Saariaho Melody Flashcards
What conditions are needed in ‘Petals’ for the moments of ‘melodic’ content?
Melody occurs in the energetic sections. She uses clear rhythmic ideas with micro-tonal interval structures.
Explain what melodies using ‘quarter tones’ means.
A quarter tone is when a musical octave is divided into 24 subsections, instead of the usual ‘chromatic’ scale of 12.
Where does Saariaho use quarter tone melody?
Staves 4 to 7 uses material from her earlier work ‘Nympheas’. The melodic ideas are very densely packed into chromatic scale-like phrases, often overlapping the beats. The melody typically goes from G up to C. The section ends with glissandi (slide) the ultimate microtonal movement between notes.
Explain retrograde.
Retrograde is when a melodic idea is played backwards: e.g. CDE would become EDC.
Explain sequence.
When a fragment of melody is repeated, but higher or lower in pitch.
Explain augmentation of pitch.
When an interval is repeated, but made larger. E.g C to E becomes C to E#.
What melodic ornamentation does Saariaho use?
Trills and mordents (see stave 10)
What is the difference between a trill and a mordent?
A trill is continuous/longer, whereas a mordent means play the note, then the note above then the starting note.
Where is there a core melodic idea in the piece?
Stave 109/116: a falling idea, based around repetitions and elaborations around a more or less fixed groups of pitches, rather like a mode or scale – in this case the notes (reading downwards) F♯, E♭, D, B♭, A and G♯ are the ‘core’ of this structure
Describe the melodic idea from staves 17-19.
Stave 109/116: a falling idea, based around repetitions and elaborations around a more or less fixed groups of pitches, rather like a mode or scale – in this case the notes (reading downwards) F♯, E♭, D, B♭, A and G♯ are the ‘core’ of this structure
What are the main melodic ideas you could say exist in ‘Petals’?
Stave 10 falling idea.
Stave 17-19 major 7th idea
Stave 20-22 similar to 17-19 but use of retrograde and held low note
Stave 23-27 5 similar phrases ending on an F#
Describe the melodic idea from staves 20-22.
working with basically the same idea as 17-19, but this time with a held low C beneath the climb upwards, and with a glissando to the highest note. Staves 21–22 reverse the direction to return (by more or less the same route) to a concluding low C.
Describe the melodic idea from staves 23-27.
a return to the pizzicato notes at the low end of the phrase, with seven very similar phrases, of which the first five finish on a high F♯, as before, this time played tremolando. The sixth phrase here slides from the high F♯ the complete compass of the phrase back to the low C, while the seventh extends the range of the idea to its extreme, by sliding further up from the usual top note, to the highest note possible.
