Schoenberg “Peripetie from Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16” (1909)

Analysis

Schoenberg‟s painting became quite prolific during the years 1908-1910, and most of his pictures from this time were portraits, described by Schoenberg as „visions‟. The Five Orchestral Pieces were written in the summer of 1909, and Peripetie is clearly a very tempestuous and emotional movement, with Schoenberg focusing on brief and intense moods, perhaps partly because he no longer has functional harmony available to him to help prolong the movement. Schoenberg also had marital and financial problems at this time, which probably did much to exacerbate his need for emotional expression through his music.

Schoenberg‟s atonal style did not sit well with many leading figures in music of the day. He struggled to get performances and recognition, and preferred to work on music for smaller ensembles. This group of pieces for large orchestra was commissioned by Richard Strauss who then refused to play them.

The lack of tonality throws the spotlight on other important aspects of Schoenberg‟s style at this time. Central to his orchestral music is his use of instruments for their timbre, both individually and in ensembles. His melodic ideas (or motives) are thrown around the orchestra, split between instruments or groups of instruments, so that rarely does one instrument play a motive in its entirety. A glance at the first page of the score for Peripetie reveals a very sporadic approach to orchestration, with each short „clump‟ of music assigned to a different part of the orchestra. This approach to orchestration became known as klangfarbenmelodie or „tone-colour melody‟ and was typical of expressionism and later serialism.

Schoenberg wanted to avoid repeating or returning to thematic ideas, as he felt that this would result in an undesirable emphasis on one particular tonal centre. Therefore his approach was to present a short motive or theme and then immediately develop it. This inevitably meant that Schoenberg‟s compositions were often much shorter than tonal ones.

A number of features strike the listener on first exposure to Peripetie:

Melody

•   Disjunct or angular
•   Large intervals
•   Extremes of pitch
•   Irregular phrases

•   No predictability
•   Many short motives, often played simultaneously

  Harmony/Tonality

•       Dissonant

•   Atonal
•   No sense of key/non functional
•   Harsh/clashes

  Rhythm

•   No pulse or sense of metre
•   Varied – short, fast rhythms and long, slow ones
•   Complex, unpredictable

  Timbre/texture

•   Huge variety of instrumental sounds and timbres in a short time
•   Full sonorous textures and moments of extreme sparse textures
•   Polyphonic
•   Instruments often feature as soloists or in small ensembles

  Use of mutes, pizzicato and other effects

Other key words, which describe the overall style of Peripetie, include:  Extreme

 Intense  Contrast  Motivic  Atonal

Before looking in a little more detail at Peripetie, some important concepts need to be explained. One is the use of the hexachord, which operates as a kind of unifying feature. A hexachord is a group of six different notes played either as a chord or as short motivic ideas. Each hexachord also has a compliment – the name given to the other six notes of the chromatic scale not used in the hexachord. Peripetie has many hexachords and their compliments.

Another is the idea of a principal and secondary voice, referred to in the score (by Schoenberg, when he revised the work) as H (Hauptstimme) and N (Nebenstimme) with brackets like this …………… to show the length of the melodic idea to which the letter refers.

There is some repetition in Peripetie, but not so much of melodic ideas as of moods or timbres. When initial motives return they are changed and developed so much that the listener is unlikely to pick them out. Nevertheless it does allow us to divide Peripetie into a kind of rondo structure:

• A section Bars 1-18 A loud, cacophonous opening, followed by quieter, more sustained chords in the horns and lower wind and ending with an extended clarinet theme, with very sparse accompaniment. These three ideas are developed throughout the piece.
• B section Bars 18-34 Starting with a cello theme, some rhythmic ideas can now be heard with the triplet becoming an important feature. The trumpet and cellos trade thematic ideas, with the cellos moving into a very high register, before the full orchestra enters and the music seems very „edgy‟.
• A1 section Bars 35-43 As I will show below, this section relates to the horn theme of bar 8. The dynamic and rhythmic levels have dropped again and the orchestration is again more chamber-like. At bar 37 we see the six horns once again working together.
• C section Bars 44-58 We are only just over a minute into the movement, but already over half-way through. The bassoon and a solo cello take over from the horns, and the tempo indications alternate between „ruhiger‟ (calmer) and „heftig‟ (passionate). The texture is very empty here, until a sudden triple forte entry by the orchestra in bar 53.
• A2 section Bars 59-66 The final section builds in excited fashion, with complex string and clarinet rhythms and the entry of trumpets and upper woodwind, moving from ppp to fff in 3-4 bars.

