AOSE Case Studies Quick-Fire

Question 1

Webern op.22: Melody

Answer 1

• Uses a tone row (all 12 chromatic notes played in a certain order).
• Introductory material and coda material are mirror images of each other; the coda uses the retrograde version of the tone row.
• Very fragmented: phrases are usually two or three notes long.
• Every entry except the tone row has a mirror cannon throughout.
• Use of klangfarbe melody in recapitulation; tone row split between instruments.
• Very disjunct with huge intervals such as minor 9ths in the violin and tenor sax in the introduction.
• Huge pitch range.

Question 2

Webern op.22: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 2

• Sehr mässig introduction
• Frequent changes in time signature: 3/8, 5/8, 4/8 in introduction, but most of pice in 3/8.
• intense syncopation: no sense of pulse, and phrases start on different beats of the bar.
• rit… a tempo at start of development and start of recapitulation.
• use of calando for one bar in coda.

Question 3

Webern op.22: Texture

Answer 3

• Every entry except the tone row has a mirror cannon.
• Klangfarbe melody in recapitulation – tone row split between all instruments.
• Very sparse texture; usually only one or two notes being played at any one time, with the maximum being four notes at once in the development section.

Question 4

Webern op.22: Harmony and Tonality

Answer 4

• Absence of traditional harmony (no cadences or pedals).
• Intense dissonance, such as the major second in bar 2, the minor 7th in bar 5, and the major 7th in bar 6.
• Harmony is very thin – no filled-out chords, making 7ths sound more dissonant.
• Music is atonal.
• All chromatic notes are used in an ordered tone row.
• Coda uses a retrograde version of the tone row.

Question 5

Webern op.22: Structure

Answer 5

• Introduction followed by a modified sonata form.
• Exposition repeated.
• Development section and recapitulation repeated together.
• Recapitulation is signposted by a silent pause.
• Coda is a mirror image of introduction, using the retrograde tone row.
• The start of each new section is signposted by a rit… a tempo (or calando… a tempo in the case of the coda).

Question 6

Webern op.22: Use of Instruments

Answer 6

• Quartet of violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano, which is an unusual ensemble.
• Violin is muted.
• Virtuosic writing through precise and challenging rhythms, extremes of pitch, and for violin, fast changes between arco and pizzicato such as at the start of the development section.
• Huge instrumental range, e.g. violin goes up to the second C above the treble clef.
• All instruments used throughout – no instrument is not playing for more than three bars at once.

Question 7

Poulenc Brass Trio: Melody

Answer 7

• Opening melody: descending G major triad, with repeated Gs.
• March-style rhythms in melody.
• Periodic phrasing.
• Melody entirely diatonic until it modulates to the dominant in bar 6, introducing C#s.
• Lots of repetition.
• No syncopation in first section.
• The second A subject at figure 1 has much more syncopation in the melody.
• The second A subject is more conjunct.
• Melody of second A subject is entirely diatonic.
• Melody of second subject contains grace notes.
• B section at figure 3 is much slower, more legato melody, with no semiquavers or staccatos like the A melody.
• Intervals of two octaves in the trumpet melody near the end of the B section.
• There is a short trumpet cadenza at the end of the B section.

Question 8

Poulenc Brass Trio: Use of Instruments

Answer 8

• Trumpet has melody for A section and part of the B section, with the horn taking the repeat of the melody during the B section.
• Horn plays broken chords and semiquaver runs at beginning, trombone plays a tonic pedal for first bar and a half.
• Virtuosic writing though some fast scalic runs and huge intervals which are hard for brass players, such as the trumpet part at the end of the B section which plays intervals of two octaves, and the horn and trombone accompaniments during the B section which play broken chords with large intervals.
• Large instrumental range, e.g. trumpet explores a total range of two octaves and a third, and horn explores two octaves and a fifth.

Question 9

Poulenc Brass Trio: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 9

• Upbeat grazioso tempo for A section.
• 4/4.
• First subject of A section has no syncopation, and uses mostly crotchet and quaver rhythms, with some semiquaver runs in the horn and oscillating semiquavers in the trumpet.
• Second A subject has more syncopation, highlighted by additional changes of metre, mostly to 3/4, but also with a 5/4 bar.
• End of A: augmented rhythms in imitation.
• Cedez peu à peu at end of A section.
• B section: plus lent
• Pressez peu à peu in middle of B section.

Question 10

Poulenc Brass Trio: Texture

Answer 10

• Melody dominated homophony.
• Some moments of homorhythm, such as bar 4.
• Second A subject, horn plays chordally with trumpet.
• End of A section, imitation and monophony.
• Piece ends with a unison texture, all instruments playing a descending G major arpeggio.

