Schoenberg-Peripetie Flashcards
Which movement of ‘Five Orchestral Pieces’ is Peripetie?
The fourth
Why did Schoenberg write ‘Five Orchestral Pieces’ for a big orchestra?
Because it allowed him to make lots of contrasts in texture, timbre and dynamics.
What is the instrumentation of the woodwind section in Peripetie?
three flutes, a piccolo, three oboes, a cor anglais, three clarinets, a bass clarinet, three bassoons and a contrabassoon.
What is the instrumentation of the brass section in Peripetie?
Six horns, three trumpets, four trombones and a tuba
What is the instrumentation of the percussion section in Peripetie?
Timpani, cymbals, a xylophone and more.
What happened to the instrumentation in Schoenberg’s revision of ‘Five Orchestral Pieces in 1949?
There were fewer clarinets, oboes, bassoons, horns and trombones. This made it more easily accessible for smaller orchestras.
What does the fact that Schoenberg didn’t use a conventional structure for Peripetie mean?
That there isn’t an obvious melody
What did Schoenberg use instead of an obvious melody in Peripetie?
Melodic fragments and comlicated, fragmented rhythms
What is each melodic fragment in Peripetie based on?
A hexachord, which is a group of six notes from the twelve different semitones
What is a hexachord?
A group of six notes from the twelve different semitones
Peripetie is atonal, what does this mean?
That it isn’t written in a key
Is Peripetie tonal or atonal, and why?
Atonal because it isn’t written in a key
What does Schoenberg use hexachords for in Peripetie?
He uses them to create dissonances
What are the six semitones not used in the hexachord called?
The complement
What is Peripetie marked as?
Sehr rasch (very fast)
Peripetie is an example of Klangfarbenmelodie, what does this mean?
tone-colour-melody
By breaking up the melody of Peripetie by passing it round different parts, what does Schoenberg give the tune?
Variations in the timbre (tone colour)
In Section A of Peripetie, how do the instruments play?
In groups, but only for a bar or two at a time; the little bits of tune are passed around the orchestra
In Section A of Peripetie, what are the dynamics?
It starts off ery loud, but drops to pianissimo (pp) in bar 6.
In Section A of Peripetie, does every instrument in the orchestra get to play?
Yes
In Section B of Peripetie, does every instrument in the orchestra get to play?
Yes
In Section B of Peripetie, how do the instruments play?
Mostly alone; they are all playing different rhythms and the parts overlap
Towards the end of Section B in Peripetie, how do the instruments play?
Almost every instrument plays at the same time, but not the same rhythms.
Towards the end of Section B in Peripetie, how is the music texturally?
It has a very thick texture due to many different rhythms being played at the same time