What „unifies‟ this movement, and leads us to consider the middle and last sections to be similar to the first? The answer to this question lies in Schoenberg‟s treatment of rhythm and pitch.

•   Rhythmic unity: the final section (bars 59-66) has much in common with the opening section. The rhythms of bar 1 can be found in the third clarinet part for much of the final section, and the trumpets use rhythms found in bars 5 and 6.
•   Unity of pitches: the clue here is the use of the hexachords mentioned earlier. The horns in bar 8 play a hexachord that appears again in the middle section, again in the horns, in bars 37-38. In the final section a fully orchestrated hexachord in bar 64 is exactly one semitone higher than the very first hexachord of the movement, in bar 1. There are a number of other hexachords in the movement.

  Let‟s have a look at some of the questions that may be asked of this piece in the GCSE listening paper.

  Section A questions

  Section A will contain short-answer listening questions on the work. These will fall into a number of areas.

•   Knowledge of the expressionist style and ability to name features of it
•   Knowledge of key vocabulary and ability to define it – for example, hexachords, compliments, atonal, klangfarbenmelodie, H and N, timbre and so on. Ensure that

  you know all the bold words from this article!

•   Ability to name instruments which have important material in this movement – for

  example, the clarinets, horns, cellos and bassoons.

•   Knowledge of the performing techniques used, such as mutes and pizzicato
•   Other important features found in the music, such as the chromatic scale played by

  the trumpets in bar 2.

  Additionally, you may be asked to express your opinion about the music. In these cases, it is not important whether you like or dislike the piece, but it is important that you can justify your opinion with two or three musical reasons (for example: „I like/don‟t like this piece because of the extreme contrasts in dynamics‟).

  Section B questions

Section B asks some fairly broad contextual questions about the work, such as when it was written. However the bulk of section B is an extended answer (in continuous prose) asking you to write about how the elements of music are used in the piece.

You can prepare for this by making notes on the overall features of each element. I have suggested how these notes might start below.

Melody/Pitch

•   The full range of the orchestra and its instruments is used
•   Melodies are short and motivic (developed in a cell-like fashion)
•   Melodies are angular and disjunct (they rarely move in step)

  Harmony/tonality

•   The work is atonal – there is no key or key relationships
•   There is much use of hexachords
•   Harmony is dissonant

  Timbre/Texture

•   Motives are split between instruments („klangfarbenmelodie‟)
•   Loud sections are dominated by brass, whilst the horns and clarinets are used extensively for warmer textures
•   There are huge contrasts in texture

  Rhythm

•   Small rhythmic ideas recur during the movement
•   Rhythms are complex and very quick
•   There is a lack of a sense of regular pulse

  Structure

•   Hexachords and rhythmic ideas come back, giving the sense of a return to the opening idea on two subsequent occasions
•   A kind of rondo structure, but no obvious use of structural reference points (such as cadences)

Chopin “Prelude no. 15 in Db Major, Op. 28 (‘Raindrop’)”

Analysis

Form

•   This 89-bar piece is in a simple ternary form, with the A sections in the key of Db minor, and the central B section in the tonic minor, enharmonically changed to C# minor.
•   However, this ternary form is unbalanced, as the final A section is significantly shorter than the other sections and operates as little more than an extended coda.
•   The opening A section has a ternary structure of its own.
•   The piece is also unified by the incessantly repeating pedal note (Ab in the A sections, enharmonically changed to G# in the B sections), which is likely to be the rhythmic patter of the raindrops falling on Chopin‟s roof as he composed the piece.

  Melody

•   The opening theme, like Handel‟s, begins with a key-defining triad followed by a scale, though Chopin‟s triad falls and his scale rises and then falls, perhaps to add to the melancholy mood of the piece or to further signify the raindrops.
•   As a throwback to the Classical era, this opening theme is regularly phrased.
•   A second theme begins in bar 8 – another simple, sad, stepwise melody. This one is varied when it is repeated, and does not return in the final A section.
•   As the first theme returns, there is more decoration with septuplets and acciaccaturas. This is very typical of Chopin‟s piano style.
•   The B section melody is played in the left hand and is very foreboding and not particularly lyrical. The incessant raindrops almost dominate in this dark section.
•   In the short reprise of section A, the melody is broken off by the sudden interruption of a cadenza-like passage for just the right hand. Rhythm

•   The dominating rhythm is the repeating quavers of the „raindrops‟, which keep the music going despite this relatively slow tempo.
•   One aspect of rhythm that was important in Romantic music was the application of rubato, where the performer was encouraged to be flexible with the tempo in order to allow the music to „breathe‟.

