WL: New Directions

Question 1

Stravinsky: RoS

Bartok: “String Quartet No. 4, Mvt 5”

Answer 1

• Folk Melodies used alongside highly dissonant strings
  -> Initial chords built on tritones

Question 2

Stravinsky: RoS

Holst: “Japanese Suite”

Answer 2

SIM
- Monophonic bassoon opening
eg. Flute in Debussy’s “Prelude de l’apres-midi d’une faune”
-> Tonal ambiguity, not like GH/IS
DIF
- Pentatonic rather than modal, but nevertheless folk-influenced

Question 3

Stravinsky: RoS

Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Knights”, 1935

Answer 3

• Brass countermelody, contrastingly conjunct, tonal and on-beat.
• Relentless, sinister rhythm
• Lots of countermelodies create a somewhat polyphonic texture

Question 4

Stravinsky: RoS

Bartok: “Concerto for Orchestra”

Answer 4

• Use of folk melodies/folk-influenced melodies
• Lots of ornamentation
  SIM
• The 2nd theme is a narrow-range OBOE melody
  -> DIF: Over a string drone

Question 5

Stravinsky: RoS

Schoenberg: “Pierrot Lunaire”

Answer 5

• Polyrhythmic and independent accompaniment
• Highly dissonant, completely atonal

Question 6

Stravinsky: RoS

Berg: “Violin Concerto, Mvmt 2”, 1935

Answer 6

• Based on one quite complex rhythmic figure
• Pupil and a key member of Schoenberg’s “Second Viennese School”
• Often combined Romantic lyricism with 12-tone serialism/atonality

Question 7

Stravinsky: RoS (+ Saariaho: Petals)

Stravinsky: “Three pieces for Clarinet, Mvmt 1”, 1918

Answer 7

• Many changing time signatures
  -> The monophonic and slow nature of the piece gives these changes a very free effect
  eg. “Petals”, 1988, but no bars/time signatures, just staves, creating a similar freedom of time

Question 8

Stravinsky: RoS

Bartok: “Mikrokosmos 80”, 1930s

Answer 8

“Horizontal diatonicism, vertical chromaticism” - Boulez
- Polymodal chromaticism:
-> Features C phrygian and C lydian simultaneously to get all 12 chromatic pitches, but with a clear tonic

Question 8

Stravinsky: RoS

Shostakovich: “Symphony No.4”, 1936

Answer 8

Mvmt 1:
- Unison woodwind melody over dissonant orchestral chords
- Repeated low-string quavers accenting the offbeats
-> Regular, unlike irregular accents of RoS, tAoS

Mvmt 2:
- Chordal homophony

Question 8

Stravinsky: RoS

Stravinsky: “Petrushka”, 1911

Answer 8

• BITONAL Petrushka chord C major + F# major
  -> Tritone apart

eg. Eb7 over Fb major in ‘Augurs’
- Downbows -> Borodin: “Symphony No.2”, 1869

Question 8

Stravinsky: RoS + Saariaho: Petals

Webern: “String Quartet, Mvmt 1”

Answer 8

Extended string techniques:
- Combines arco and quite forceful pizz.
- Ends with brief sul pont.

+ IS: Harmonics, col legno etc.
-> Saariaho

Question 9

Saariaho: Petals

Reich: “Different Trains”, 1988

Answer 9

SIM:
- Classical instruments fused with computer-assisted compositional techniques
DIF:
- String Quartet + tape of people talking about trains
-> String melodies mimic vocal inflictions

Question 10

Saariaho: Petals

Ligeti: “Cello Concerto”, 1966

Answer 10

• Einsatz unhörbar (GL)
• vs. cresc. al niente (KS)

One of the most influential avant-garde composers of the second half of the 1900s
Pushed the boundaries of technique and chromaticism
Influence on Saariaho’s experimental cello writing (ie. as well as electronics)

Question 11

Saariaho: Petals

Harvey: “Curve with Plateau”, 1982
+
Harvey: “Advaya”, 1994

Answer 11

SIM:
- Shifts in bow pressure
DIF:
- Gradual, throughout the piece

-> VERY hard in Webern: “Three Pieces for Cello”, 1914

Question 12

Saariaho: Petals

Penderecki: “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima”, 1961

Answer 12

SIM:
- Extremely high notes
DIF:
- P: Play as high as possible
- S: Artificial harmonics

Question 13

Saariaho: Petals

Stockhausen: “Gesang der Jünglinge”, 1955

Answer 13

SIM
- Electronic
- No pulse/tempo
DIF
- 100% electronic
-> Overlaying of tapes: child’s vocals, electronic effects etc.
- Groundbreaking, combining German electronic music and French music concrete

Question 14

Saariaho: Petals

Berio: “Sequenza III for Female Voice”, 1965

Answer 14

SIM
- Rhythmic juxtaposition
-> Very rushed, sounding like frantic muttering
DIF
- Graphic score, where as specifically notated in Petals

Question 15

Saariaho: Petals

Shostakovich: “Piano Trio No.2, Mvmt 1”, 1944

Answer 15

SIM:
- Cello artificial harmonics
DIF:
- Still maintains a melodic function, creating a haunting opening

Question 16

Stravinsky: RoS

Bartok: “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Mvmt 3”, 1936

Answer 16

SIM
- Tonal ambiguity
- Trills…
DIF
- Trill is within a cluster chord already -> HIGHLY dissonant