Question 11

Poulenc Brass Trio: Harmony

Answer 11

• All diatonic in first subject of A section, except for when it modulates to the dominant in bar 6, introducing C#s.
• Use of conventional cadences, such as a cadential 6/4 in bar 4, but with wrong note harmony of a C in the horn part against the B in the trumpet part on the first beat of that bar.
• Second A subject is back in G major, with a diatonic melody but some chromatic harmony, such as F naturals and E flats in the horn part.
• Tonic minor modulation at end of A.
• B section is in Eb major, a tertiary relationship.
• Use of A naturals in B section harmony for a brighter sound.
• Modulation to Bb major for the second B section subject.
• Return to G major for second A section.

Question 12

Poulenc Brass Trio: Structure

Answer 12

• No introduction
• Loosely in ternary form.
• The A section and B section each contain two main subjects.
• Sectional changes are signposted by key changes, but not with conventional changes such as to the dominant or subdominant. The B section starts in Eb major, and moves to Bb major for its second subject.
• The A section does, however, return in G major as expected.
• The B section also features both a slower and faster tempo than the A section, starting off plus lent and the second subject starting plus vite.
• The ends of sections are signposted with a cedez peu à peu and imitation, e.g. imitation at end of A, and horn imitates trumpet at end of B and end of C.
• The final A section also includes the second subject from the B section in between the first and second A subjects.

Question 13

Voiles: Melody

Answer 13

• Opening melody starts on second beat of bar.
• A section melody uses a descending wholetone scale.
• Melody is made of motivic fragments.
• The descending scale idea is repeated frequently.
• Melody is characterised by mostly descending demisemiquavers and double dotted rhythms.
• Melody is mostly conjunct, with one large upwards leap of an octave.
• B section melody uses pentatonic scale
• Second part of A section introduces new melodic idea – oscillating demisemiquavers instead of purely descending.
• This oscillating demisemiquaver idea is developed into the Eb minor pentatonic scale for the B section.

Question 14

Voiles: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 14

• Tempo is modéré.
• Unclear pulse: melody starts on beat two, and Bb pedal plays irregular staccatos in the bass with no clear emphasis.
• Only some syncopation.
• Opening melody is characterised with crotchet, followed by demisemiquavers, followed by a double-dotted quaver.
• Occasional use of triplet rhythms towards the end of the first A section.
• Dotted quaver ostinato during A creates a slightly stronger sense of pulse.
• Frequent tempo directions in B section (cédez, en animant, emporté, très retenu)
• B section fast flourishes against rhythmic on-beat melody.

Question 15

Voiles: Texture

Answer 15

• Opening texture is two-part chordal homophony, with the melody played in thirds.
• The texture is relatively sparse, with the low, persistent Bb pedal creating quite a lot of space between the bass part and middle part.
• As the A section progresses, the texture thickens with some four-note chords accompanying the melody.
• Ostinato above pedal, below melody during A.
• Melody dominated homophony for most of piece following the opening.
• Flourishes in B section.
• While texture is never purely octaves, some counterpoint lines in A are played in octaves, such bar 7, and the B section melody is played in octaves.

Question 16

Voiles: Harmony

Answer 16

• Absence of cadences.
• Wholetone melody in A, which is played in parallel major thirds.
• Bb pedal throughout.
• Ostinato in middle of A section, featuring a tritone interval.
• Parallel motion of chords.
• Eb minor pentatonic in B section, large scalic flourishes.
• Wholetone flourishes in final A section, moving from an F# resolving to a C.

Question 17

Voiles: Structure

Answer 17

• Ternary form ABA.
• A sections are wholetone, B section is signified by a change to Eb minor pentatonic.
• Sections are imbalanced; the first A section is 41 bars long, whereas the B section is 6 bars long.
• No introduction.
• Second A section doesn’t begin with the opening melodic material, but continues the flourishes from the B section but in the wholetone scale, and then what was the countermelody in the A section played in the top voice.
• Opening melodic material returns for final 6 bars of second A section.