  Harmony and tonality

•   The inner parts tend to support the melodies with thirds and sixths, and the harmony is often simple and diatonic, using mainly tonic and dominant seventh chords, with the occasional added ninth (e.g. bar 3, beat 2).
•   Perfect cadences continue to provide closure at important points, showing that functional tonality still applies in this early part of the Romantic period.
•   Some chromaticism appears in the second theme, and becomes more apparent in the minor key B section, along with other „melancholy‟ devices such as appoggiaturas and suspensions.
•   Other than the move to the tonic minor, modulations tend to be quite short lived, apart from the move to Ab minor and then Bb minor in the second theme. Chopin modulates by using pivot notes.
•   Pedal notes are a big feature of this piece, usually dominant pedals, and sometimes inverted (i.e. in the top part).

  Texture and piano writing

•   Chopin was a master of writing for the piano, and brings out many aspects of the instrument‟s expressive qualities, such as the use of the lower register in the middle section, and the use of the pedal. He also exploits the piano‟s ability to bring out the melody whilst keeping inner parts quieter („sotto voce‟ is a favourite instruction of Chopin‟s!).
•   The texture throughout is quite full, with three or four parts going on, and the middle of the B section is both loud and very full-textured, providing a tense and powerful climax to the piece.
•   However, Chopin also brings in stark contrasts, and frequently reduces the texture to just one or two notes.

  It is also worth drawing attention to the large number of performance instructions in this piece, ranging from dynamics, articulation and phrasing to detailed pedaling and words such as „smorzando‟. Chopin was quite precise in indicating what he wanted – a far cry from Handel‟s score.

  Section A questions

  Once again, any 30-60 second portion of the music can suffice. Questions might be something like:

1. Complete the melody in bar x.
2. What cadence can be heard in bar x?
3. What features of Romantic music can be heard in this extract?
4. How does Chopin communicate a mood of sadness in this extract?
5. What examples are there in this extract of expressive writing for the piano?
6. What is the key in bar(s) x?

Section B questions

The short answer questions are likely to be about the time or period of composition, the circumstances surrounding the composition or its acquisition of the name „Raindrop‟, or something about Chopin‟s compositions for the piano or what the name Prelude means.

The long answer question will either ask you to show how this is a typical Romantic piece, or encourage you to comment on the way Chopin uses musical elements in the Prelude, but either way a good knowledge of the chief points pertaining to each element will stand you in good stead. There is a model answer on this very piece at the end of this pack.

Mozart “Symphony no. 40 in G minor” (A Guide to the GCSE Music Set Works)

Analysis

Form

Since Classical style is all about balance, it is best to begin by looking at the form of this movement, which is the first movement in a four-movement work. Like most first movements in multi-movement works of the Classical period, this Allegro is in sonata form, which is a slightly more complex type of ABA (or ternary) form, governed particularly by the use of keys to structure the music.

Here is a clear, simple explanation of sonata form at work in this piece:

1. The “A‟ section is known as the exposition, because the main themes are “exposed‟ for the first time. In this movement, like in most sonata form pieces, there are two main themes, which we call subjects.

The first subject is in the tonic key, G minor, and begins in bar 1, without any introduction.

In bar 20 this same first subject starts to modulate, which means we are in a transition passage – a passage of music which links the first subject to the second. Some people call this a bridge passage.

In bar 44 we hear the other main theme – the second subject. This is in the relative major (B flat major), and contrasts in lots of ways with the first subject.

The exposition ends with a “winding up‟ section called a codetta – a mini version of the coda we will hear at the end of the music. Then the whole exposition is repeated.

2. The “B‟ section of the movement is called the development, because Mozart takes some time to develop (or play around with) some of the material we heard in the exposition. In this case, he concentrates entirely on the first subject and has some fun presenting it on different instruments, sometimes overlapping it with itself, and going through a lot of different, related keys. More on the keys later! The development lasts from bars 101 to 164.

3. Once Mozart has had enough playing about with the material, he “recaps‟ by giving us both subjects, and the transition, again, in a section known as the recapitulation (the returning “A‟ section if you like). However there are some big differences. 

The first subject starts the recapitulation in bar 164, as we would expect, in the tonic key of G minor.

The transition comes in again, but this time Mozart does not modulate to the dominant. Instead he moves through a number of keys (very quickly) and returns to the tonic.

