Williams: On Wenlock Edge, Nos 1, 3, 5 Flashcards
When was Williams alive?
1872-1958
20-21st century
What is On Wenlock Edge based of?
A song cycle - setting of 6 poems by Houseman (word painting)
What are the themes of the poems by Houseman?
Simple pleasures of rural life and a longing for lost innocence
Wha it’s the song cycle scored for?
Tenor
Accomp on piano and string quartet (violin 1, 2, viola, violoncello)
Describe the vocal line in the song cycle
At times folksong-like
Sometimes modal (music based on a mode, not a key)
Occasional brief melismas
Rhythmic flexibility
Changes of time sig
Stuffed shifts from duple to triple patterns
…shows influence of traditional folk singing
What does the accompaniment make much use of?
Triads in parallel movement
Swaying consecutive fourths
What does Williams use to bring out the meanings in the poems?
Word-painting
Reflection of the mood or particular phrases or words
How is word-painting used in the opening of ‘on wenlock edge’?
Mood of text set by upward rushing of strings (shimmering) depicting the wind
What mood is created int he opening phrase of ‘on wenlock edge’?
Sense of foreboding
How is a sense of foreboding achieved in the opening of ‘on wenlock edge’?
Harmony and dynamics (dramatic and quick)
What’s ‘is my team ploughing?’ about?
Conversation between a man and a ghostly man
Dead man asks questions
How does the ghost ask questions in ‘is my team ploughing?’?
In a pianissimo quasi-recitative (semi spoken manner)
Over a helix D minor chord
How does the ghost sing in ‘is my team ploughing?’?
With rhythmic flexibility of his vocal line
How does the ghosts vocal line contrast with the living man’s in ‘is my team ploughing?’?
Contrasts with the regular metre of living man’s words
In ‘is my team ploughing?’,
How are the living man’s answers marked?
Forte