Question 18

Pierrot Lunaire: Melody

Answer 18

• Opening 7-note motif to represent moonlight – repeated in the piano as an ostinato for four bars.
• Elaborated on and extended by flute in bar 11.
• This motif is developed throughout, e.g. in bar 29 it is played in sequence in the flute, ascending a semitone each time.
• Phrases come in on different beats of the bar: the first two come in on the last quaver, and the next comes in on the third last semiquaver.
• Phrases are irregular; first phrase is four beat long, the next is five, the next is ten.
• Huge amounts of chromaticism – no clear tonal centre to melody.
• Large melodic range: first three phrases have a range of a twelfth.
• Melody is angular and features some large intervals such as a descending major 7th in bar 10.
• Phrases are mostly quite short and fragmented, with space between them.
• Melody has only occasional syncopation at beginning, but more syncopation towards the end of the movement, which is more rhythmically intense.

Question 19

Which movement do you look at from Pierrot Lunaire?

Answer 19

Mondestrunken (first movement).

Question 20

Pierrot Lunaire: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 20

• Tempo ‘Bewegt’
• Rit… a tempo into bar 29.
• Mostly in 2/4, but while the soprano is singing, it alternates between 2/4 and 3/4.
• The melody starts on different beats of the bar, as does the accompanying lines (piano comes in on the second semiquaver, violin comes in on the second quaver, flute comes in in bar 3 on the second crotchet). This gives a weak sense of pulse.
• At the start, the melody uses mostly quaver rhythms and some dotted
  rhythms.
• Towards the end from bar 29, the melody becomes more rhythmically intense, featuring mostly semiquavers and some dotted rhythms.
• Flute plays mostly held notes and semiquavers, but with some irregular subdivisions such as triplets, sextuplets and septuplets.
• At bar 23 there are cross-rhythms between the flute (triplets) and piano and violin (straight quavers).

Question 21

Pierrot Lunaire: Harmony and Tonality

Answer 21

• Atonal.
• Melody doesn’t follow a particular scale or use a tone row.
• No cadences.
• The first five notes of the piano ostinato follow a wholetone scale, but the last two do not fit it.
• The harmonic rate is very fast, as most parts have semiquaver movement, meaning the harmony is always changing, and there are not sustained bass notes to hold a chord.
• The piano only occasionally plays chords, and when it does, they are very dissonant, e.g. in bar 7, the accompanying parts together make a dissonant chord containing two different major 7 intervals.
• Section from 29 contains thicker chords in the piano, still very dissonant.
• Regular use of the chord C – F – B in the left hand., which contains a tritone and major 7th: very dissonant.
• Parallel movement of piano chords from 29.

Question 22

Pierrot Lunaire: Texture

Answer 22

• Top-heavy texture for first part of piece.
• Opening piano ostinato.
• Polyphonic texture – parts accompanying the singer are individual and do not support the soprano melody.
• Imitation between flute and violin in 11-13.
• Polyphony is more extreme from 15, as the flute continues with wandering semiquaver lines, and the violin part becomes more individual, with a contrasting legato character.
• Imitation between flute and piano in 25-28.
• Polyphony is most extreme in 29-31, where the flute, violin, cello, soprano and piano all have contrasting lines.
• Lower part of texture is filled out from 29, with the left hand piano playing bass clef consistently for the first time.

Question 23

Pierrot Lunaire: Use of Instruments

Answer 23

• Violin starts off pizzicato.
• Piano part begins only one part, then becomes two parts in bar 5.
• Occasional use of trills in flute part (e.g. 7), piano part (e.g. 7, 9) and at the very end, the violin part (38).
• A cello is introduced at bar 29 to build the texture.
• The instruments explore a huge range: flute over two and a half octaves, violin three and a half octaves, all the way up to the second C# above the stave.
• The violin uses various playing techniques, such as opening with a mute and pizzicato, harmonics in bar 10, instructions for the player to play various high passages on just the G string, use of tremolo and, in the penultimate bar, glissando.

Question 24

Pierrot Lunaire: Structure

Answer 24

• The piece is through-composed, following the poem for which it is written.
• Opening 7-note motif to represent moonlight – repeated in the piano as an ostinato for four bars.
• This motif is developed throughout, e.g. in bar 29 it is played in sequence in the flute, ascending a semitone each time.
• It starts with a two-bar introduction.
• Bars 11-18 feature an instrumental section.

Question 25

What does the cross through the notes mean in Pierrot Lunaire?

Answer 25

Sprechstimme (spoken-sung).

Question 26

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Melody

Answer 26

- Begins with mannheim rocket. - First subject contains unusual subdivisions of quintuplets. - First subject mostly follows classical idiom (periodic phrasing, no chromaticism within the current key). - Mostly stepwise and triadic movement. - Very little syncopation. - Second subject in dominant (A). - S2 contains huge intervals of two octaves. - Unexpected chromaticism (F major arpeggio). - Repetition. - Mvt 2 contains unusual triplet rhythm (first two beats of a triplet only). - Mvt 3 based off a Gavotte from the suite of dances.

