Music A Level Set Works Practice Questions and Answers

Ralph Vaughan Williams 'On Wenlock Edge' Context *Studied at RCM *Father was a priest *Inspired by Byrd and Tudor Music *Inspired by A E Housmann's 1896 Collection 'A Shropshire Lad' *Collected Folk Tunes *Went against Germanic Style (to create fragile English sound) *He studied under Ravel (only student not to use his style) and Debussy 'On Wenlock Edge' Melody *Word Painting (high) *Obliqueness *Semitonal movement *Chromatic movement *Arching melody 'On Wenlock Edge' Rhythm *'Allegro moderato' - Surprising for a 'stormy' piece *Intro has triplet quavers and sextuplet semiquavers *Syncopation in strings *Music heard in compound time *Trills in strings *Dotted rhythms 'On Wenlock Edge' Structure Strophic (DW - DSM) 'On Wenlock Edge' Harmony *Parallelism *Quartal Harmony *A number of parallel 6/3 first inv chords *False relations (common in Tudor music) *Pentatonic sets used 'On Wenlock Edge' Instrumentation *Quiet demisemiquaver flourishes (ppp echoes) *Tremelo *Rapid repetition of notes (storm and turbulence) *Long trills (intensify atmousphere) *Sul ponticello *crescendos and diminuendos (gales and their speed) 'On Wenlock Edge' Texture *Homophonic - considerable variety *Cello and Piano double the voice and octave lower whilst right hand maintains continuous broken chord semiquavers *Occasional Ornamental details in Violin 1