APPLIED SET WORKS
Gabrieli – What makes it typically a piece of Venetian Renaissance music?
Typical Renaissance instruments = cornett & sackbut, continuo not a prominent
feature
Gabrieli omitted time signature = editor added it afterwards
1) Textural point = mainly contrapuntal (Venetian style) = bar 6
2) Root and 1st inversion chords dominate (Venetian style) = eg bar 7
3) Rhythmic point = syncopation (Venetian style) = cornett @ bar 8.
4) Also effective approached by leap such as D @ bar 11
5) Harmonic point = various suspensions = dissonance = 7-6 suspension at bar 16
6) 4-3 suspension = more common = bar 20
7) Textural point = 8-part counterpoint = bars 26-31
8) Antiphony (Venetian style) = bars 37-40
9) Melodic point = frequently conjunct movement with relatively restricted range as
large leaps are rare. However, octave leap @ bar 41
Purcell – Dido’s state of mind?
1) Starts in Cm (befits text) = bars 1-4
2) Recitative passes through several keys (unsettled tonality), ending on 3) Phrygian
cadence in Gm = bar 4, beat 2
4) Moves to bottom of sop range as thoughts turn to death = bar 8
5) Expressive falling 5th ‘trouble’ = bars 12-13
6) Resolution of suspensions create impression of sighing to enforce melancholy
mood = bars 12-13
7) Occasional chromaticisms = create uncertainty = bar 19
8) Declamatory style of ‘remember me’ = bar 25
9) Expressive melisma ‘ah’ = bar 30
10) Climactic upwards leap to top G ‘remember me’ = bar 34
Goldsmith – What makes it effective as an accompaniment to a violent chase?
1) Characterised by driving rhythms: 3-4 to start, later 4-4, occasional 5-4 bars
2) Emphasis on first beat by timpani, reinforce sense of terror = bar 1
3) Dissonant harmony creates uncertainty eg viola’s A clashes with cello’s Bb = bar 1,
beat 2
4) Unusual instruments convey a sense of strangeness of the apes eg boo bams = bar
10
5) Changes in metre creates confusion = bar 10 (5-4), bar 44 (2-4)
6) Continuous semiquavers in piano increase rhythmic drive= bar 11
7) Frequent syncopation = bar 13
8) Cross-rhythms on congas increase rhythmic tension = bar 16
9) Disjunct and chromatic melodic lines = eg bar 38, moving by leap
,10) Complex rhythm = 7tuplet scales/3 crotchets/semiquavers & quaver percussion
= bar 55
Stravinsky – 20th C Neoclassicism
Sinfonia:
No continuo!
Stravinsky took original tonality and ‘spiced it up’ with frequent added note
dissonances = begins in G major, modulates to V early = bar 4
Long sustained notes against foreground music = bars 7-9
Exaggerates ornamentation to make music sound more 18th C in character:
exaggeration of stylistic effects very neoclassical = trills @ bars 7-9
Circle of 5ths = bars 7-9
Loosely imitative wind = bars 6-10
Differing time signatures = bars 10-12
Persistent syncopation = bars 17-18 (violin 2)
Rounded binary (evidence of 18th C origins) = A=b1-15, B=16-32, A1=33-end
Stravinsky leaves out bass line altogether = bars 29-30
Sustained chords in solo quintet, repeated chords in main orchestra = bars 37-39
Gavotta:
Only wind instruments
Binary form
First variation has unusual timbre of oboe accompanied by horn = bar 1
Retardations (upward resolving suspensions), C# retardation on oboe = bar 2
Trumpet & trombone accompany (strange instrumentation) = bar 11
Exaggeration of ornamentation = 20th C = turn in bar 20
‘Wrong note’ harmony – G & D major chords = bar 44, beat 1
Irregular groupings of shorter notes – groups of 5 bar 27, groups of 9 bar 31, groups
of 11 bar 73, groups of 12 bar 78
Extensive ‘non-baroque’ ornamentation = flute 1 @ bar 83
Vivo:
Solo trombone (not used in baroque)
No continuo: brings it further away from original
High double bass = bar 1
Glissandi on trombones, specific 20th C touch = bar 2
Score marked with articulations, staccato = bar 9
Moves away from original, 3 extra bars at start of second section = bars 22-24
Syncopation: heavy off-beat accents = bar 33
Heterophony between flutes and trumpets = bar 38
Unexpected cadences eg iii-I = final bar
, Cage – Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
- John Cage = 20th C
- 3 sonatas
- Written in 1949
- Pushed boundaries in music
- Wanted to show a variety in technique, mood & colour
- For prepared piano
- Was interested in creating flexibility on timbres
- There are 4 ways a prepared piano can affect sound -> quietens,
changes timbre, splits into 2 or 3 sounds, shortens duration
- Between every 4 sonatas is an interlude
- Uses a subtle range of dynamics
Melody:
Sonata I
- Melodic repetition (bar 1 is repeated 2 bars later)
- Short statements with specific shapes
- Limited range of pitches, sometimes suggested pentatonicism
- Melodic movement = often conjunct
Sonata II
- Arch melodies (bar 1 & bar 4)
- Conjunct movement
- Use of embellishment (grace notes & rhythmic development =
bars 15 & 16)
- Shapes are repeated
- Sequenced idea (bars 10-13)
Sonata III
- First RH melody is repeated (bars 2-5)
- Part A = repeated (a percussive reference point)
- Bar 13 = augmented from opening
- Sequence in bars 14-15
- Conjunct movement in scale at bar 18
- Inversion in bar 27
Structure:
Each sonata is given a number
Sonata I
- Binary form
- Form = concerned with proportions of duration
Gabrieli – What makes it typically a piece of Venetian Renaissance music?