Question 27

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 27

- Allegro, 2/2 - Mostly on-beat rhythms in first subject. - Periodic phrasing. - S1 contains unusual quintuplet subdivision. - Vast majority is in 2/2, but occasional individual 2/4 bars hasten the pulse slightly, as if it is skipping a beat. - Triplet rhythms in melody. - Mvt 2 larghetto - Mvt 2 contains unusual triplet rhythms that only have the first two beats of the triplet. - Mvt 3 is a gavotte from the suite of dances characterised by two beats of anacrusis.

Question 28

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Harmony and Tonality

Answer 28

- Mvt1 instead of modulating to the dominant at the end of the first phrase, it modulates down a tone from D to C for the next phrase, then back to D, then to the relative minor Bm. - Second subject in dominant A, but with unexpected F major chord of its fifth bar. - Both subjects in tonic for recapitulation as expected. - Mvt 2 in dominant A instead of expected subdominant. - Mvt 3 back in tonic D, but modulates to B within the first two bars. - Bar 3 prepares for a perfect cadence in B, but this is interrupted by an interrupted cadence in bar 4 with a G major chord, which acts as a pivot for a plagal cadence back into the tonic D major. - Another interrupted cadence moves into the relative minor B minor in bar 6, then modulating to F# minor in bar 7. - An interrupted cadence in F# minor in bar 8 returns to D major again. - To contrast these fast modulations in the A section, the B section (in G) features a very long G drone (16 bars long).

Question 29

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Texture

Answer 29

- Almost entirely melody dominated homophony. - String dominated texture for first subject. - S1b features imitative woodwind writing. - Octaves texture for penultimate bar of second subject (ascending B major arpeggio). - Grand pause before start of development section.

Question 30

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Structure

Answer 30

- Mannheim rocket as a brief introduction. - Sonata form, exposition not repeated. - First subject in strings, S1b imitative in woodwinds. - Second subject in dominant, but features unexpected F major then B major chord. - Codetta features rising arpeggios in the dominant A. - Grand pause to mark the end of the exposition. - Development starts in tonic minor, but quickly modulates away to various other keys. - Recapitulation marked by another mannheim rocket. - Both subjects in tonic for recapitulation. - Coda based off codetta material. - Mvt3 in ternary form with the first section including a repeat. - Second A section doesn't include repeat and is shorter and weaker (flute melody).

Question 31

Prokofiev Classical Symphony: Use of Instruments

Answer 31

- Violin-dominated texture for first subject. - Occasional use of violin harmonics in S1. - S1b features imitative solo woodwind writing, accompanied by some pizz and some arco strings. - Second subject features huge, idiomatic intervals in the violins of two octaves, quickly moving between them with by grace notes. - Specifies bowing in certain points on string parts, e.g. up bow for lighter staccatos in second subject. - More imitative solo woodwind writing in development section. - Mvt2 Melody starts extremely high in violins (extremes of register), on the second A above the treble clef. - Flute writing also very high. - Mvt3 features a lot of independent woodwind writing after the opening A section (which is violin-dominated); the B section melody is entirely woodwind, and the second A section melody returns in the flute.

Question 32

Who wrote the Brass Trio?

Answer 32

Poulenc.

Question 33

Who wrote Voiles?

Answer 33

Debussy.

Question 34

Who wrote Pierrot Lunaire?

Answer 34

Schoenberg

Question 35

Who wrote Rapsodie Espagnole?

Answer 35

Ravel

Question 36

Rapsodie Espagnole: Melody

Answer 36

Prelude a la nuit - Two-beat ostinato of descending quavers. - Very simple, motivic opening melody (crotchet followed by minim – sarabande style, repeated up a semitone). - Melody is extended and developed by clarinets at figure 2 (descending interval instead of rising, extended to include more lyrical triplets and ascending quavers). - New melody at figure 4 – opens with a dramatic ascending flourish, followed by the crotchet-minim sarabande repeated notes, then descending quavers. - Triplets used instead of quavers on the repeat of the melody. - Section ends with clarinet cadenza. Malagueña - Based off a Spanish flamenco dance. - Opening doesn't feature a clear melody, but rather fragments of musical idea, such as a repeated descending phrase in the clarinets, and rising and falling chromatic scales in the flutes. - First clear melody comes in at figure 5 in the trumpets, and is very short (only 5 bars long). - Repeated notes followed by a descending scale, then another descending phrase including a triplet. - The scale used is modal (aeolian, but played over a major chord initially). - The violins repeat the trumpet melody but at a sudden slower tempo, but developed with tenuto/legato articulations rather than staccatos and glissandi on the ascending intervals. - The melody is then fragmented at figure 8 and played imitatively between the trumpets and woodwinds.

