Tango Passacaglia Flashcards
What passacaglia principle does this piece adhere to?
Retaining the ground bass at the same pitch at which it initially appears (C minor)
How does the ground bass in this piece differ from that in Bach’s original?
In Bach’s original the there is mainly confined to the bass
Here it rarely appears in the bass after the initial opening statement and moves between the inner voices and top line (only returns to the bass at bars 100-05 and 133-37)
Means that the tonality is not confined to one key as the tonality surrounding the original ground bass can be changed or use varied harmonisations
How is the tonality surrounding the original ground bass varied?
The first section (to bar 41) is rooted in C minor, but the harmony frequently suggests other keys, without ever establishing an alternative
How is the tonality surrounding the original ground bass changed in bars 29-33?
A series of chords, not functionally related to one another blur the underlying tonality
How is the tonality surrounding the original ground bass changed in bars 7-12?
A chromatically ascending countersubject to the theme in the piano’s bass provides an alternative to the ground bass.
This reappears in many guises, such as the chromatic harmonic descent in bars 35-39
How is the tonality surrounding the original ground bass changed in bars 42-58?
The theme is stretched out over most of the section which moves through a highly chromatic series of harmonic progressions
This is the most extreme section in terms of moving from the tonality of the original theme
How is the tonality surrounding the original ground bass changed in bars 59-64?
Transformation of the theme in the flute, with its C minor tonality harmonised through a series of chords with octatonic inflections
Is the piano or flute part dominant?
Both parts are of equal importance, with sometimes one or the other predominating
How are textures and solorities used?
Mainly traditional, but are constantly used to differentiate between the sections and make the structure clear
How is texture utilised between the first and second sections?
The first section (bars 1-41) gradually moves, variation by variation, farther from the world of Bach to one based on post-Debussyan textures, arriving at a different type of texture altogether for the second section (bars 42-65)
How does the texture in the first part of the second section (bars 42-58)?
Much of the piano part consists of held chords, often articulated in arpeggiated form stretching across 3-4 octaves, giving them depth and density
The flute writing here is forid and quite different from any of the other sections, matched by passages of similar writing in the piano RH
How does the composer describe the harmonic language in the work?
“Traditional (with a bass line rooted in the eighteenth century and clearly punctuated cadences) but with a highly decorated surface, which is an intentional debt to some modern composers of the early twentieth century”
How does the harmony in the first section reflect the style?
Nowhere do we find a precise imitation of functional harmony as Bach might have used it but, in the first section, it resembles the use of harmony as found in the later 19th century Bach transcriptions of Liszt or the neo-Bachian style of Franck (albeit with certain dissonances that would not be found in these composers’ music such as the piano RH in bars 20, 22-23)
How does the passage in bars 35-38 use harmony to transition to the next section?
Uses a chromatic piano figuration as might be found in Rachmaninov’s music
What are the harmonic characteristics of the second section (bars 42-66)?
It’s the most harmonically complex and Chromatic section of the entire work with deliberate references, in the composers words, to early 20th century British music, particularly Arnold Bax
This consists of a very slow harmonic rhythm made up of a series of unresolved altered sevenths and appoggiaturas which suspends any resolution into a settled key until the following section (from bar 66)
