Vaughan Williams - WL

Question 1

Taverner - The Lamb

Answer 1

Set to a poem from Songs of Innocence by William
Blake. Poetic structure used, strophic form.
An anthem – a work with English text for the choir to
sing in a church service.
Uses Aeolian mode in melody and harmony.
The music is flexible and guided by words.

Question 2

Grieg - Morning Mood

Answer 2

Influenced by Norwegian folk music.
Romantic composer.
Uses pentatonic scale of E major for
the melody in the woodwind
(reminescent of string and piano
theme in Wenlock Edge (0:40)).

Question 3

Tippett - Concerto for double string orchestra

Answer 3

English music for strings from the early 20th century.
Influenced by secular music of 16th and early 17thC which are flexible in metre, (madrigals and fantasias),
British folk music influenced the melodic style of some themes (movements II and III).
Ambiguous tonality as a result of modes and pentatonic scales. Uses Lydian Mode.
Non-functional harmony: False relations bare resemblance with English
Renaissance music that use mixolydian mode.

Question 4

Debussy

Answer 4

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un Faune: Inspired by symbolist poetry by Stephane Mallarme. Unusual instrumentation in its addition of antique cymbals, Colourful
orchestration: Extended techniques on strings. Use of chord extensions; 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th notes. Chromatic harmony. Whole tone scale. Minor pentatonic on C#.
Sarabande: Uses Aeolian mode- abandons major and minor kind of tonality. Parallelism.
Pagodes: Accompaniment dissolves into trills towards the end.
The bell effects in ‘Bredon Hill’ are reminiscent of Debussy’s piano piece ‘The Submerged Cathedral’

Question 5

Sullivan - The Window

Answer 5

Song cycle; A sequence of songs linked by a narrative. The song cycle was a novelty in the English language, as other composers like Schubert had done so before in German.
‘On the Hill’: rippling piano accompaniment.
‘Gone’: Recitative like, ‘talking’ with repetitive notes,
Imitates natural rhythms of speech, restricted note range.