Question 37

Rapsodie Espagnole: Harmony

Answer 37

- Ostinato begins in D harmonic minor, descending F to C#. - Harmony of opening melody isn't entirely clear – melody features an interval of a tone (Bb and Ab), which rises a semitone the next bar (B and A), and the cellos and basses play pizzicato Ds and As. By considering the on-beat notes of the ostinato as notes of the chord (F and D), this could be analysed as a Bb7 in first inversion followed by a B half diminished 7 in first inversion. - Violin melody at figure 4 makes a Gm9 chord. - At figure 7, the ostinato is still in D harmonic minor, but the bass part has descended by a semitone to move between C# and G#. Malagueña: - Rising and falling chromatic scales at 3. - F# Aeolian scale for trumpet melody at figure 6, but over the top of an F# major chord.

Question 38

Rapsodie Espagnole: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 38

Prélude à la Nuit: - Très modère tempo. - Cross rhythms: ostinato is two beats long, but time signature is 3/4. - Piece starts on beat two, making pulse initially unclear. - Sarabande rhythms to make simple opening melody (repeated crotchet-minim). - Initially, no syncopation in the sarabande rhythms or in the extended version in the clarinets at figure 2. - Very fast demisemiquaver rhythms in violin flourish to begin melody at figure 4. - Melody still emphasises beat 1 and two with very little syncopation (two ties over the bar line). - Freedom of time during clarinet and bassoon cadenzas. - Relent towards the end of each section. Malagueña: - 3/4 time signature, assez vif. - Constant quavers in flutes with semiquaver runs at figure 3. - Trumpet melody at 6 is mostly on-beat, crotchet followed by four quavers, with a triplet towards the end of the phrase. - Violins repeat trumpet phrase with almost exactly the same rhythms, the tempo is suddenly reduced, giving the impression of augmentation. - Hemiola at figure 9 – 2/4 feeling in 3/4 time signature.

Question 39

Rapsodie Espagnole: Texture

Answer 39

- Monophonic opening texture, in unison between first violins and violas. - This four-note pattern is repeated as an ostinato, upon which the melody is placed, creating melody-dominated homophony. - Homorhythmic chordal texture at figure 6 for clarinet cadenza. - Outer two sections are very sparse in texture, with the central section having a thicker texture. Malagueña: - Mostly homophonic – there isn't a clear melody for the opening section with various repeated musical ideas and phrases, but when the trumpet melody comes in in figure 6, it is clearly melody-dominated homophony. - There is imitation between woodwind and brass at figure 8. - Cor anglais solo is mostly monophonic, with brief accompanying chords on the start of the second and fourth bars making it homophonic.

Question 40

Rapsodie Espagnole: Structure

Answer 40

- Does not adhere to a specific structure. - Entire movement tied together with a a four-note ostinato that plays almost the entire time, except for during the two cadenzas. - First melody comes in bar 3. - Could describe structure as A A1 B C A1 C A, where A is the crotchet-minim melody, A1 is the extended version with triplet and quaver rhythms, B is the violin melody and C is a cadenza bar. There is often space between these sections containing just the ostinato and atmospheric textures. - Movement 1 ends with an attacca into movement 2.

Question 41

Rapsodie Espagnole: Use of Instruments

Answer 41

- Entirety of first movement is played with muted strings, never going above mf dynamics. - The four-note ostinato starts high in the violins and violas, and is passed through many different instruments, such as the oboe, cor anglais, cellos, clarinets, flutes and celeste. - Harmonics are sometimes used in the harp writing, and the harp mostly plays held notes or glissandos. - Pizzicato cellos and basses often accompany the opening crotchet-minim melody. - The strings play sur la touche from figure 7, with the violins playing division and tremolo, and one solo violin playing the melody. - The cadenza sections are played as duets, first as two clarinets, then as two bassoons. - Brass are barely used except for occasional soft chordal accompaniment, occasionally reinforcing the crotchet-minim melody, or, at figure 4, the ostinato. - Large instrumental range of violins – melody goes up to the second A above the treble stave. Malagueña: - Legato chromatic scales in flutes. - Melody on solo trumpet at 6. - Glissandos on ascending intervals in the strings when they repeat the trumpet melody. - Slow, spacious cor anglais solo at figure 12.