Night Dances Mvmt II Flashcards
How is this movement structured?
1-25 Dance 1a
26-33 Dance 2a
34-45 Dance 1b
46-144 Dance 2b
Where is Dance 1a?
Bars 1-25
How can the flute line generally be described in Dance 1a?
Long and unbroken, but falling into 3 sections
Where does start of the flute melody in bar 3 derive from?
Starts with the motif from movement 1 first heard in bar 51 and last heard in 143-150
How can the LH in bars 1-8 be described?
Unchanging rising Aeolian bass in crotchets
How can the tonality of the flute line in bars 1-8 be described?
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#
How does the rising bass figure change in Dance 1a?
Root changes from A (1-6), to C (7-13), back to A (15-19), then finally moves through A-Ab-D-Eb
How can the flute melody in bars 9-16 be described?
A continuation of the previous melody, still in the same tonality and using the blues scale
How can the metre in bars 9-16 be described?
Changing between 3/8 and 4/4, but not as regularly as in mvmt I
How can the flute part be described in bars 17-25?
A concluding section to the melody, against an unstable harmonic background
Where is Dance 2a?
Bars 26-33
What can Dance 2a be likened to and why is it not this?
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
What does Dance 2a consist of?
A series of accelerating arpeggiated figurations around an open 5th on F#
How can the harmony of Dance 2a be described?
More traditional harmony based around a chord on F#-C
Which work does the composer compare the harmony of Dance 2a to and what does this tell us?
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
What comment can be made about the pitch of the piano in Dance 2a?
Uses a higher tessitura when the flute is not playing
Where is Dance 1b?
Bars 34-45
How can the LH part in Dance 1b be described?
Returns to the ascending bass figure heard in Dance 1a, now rooted on a pedal note of F# throughout the section
Where is the 6-bar flute melody in bars 34-39 derived from?
The phrase starting at bar 17 (concluding section of dance 1a)
Where can the figure played in the RH at the start of Dance 1b be found earlier in the movement?
Bar 3 in the flute
How can the relationship between the flute and the RH at the start of Dance 1b be described?
Contrapuntal
How can the new idea heard in the flute in bars 40-42 be described?
A melodic idea outlining a major 3rd (G#-B), featuring grace notes and culminating in a trill
What do the final 5 bars of Dance 1b act as and how does it do this?
A transition into the next section.
Maintains F# ascending figure in LH and introduces a decorated G# in the flute
Where is Dance 2b?
Bars 46-114
