Wagner Flashcards
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of melody?
- Thick texture built up by doubling of melodic lines and interweaving melodic ideas.
- ‘Glance’ motif and ‘glance elaboration’ are played by all the strings in octaves against the descending passages in the wind.
- Bar 80, the ‘longing’ motif is played repeated with increasing intensity in the cellos and horns until bar 83.
- Chromatic rising scales.
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of rhythm and metre?
- Rhythmic complexity before bar 83. Most of the wind has a quaver followed by a crotchet in bar 81 so the first beat of the bar is not accented.
- Syncopation in bars 81-2 in the cellos and brass.
- Fast ascending triplets in the violins starting from bar 66-67.
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of texture?
- ‘Glance’ motif and ‘glance elaboration’ are played by all the strings in octaves against the descending passages in the wind.
- Winds play the ‘love potion’ motif over a falling tritone in the trumpets, while trumpet 1 plays the ‘desire’ motif’.
- There are sudden contrasts in dynamics.
- Dynamics as bar 83 is the loudest part of the piece.
- Thick texture built up by doubling of melodic lines and interweaving melodic ideas.
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of structure?
-Repetition of motifs. Bar 80, the ‘longing’ motif is played repeated with increasing intensity in the cellos and horns until bar 83.
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of harmony?
- Between bar 81-2, the harmony alternates between the Tristan chord and a B flat 7 chord.
- Rising chromatic notes, especially in the violins triplets in 80 and 81. This chromatic harmony provides tone colour.
- Tristan chord of an augmented 6th is used for its colour and adds emotion to the music.
- The bass instruments have a pedal point as they move up a semitone then return to the sustained E on the following beat.
- The flutes play a sustained D, creating a dominant 7th harmony from bar 67-72.
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of tonality?
-Tonal but chromatic. No real sense of ‘progressive tonality’
How does the music build up to a climax at bar 83 in terms of instrumentation?
-Large symphony orchestra including cor anglais and bass clarinet. More instruments so allows there to be more of a dramatic build up as more and more instruments entre from the beginning of the piece until bar 83.
This contrasts with the silence at the beginning of the piece which creates the sense of anticipation.
-Instrumentation such as double stopping in the viola, tremolo in the bass and viola, octave doubling of the clarinet part and also timpani tremolo (in bars 81-2). The horns support the middle strings and the trombones play sustained harmony from bar 71 to 74.
-Pitch range of instruments throughout orchestra leading up to bar 83. Violins have a high A flat at 83 whilst the second violin, viola and cello all play A flat but octaves lower.
Themes are repeated and get higher and higher each time.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its melody?
- Use of colour. Contrasts in the music, such as silences, present a sense of drama and emotion that was very typical of the late Romantic era.
- Long melodic lines throughout the piece that portray deeper emotions than previous eras.
- The music is built up of a series of Leitmotifs which each represents a different character or emotion. This is very typical of late Romantic music as it is also programmatic, clearly for an Opera.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its tonality?
- Ambiguous tonality due to Chromaticism and the use of the Tristan chord throughout.
- Very few cadences as they would stop the music. The first cadence is interrupted in bar 17 and then the first perfect cadence in is bar 24, just before the ‘love potion’.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its structure?
- Through composed structure so all sections are difficult to determine. This is mainly due to the number of smaller motifs within each section that a frequently repeated throughout the piece.
- It is late Romantic as it could possibly be seen as in Sonata Form, however, there is not a traditional Recapitulation section.
- The music is built up of a series of Leitmotifs which each represents a different character or emotion. This is very typical of late Romantic music as it is also programmatic, clearly for an Opera.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its harmony?
-Use of colour. Contrasts in the music, such as silences, present a sense of drama and emotion that was very typical of the late Romantic era.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its instrumentation?
- Use of very large orchestra. Romantic orchestras were large but Wagner was known for having the largest orchestra, so clearly he developed the already Romantic orchestra.
- Detailed writing for instruments. Terms such as ‘belebt’ meaning animated, ‘piu’ –more and ‘expressivo’ –espressive. Also ‘sul G’ for violins which is a very precise direction to play on the G string, producing a softer, smoother sound instead of a string crossing.
- Exploits instruments potential. Strings play pizz and arco very close together such as in bar 16 and 17.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its rhythm and metre?
- Freedom of tempo. The beginning beat is very difficult to discern due to its slow tempo and silences.
- Frequent use of ‘rit’ and ‘a tempo’ throughout which makes the beat much more ambiguous and free.
- Use of syncopation, ties and long phase lines. Creates a much freer feel to the music.
How does the piece show it was composed in the second half of the nineteenth century through its texture?
- Detail of dynamics. The first phrase of the piece is pianissimo with a crescendo and diminuendo.
- Extreme dynamics. Use of ‘sf’ throughout, often followed by a ‘piano’. Fortissimo at bar 83.
- Frequent use a pauses to give the music more expression and emotion.
- Contrasts of texture. Starts monophonic and gradually builds up with added instruments.
- The opening woodwind phrase is homophonic. There is also doubling of the melodic lines and linear writing.
- Antiphony is a common feature between the strings and the woodwinds, which represent Tristan and Isolde.
Describe some of the leimotifs
‘Grief’ motif in bar 1 represents Tristan
‘Desire’ motif in bar 2 is the Tristan chord