In bar 227 we hear the second subject in the tonic key, which makes it sound very different as it is now a minor-key melody.

4. Finally we hear the closing section, or coda, from bar 260 to the end. One of the strengths of sonata form is that though we feel we have been on a very interesting journey, we arrive home in a very obvious and satisfying way. 

Melody

Classical music focuses heavily on melody, and Mozart himself is responsible for some of the simplest and most poignant melodies ever written.

•   The first subject begins with a three-note rhythm repeated three times, followed by a rising sixth. These two ideas are later broken up into mini „cells‟ and developed incessantly, particularly in the development section.
•   Both the first and second subjects have equal four-bar question and answer phrases, which in turn can be broken into equal two-bar phrases. This is called periodic phrasing, and is a feature of all the melodic writing in this movement.
•   Furthermore, the answering phrase, which begins in bar 5, is the same as the questioning phrase, but a tone lower. This is a sequence, and there are many examples.
•   If that is not enough, the rhythm of the melody of each two-bar phrase of this first subject is identical. How more balanced could Mozart be?
•   The second subject (bar 44) has a more laid-back feel to it, and uses a falling chromatic idea. It also has few instruments (better expressed as „reduced texture‟).
•   There is another mini-theme, a little like a second part to the second subject, which rises chromatically at bar 66.
•   The codetta focuses on just the first three notes of the first subject, and the development on these and the rising sixth idea.

  Harmony and tonality
  I mentioned in the section on form that it is the keys that structure this movement.

•   The exposition starts in the tonic (G minor) and ends in the relative major (Bb major). The modulation between these two keys happens in the transition. This is very normal for sonata form structure.
•   The recapitulation also starts in the tonic, but this time any modulations are short lived and it ends in the tonic as well. This is also normal practice.

•   The development shows Mozart‟s creative genius at work! He modulates every few bars, often by way of chromatic sequences, visiting a whole host of extremely distant keys.
•   The end of the development gives us a huge clue that the „modulation madness‟ is coming to an end and the recapitulation is around the corner – we hear a very long dominant pedal (the note D) in the closing bars of this section. This is known as dominant preparation.
•   The movement is littered with perfect cadences that give us clear signposts in this otherwise quite complex trip through tonality.
•   A lot of the harmony is chromatic, but relies on circles of fifths to underpin it. A good example of this is the answering phrase in the second subject, bars 47-50, where you can clearly see the chromaticism in the violin parts, and the circle of fifths in the „cello and bass parts.
•   It is worth noting that the harmonic rhythm – the rate at which the actual chords change underneath the melodic parts – is often quite slow, so that the melody is given room. The first subject, for instance, is set over an unchanging G minor chord for its first four bars, and then moves to a two-bar or one-bar rate of harmonic change.

  Texture and instrumentation

•   The overriding texture in this movement is melody-dominated homophony, or „melody with accompaniment‟. There are very few examples of polyphonic texture (but see „other points‟ below).
•   This does not mean that the music is textually one-dimensional. On the contrary, Mozart contrasts the instrumental texture constantly, using different combinations of instruments.
•   The woodwind gets a more prominent role than that seen in the Handel, often having melodies or sharing them with the violins, though the music is still quite string-dominated. The horns‟ role is largely textural, adding weight to the harmony.

  Other points

 Mozart includes a lot more performance instructions than Handel, such as dynamics and articulation.

 There are a number of „special effects‟ such as diminished sevenths, syncopation and short passages of counterpoint.

Section A questions

Again, pick a short extract and adapt some of the suggested questions to suit it!

1. What is the key of the extract?
2. Name the cadence heard at the end of the extract.
3. Complete the following melody/rhythm (don’t give more than five or six missing notes).
4. From which part of the sonata form structure does this extract come?
5. (For a chromatic phrase) How would you describe the melody in bar x?
6. Name two instruments which play the melody in this section.
7. How is the phrase at bar x contrasted when it is repeated in bar y?
8. What melodic/rhythmic/harmonic device can you hear in bar x?
9. How would you best describe the texture of this extract?

Section B questions

The short-answer questions in this section may ask you to identify the century or period in which the symphony was composed, or ask a question about the type of work from which this movement comes (such as how many movements the symphony has). For the longer question, focus the thinking on how Mozart uses the various elements shown above to create both balance and contrast in this movement.

Analysis of Handel “And the Glory of the Lord” (A Guide to the GCSE Music Set Works)

Analysis

The main concept that Handel communicates in this movement is joy, and much of the writing is intended to promote the feeling of optimism found in the text. Let’s have a look at how he does this.

