scale

Question 9

How can the metre in bars 9-16 be described?

Answer 9

Changing between 3/8 and 4/4, but not as regularly as in mvmt I

Question 10

How can the flute part be described in bars 17-25?

Answer 10

A concluding section to the melody, against an unstable harmonic background

Question 11

Where is Dance 2a?

Answer 11

Bars 26-33

Question 12

What can Dance 2a be likened to and why is it not this?

Answer 12

It gives the impression of a bridge passage of an interlude

BUT its reappearance in bar 46 (Dance 2b) makes the idea dominate the movement

Question 13

What does Dance 2a consist of?

Answer 13

A series of accelerating arpeggiated figurations around an open 5th on F#

Question 14

How can the harmony of Dance 2a be described?

Answer 14

More traditional harmony based around a chord on F#-C

Question 15

Which work does the composer compare the harmony of Dance 2a to and what does this tell us?

Answer 15

Bach Prelude in C (the first of his 48 Preludes and Fugues)

Because the notes F#-C# remain constant throughout, but the other notes gradually shift (one or a pair of notes every bar)

This gradual shifting allows the piece to move through several tonal centres in Dance 2b at the end

Question 16

What comment can be made about the pitch of the piano in Dance 2a?

Answer 16

Uses a higher tessitura when the flute is not playing

Question 17

Where is Dance 1b?

Answer 17

Bars 34-45

Question 18

How can the LH part in Dance 1b be described?

Answer 18

Returns to the ascending bass figure heard in Dance 1a, now rooted on a pedal note of F# throughout the section

Question 19

Where is the 6-bar flute melody in bars 34-39 derived from?

Answer 19

The phrase starting at bar 17 (concluding section of dance 1a)

Question 20

Where can the figure played in the RH at the start of Dance 1b be found earlier in the movement?

Answer 20

Bar 3 in the flute

Question 21

How can the relationship between the flute and the RH at the start of Dance 1b be described?

Answer 21

Contrapuntal

Question 22

How can the new idea heard in the flute in bars 40-42 be described?

Answer 22

A melodic idea outlining a major 3rd (G#-B), featuring grace notes and culminating in a trill

Question 23

What do the final 5 bars of Dance 1b act as and how does it do this?

Answer 23

A transition into the next section.

Maintains F# ascending figure in LH and introduces a decorated G# in the flute

Question 24

Where is Dance 2b?

Answer 24

Bars 46-114

Question 25

What can Dance 2b as a whole be described as?

Answer 25

A reprise of the arpeggiated figuration from the first appearance of Dance 2a

Question 26

Describe the four-bar passage between bars 46-49

Answer 26

Return of the arpeggiated figuration from bars 26-33 over the tonality of F# and accelerating to a new tempo of crotchet = 126

Question 27

How can the flute melody in bars 50-80 be described?

Answer 27

Long and continuous

Falls into 3 sections:
First two mirror each other (bars 53-61 and 62-69) whilst the third is a more elaborate version of the first two

Question 28

What is the piano part of Dance 2b like rhythmically?

Answer 28

Largely made up of groups of four semiquavers, occasionally changing to groups of quintuplets

Question 29

How does the underlying harmonic rhythm change in bars 50-80?

Answer 29

Moves through a number of different pedal points.

Starts with F# (50-56)
Alternates between A and E (57-69)
C# (70-73)
F# (74-80)

Question 30

How can the flute melody in bars 54-61 be described?

Answer 30

First section of flute melody in bars 50-80

Consists of a 2-part melodic line based on passage from 40-42

The first covers a minor 3rd (E-G) with tonal centre F# major

The second covers a major 3rd (G-B) with tonal centre E major

Question 31

How can the flute melody in bars 62-69 be described?

Answer 31

Second section of flute melody in bars 50-80

Similar two-part melodic line to the first section, but in a tessitura an octave or so higher

The first part covers a minor 3rd (A-C)

The second part covers two minor thirds (A-C and C-Eb)

Tonal centre alternates between A and E

Question 32

How can the flute melody in bars 70-80 be described?

Answer 32

Third section of flute melody in bars 50-80

Elaborated version of the melody in the same octave as the second section

The first part covers a minor 3rd (F#-A) and is based off the passage heard in bars 40-42

The second part covers a minor 3rd (C#-E)

Tonal centres C# minor and F# at the close

Question 33

How can the section between bars 81-114 be described?

Answer 33

A passage for piano consisting entirely of the already established figuration

Question 34

What are the three registers of the keyboard that the piano part between 81-114 passes through?

Answer 34

Bass and LH (81-83)

Treble stave range (84-97)

Centre of treble range and ledger lines (98-114)

Question 35

How is textural change created in bars 81-114?

Answer 35

Through dynamics

Reach greatest intensity at bars 88 and 96 and form a diminuendo at the close

Question 36

How can the harmony in bars 81-114 be described?

Answer 36

Moves from F# at the outset (82) through C# (from around 90) and eventually settling in G at bar 98 and then gradually moving to C at the close