Williams, On Wenlock Edge Flashcards
Williams lifetime
When was Wenlock Edge composed
1872-1958
1909 (breakthrough piece)
Structural device of Wenlock Edge
Consists of
Song cycle
Set of poems from A. E. Housen’s ‘A Shropshire Lad’
3/6 poems
What is Wenlock Edge about
Rural life
Lost innocence
Williams style
What was ‘The New English Hymnel’?
English folk song, characteristically English
Compiled hymn book, compiled English folk songs harmonised (STAB) for choir
Where would the hymnal book be sung
What did it break away from and give access to?
Churches and cathedrals
German Romantic song
Ended language barrier, translation allowed for involvement in church
Sonority
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Voice
String quartet accomp.
Optional piano accomp.: accessibility to replace strings
1 male baritone voice: typical VW
String tech (9)
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Arco
Pitzz
Double/triple stopping (multiple notes at once) = virtuosic
Con sordino = with mute
Senza sordino = w/o mute
Tremolo
Sul ponticello (closer to bridge = scratchy + tension)
Harmonics (press strings lightly w/fingers = not quite there + lost innocence)
Trills
Parallelism
‘On Wenlock Edge’
VW staple
Nostalgic
English folk song
Creates almost atonal
Who plays the ostinato?
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Piano accomp.
Structure
‘On Wenlock Edge’
AABB A/B
A: 1-16
A: 16-31
B: 32-43
B: 43-55
A/B: 55-end
Metre
Frequent time sig changes: adds to unease
How is ‘On Wenlock Edge’ recitative?
Sing narration
Spoken at pitch
How is the rhythm virtuosic?
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Triplets + sextuplets
Bar 33 onwards: rippling hemi-demi-semi-quavers
Texture
Beginning
Bar 50
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Varied
Reduced texture (can’t say thin)
Parallel 1st inversions: unstable
Strings drop out
Leaves voice
Cello joins
Wiry chromatic addition
Voice trails off at end
Key
Chords (tone, type)
‘On Wenlock Edge’
G minor
First chord: E-flat major, then A-flat minor chord (erases E-flat major tone)
Cluster chords
What scales are used?
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Whole tone scale: weirdness, VW characteristic, East Asia
Pentatonic (5 note scale): hilights storm + on ‘heaving hill’
Example of word painting of the wind
‘On Wenlock Edge’
Chromatic violin flourishes
Is my team ploughing
Brendon hill
Wenlock edge applies
Context of ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Conversation between dead and living man
Dead man’s wife married friend
What does ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’ have instead of a key?
Modal harmony (Dorian-II)
t s t t t t s t
Folk song element
What are all the folk song elements?
What are all the VW elements?
What harmonic features makes ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’ gentle?
Subtle syncopation
‘Quast da lantano’
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
As if from a distance (ghost)
What triads were used
Reference to romantic period
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Augmented 4th
Diminished 8th
Seen as devil during romantic period
What is the accomp when the alive man speaks
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Relentless/constant triplet accomp throughout
Accomp when dead man speaks
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Palin (somber, calm)
Tessitura higher when speaks of loosing gf
‘Colla voce’
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Strings follow pace/movement of vocal
What is referenced from ‘Wenlock Edge’?
‘Is My Team Ploughing?’
Flourishes:
Rising quintuplets (5)
Rising and falling septuplets (7)
Context of ‘Brendon Hill’
Main idea: church/funeral bell
Going to partners funeral
Reflective
Structure
‘Brendon Hill’
7 verses
Lots link + bridge passages
Ornamentation
‘Brendon Hill’
Few melismas
Mode
Flattened (?)
Creates what mood
‘Brendon Hill’
Mixolydian (5)
7th
Dampens scale, oppressive
Structural device that makes ‘Bredon Hill’ more reclusive
Longer intro
Muffled sound ‘Bredon Hill’
Large close block chords
What pushes ‘Bredon Hill’ forward, then slows down?
Accels, then rits
Extreme dynamic in ‘Bredon Hill’
pppp
What is the pedal used on?
To what effect? ‘Bredon Hill’
Chords
Sustain then die out
How is word painting created on “ring” + “happy”? ‘Bredon Hill’
Pentatonic (5 note scale)
Highlights words
What almost makes a B section?
About
Mood
‘Bredon Hill’
Triplet accomp (reference to ‘team ploughing’)
Happy memory
More cheery
Colla voce meaning ‘Bredon Hill’
Piano + strings follow voice
Hairpin meaning
Instrument
When
‘Bredon Hill’
< then > straight after
Strings
No vocal, stresses accomp
How is ‘Bredon Hill’ bitonal?
When
What era
In Gmin, but an Aflat in base
Bar 84
19th century
Open 5ths meaning (2)
‘Bredon Hill’
Chord with no 3rd
Don’t know maj or min
How is “christmas” played?
What era?
‘Bredon Hill’
While tone scale, slurred
Post 19th century/contemporary
What indicated the one death bell?
Quote
‘Bredon Hill’
Violin pizz on last beat of bar (4)
“They rolled the one bell”
Tone at bar 100
‘Bredon Hill’
Defiantly/clearly Gmin
Harmonics meaning
‘Bredon Hill’
Press lightly on strings
Rhythm in accomp that moves piece forward
‘Bredon Hill’
Quaver triplets, then 4 semiquavers
Hat meaning
Instrument
‘Bredon Hill’
Bow down
Strings
What returns at the end from the beginning?
‘Bredon Hill’
Dotted chords
How is last chord played on stings
On harmonics
Last 2 bars texture
‘Bredon Hill’
Monophonic (only vocal)
