OWE Flashcards
(8 cards)
intro
On Wenlock Edge was completed following a period in which Vaughn Williams was determined to revitalize traditional English folk music. Vaughan Williams sought to preserve English Folk songs by modernising them. As a result, On Wenlock Edge not only draws from traditional folk music, such as the use of modes, but it also includes elements of French impressionist musical writing. Vaughan Williams spent some time studying with Ravel in France, and perhaps aspects of impressionism can be heard in his music.
melody
- tenor range
- vocal line is mainly syllabic- folk
- notes at top of register emphasise stress and turmoil of poem
VW IS MY TEAM PLOUGHING
- high notes at top of register for dramatic storytelling: ‘yes lad’
BUTTERWORTH OWE
- more stepwise, fewer leaps
- reflects more intimate setting of words.
- VW = more operatic and expansive
*
- melody of opening 2 stanzas = mainly pentatonic
- at the end of each stanza- chromatic descent–> more melancholy place
—> interludes throw listener back into stress + turmoil - final phrase does not have such chromaticism, ‘twill soon be gone’ D-G home note
BREDON HILL : i will come funeral bells
*
word painting ‘gale of life’ and ‘heaving hill’
- dim + cresc + chromatic rise/fall –> intensity of wind over hill
VW TIRED
- word painting to describe longing to be with loved one even in self sacrifice ‘shadows growing deeper’
–> sudden jump then conjunct- longing , desperation
rhythm
- moderate tempo 4/4
- enough rapid movement of trills + tremolos to maintain movement
- trills, sextuplets, triplets, blurred metre
RAVEL ONDINE
- constant movement–> turmoil of unrelenting wind
- ondine: demisemiquavers = almost every bar, chromatic runs between hands, parallel arching lines–> represents water cascading.
dynamics
- many cresc + dim to show rise and fall of manic storm + stress of poet
- dynamics change frequently from pp-f
- sudden fz and fp = drama
IS MY TEAM PLOUGHING
- dynamics of dead man increase as he becomes more angry and impatient- matches forte of living man
BREDON HILL
- ‘oh noisy bells’ - shouting over bells as they overwhelm him
tonality
- least modal of the 3- Gm
- opening chords = series of 1st inversion chords
- parallelism + chromaticism = impressionist
- vocal line = mainly pentatonic
PRELUDE L’APRES-MIDI D’UN FAUN, JEUX D’EAU, CLAIRE DE LUNE
deliberately makes key ambiguous - hints at modality and non functional harmony of folk that VW was trying to preserve
sonority
gale: chromaticism, semiquavers, trill/ tremolo. cresc + dim
use of piano: rippling semiquavers, interlude = demisemiquavers, rocking RH. end: RH tremolo cresc + dim as gale passes
RAVEL BARQUE SUR L’OCEAN
- as piece develops, hands = further apart –> 4 8ves above/ below middle C
- dramatic range + trills/ tremolos = waves
use of strings: trills against piano sextuplet ripples, cresc + dim, sul ponticello –> combo of sonorities + dissonances= atmosphere of the turmoil.
DEBUSSY- JEUX DE VAGUES
- similar string effects + lines ever changing direction –> unpredictability of nature
POISSONS D’OR
- glistening demisemiquavers + trills –> ocean waves
—> piano used to represent nature (wind/waves)
harmony
- diatonic chords, but organisation changes meaning –> new function in 20th century
—> series of 1st inversion chords in intro: move in parallel motion - rather than contrary motion of bass + melody (typical of functional harmony.)
DEBUSSY CLAIRE DE LUNE
- strong example of ‘french’ parallelism @ same time as when VW studied w Ravel
- contrasts flurrying gale- represents beautiful moonlight
*
quartal harmony @ instrumental intro
- mainly a result of 1st inversion parallel chords
DEBUSSY PAGODES
- pentatonic/ quartal = non functional = impressionist
exposed 4ths –> VW parallel 5ths
the lark ascending- exposed 5ths
texture
- melody dominated homophony
- varies texture with different sonorities
- constant movement- turbulence
RAVEL ONDINE
- demisemiquavers every bar - water flowing
- trills starting on different beats of the bar- unstable metre