Typical Renaissance instruments = cornett & sackbut, continuo not a prominent
feature
Gabrieli omitted time signature = editor added it afterwards
1) Textural point = mainly contrapuntal (Venetian style) = bar 6
2) Root and 1st inversion chords dominate (Venetian style) = eg bar 7
3) Rhythmic point = syncopation (Venetian style) = cornett @ bar 8.
4) Also effective approached by leap such as D @ bar 11
5) Harmonic point = various suspensions = dissonance = 7-6 suspension at bar 16
6) 4-3 suspension = more common = bar 20
7) Textural point = 8-part counterpoint = bars 26-31
8) Antiphony (Venetian style) = bars 37-40
9) Melodic point = frequently conjunct movement with relatively restricted range as
large leaps are rare. However, octave leap @ bar 41
Purcell – Dido’s state of mind?
1) Starts in Cm (befits text) = bars 1-4
2) Recitative passes through several keys (unsettled tonality), ending on 3) Phrygian
cadence in Gm = bar 4, beat 2
4) Moves to bottom of sop range as thoughts turn to death = bar 8
5) Expressive falling 5th ‘trouble’ = bars 12-13
6) Resolution of suspensions create impression of sighing to enforce melancholy
mood = bars 12-13
7) Occasional chromaticisms = create uncertainty = bar 19
8) Declamatory style of ‘remember me’ = bar 25
9) Expressive melisma ‘ah’ = bar 30
10) Climactic upwards leap to top G ‘remember me’ = bar 34
Goldsmith – What makes it effective as an accompaniment to a violent chase?
1) Characterised by driving rhythms: 3-4 to start, later 4-4, occasional 5-4 bars
2) Emphasis on first beat by timpani, reinforce sense of terror = bar 1
3) Dissonant harmony creates uncertainty eg viola’s A clashes with cello’s Bb = bar 1,
beat 2
4) Unusual instruments convey a sense of strangeness of the apes eg boo bams = bar
10
5) Changes in metre creates confusion = bar 10 (5-4), bar 44 (2-4)
6) Continuous semiquavers in piano increase rhythmic drive= bar 11
7) Frequent syncopation = bar 13
8) Cross-rhythms on congas increase rhythmic tension = bar 16
9) Disjunct and chromatic melodic lines = eg bar 38, moving by leap
,10) Complex rhythm = 7tuplet scales/3 crotchets/semiquavers & quaver percussion
= bar 55
Stravinsky – 20th C Neoclassicism
Sinfonia:
No continuo!
Stravinsky took original tonality and ‘spiced it up’ with frequent added note
dissonances = begins in G major, modulates to V early = bar 4
Long sustained notes against foreground music = bars 7-9
Exaggerates ornamentation to make music sound more 18th C in character:
exaggeration of stylistic effects very neoclassical = trills @ bars 7-9
Circle of 5ths = bars 7-9
Loosely imitative wind = bars 6-10
Differing time signatures = bars 10-12
Persistent syncopation = bars 17-18 (violin 2)
Rounded binary (evidence of 18th C origins) = A=b1-15, B=16-32, A1=33-end
Stravinsky leaves out bass line altogether = bars 29-30
Sustained chords in solo quintet, repeated chords in main orchestra = bars 37-39
Gavotta:
Only wind instruments
Binary form
First variation has unusual timbre of oboe accompanied by horn = bar 1
Retardations (upward resolving suspensions), C# retardation on oboe = bar 2
Trumpet & trombone accompany (strange instrumentation) = bar 11
Exaggeration of ornamentation = 20th C = turn in bar 20
‘Wrong note’ harmony – G & D major chords = bar 44, beat 1
Irregular groupings of shorter notes – groups of 5 bar 27, groups of 9 bar 31, groups
of 11 bar 73, groups of 12 bar 78
Extensive ‘non-baroque’ ornamentation = flute 1 @ bar 83
Vivo:
Solo trombone (not used in baroque)
No continuo: brings it further away from original
High double bass = bar 1
Glissandi on trombones, specific 20th C touch = bar 2
Score marked with articulations, staccato = bar 9
Moves away from original, 3 extra bars at start of second section = bars 22-24
Syncopation: heavy off-beat accents = bar 33
Heterophony between flutes and trumpets = bar 38
Unexpected cadences eg iii-I = final bar
, Cage – Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
- John Cage = 20th C
- 3 sonatas
- Written in 1949
- Pushed boundaries in music
- Wanted to show a variety in technique, mood & colour
- For prepared piano
- Was interested in creating flexibility on timbres
- There are 4 ways a prepared piano can affect sound -> quietens,
changes timbre, splits into 2 or 3 sounds, shortens duration
- Between every 4 sonatas is an interlude
- Uses a subtle range of dynamics
Melody:
Sonata I
- Melodic repetition (bar 1 is repeated 2 bars later)
- Short statements with specific shapes
- Limited range of pitches, sometimes suggested pentatonicism
- Melodic movement = often conjunct
Sonata II
- Arch melodies (bar 1 & bar 4)
- Conjunct movement
- Use of embellishment (grace notes & rhythmic development =
bars 15 & 16)
- Shapes are repeated
- Sequenced idea (bars 10-13)
Sonata III
- First RH melody is repeated (bars 2-5)
- Part A = repeated (a percussive reference point)
- Bar 13 = augmented from opening
- Sequence in bars 14-15
- Conjunct movement in scale at bar 18
- Inversion in bar 27
Structure:
Each sonata is given a number
Sonata I
- Binary form
- Form = concerned with proportions of duration
