Summary 20th Century examplar pieces with features from each A level Music
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Course
A level Music
Institution
A Level Music
Written for Eduqas A level, but could be used for any Music A level doing 20th Century
AOSE - Area of study E
1 example piece for impressionism, serialism, expressionism, neo-classicism
Features for all pieces eg. sonority, harmony, melody, tonality etc
Harmony:
- Chords of 4ths, 5ths, 2nds, 7ths - avoids 3rds - creates sense of ambiguity
- Opens with gong-like open 5ths
- Parallel chords
- Non-functional harmony, unexpected progressions
- Modal influence
- Pedals and drones
Tonality:
- Avoids confirming a key, instead has a tonal centre (B)
- Fairly diatonic
- bar 3 - 4 note melody, suggesting a pentatonic scale
- Pentatonic idea in L/H in octaves - like Japanese slendro scale
- Use of whole tone scale
Melody:
- Short melodies
- Melodies based on pentatonic scale, whole tone scale
- Parallel motion
- Scalic countermelody in the middle of the texture in bar 7
- Pentatonic idea in L/H in octaves - like Japanese slendro scale
- B15 triplet ostinato, like a slow trill
- Use of trills
- Rubato, flexible phrasing
Rhythm, tempo, metre:
- B15 triplet ostinato, like a slow trill
- B23 contrary motion with cross rhythms
- B78 rippling ostinato demisemiquavers at a high tessitura
- Syncopated chords
- 4/4 time signature
- Moderato, but with rubato
- Metric modulation by shifting accents, subtly changing the perceived metre
Texture:
- Layering, creates rich texture, create the impression of a Javanese gamelan, sense of depth
and complexity
- Sustain pedal, blurs textures and harmonies to create a wash of sound
- Wide dynamic range and varied articulation to enhance the textural effects. Soft, delicate
passages contrast with more forceful sections, creating a dynamic interplay that adds depth to
the texture
, - Arpeggiated figures and broken chords contribute to the shimmering, rippling texture
Structure:
- Short piece
- ABA coda
- Allows Debussy to develop his melodies, repeated A section, varies material, new layers
- B section is the climax, louder dynamics, resonant sound of the gamelan orchestra
- Extended coda, gradually fades the music out, pedal and soft dynamics gives a dreamy,
ethereal ending
Sonority:
- Sustain pedal to create a hazy, blurry effect
- Hand crossing
- Full range of the piano, wide range of dynamics
- Una corda (soft) pedal
- Bell like tones in higher register of piano - represents Javanese gamelan
Serialism:
Der kranke Mond - Schoenberg:
Tonality:
- Atonal - Schoenberg not created his 12 tone style yet
- All 12 notes of the octave used in the first 3 bars - dispels any sense of traditional
tonality
- Chromaticism and dissonance to create tension and ambiguity
- Sprechstimme, its flexible nature blurs the lines between speaking and singing, adds to
the atonal affect
- Avoids clear tonal resolutions
- Departure from traditional tonality allows Schoenberg to explore a wide range of
emotional and psychological states in “Der Kranke Mond”
Harmony:
- Flute and voice - not possible to make chords, only 2 note intervals
- Dissonant intervals - eg. diminished 8ve in bar 3
- Almost every possible interval is found, often in close proximity
- First 6 bars contain all intervals from a minor 2nd to an octave
- Portrays emotional and psychological themes
Melody:
- Large angular intervals - awkward leaps of augmented or diminished intervals
- Augmented 11th - bar 9 (flute)
- Some use of sequences - descending sequence b22-23 (flute)
- Fragmented melodies, by rests
- Grotesque mordents last 2 bars for voice
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