Melody

• Handel states each line of the text with its own melodic idea, resulting in four very different ideas, or motifs, which are each developed throughout the piece, sometimes together, sometimes separately.
• Handel uses both triadic and stepwise melodies, and often follows one with the other by way of contrast. The first motif (“And the glory, the glory of the Lord‟), starting in bar 11, is a good example of this.
• Melodies often rise and fall in contrast with each other – for example, the second motif (“Shall be revealed‟ – starting in bar 17) descends to contrast with the ascending first motif.
• Repetition of small melodic cells is used, such as in the third motif (“And all flesh shall see it together‟), which starts in bar 43. Sometimes these repetitions are in sequence, such as in the second motif (bars 18-19).
• Handel achieves a sense of occasion and dignity by proclaiming the very austere words of the fourth motif (“For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it‟) on just two notes. This is first seen starting in bar 51.
• These motifs are often combined, so that some voices sing one motif whilst other voices sing another. A good example of this is seen starting in bar 22, where the tenors and sopranos have the first motif, and the altos (followed by the tenors) have the second. In the passage of music starting in bar 93, Handel has three motifs going on at once!

Word setting

• Clever word setting is one of Handel‟s trademarks, and we can see evidence of it in this movement. Handel contrasts syllabic word-setting (e.g. in the first motif, bar 11) with melismatic (e.g. the second motif, starting bar 17).
• Word painting can be seen in the fourth motif (e.g. bars 51-57) where the slow rhythms reflect the importance of the text.

Rhythm and metre

• The movement is in triple time, and has a lively dance-like feel to communicate the joyful mood of the words.
• There are many examples of hemiola, usually as the music approaches an important cadence point, such as bars 9-10.
• The music is driven throughout by an incessant crotchet rhythm in the bass line.
•  The three beats of silence before the final cadence are extremely dramatic.

Harmony and Tonality

• The movement is in the bright key of A major, emphasised by the first motif, which starts with an A major triad and ends with a rising scale to the tonic note.
• Modulations in the movement are to the dominant (E major – e.g. bar 22) and the dominant of the dominant (B major – e.g. bar 74). Handel avoids minor keys and the flatter sounding sub-dominant. The modulations occur at important parts of the movement, dictating its structure. This is known as functional tonality.
• Primary chords (I, IV and V – the major chords) and perfect cadences are extremely common in this movement, adding to its bright, optimistic mood.
• Handel carefully chooses moments to use a more grand-sounding plagal cadence – most striking is the one in the very last bars of the movement.

  Texture

• This is arguably the element that Handel contrasts the most, resulting in a very colourful setting.
• When the altos start, in bar 11, they are alone, but they are answered by the other three vocal parts in homophonic texture, making this opening exchange sound very declamatory. In many of the homophonic sections, it is the basses who have the melody.
• There is much use of imitation, resulting in sections of quite complex polyphonic textures, such as bars 17-22, the first entry of the second motif.
• Handel contrasts the combinations of voices to make the texture colourful and interesting. Bars 22-33 are a good example of this.
• Polyphonic and homophonic textures are contrasted throughout, and Handel often uses homophony to emphasise an important phrase, such as in bar 33, and at the end (when the tempo slows as well).
• Handel contrasts between one, two, three and four-part vocal textures.

Orchestral writing

• Handel uses the orchestra in three main ways – to double the vocal parts, to drive the music forward (especially in the writing for basso continuo) and to provide short interludes between the choral sections.
• The orchestral writing is mainly string-orientated. Section A questions

  In the exam, a short extract from the movement lasting between 30 and 60 seconds will be played five times. Depending on the extract, these are examples of the types of questions you might be asked:

1. How does Handel make the music sound joyful in this section?
2. Complete a very short section of melody (you will be given the rhythm, and it may be one of the four main motifs. You could alternatively be asked to notate an extract of rhythm only).
3. Name the cadence at bar x.
4. What is the key of this extract?
5. To which key does the music modulate at the end of this extract?
6. How does Handel contrast the texture of the choral parts in bar(s) x?
7. What is the name of the melodic/rhythmic/harmonic device in bar(s) x? (See the box to the left/right for a summary of devices).

Devices are compositional “tools‟ used commonly to develop or emphasise a musical idea. Devices found in this set work include:

Melodic devices: sequence, imitation (this also falls under texture).

Rhythmic devices: hemiola.

Harmonic devices: pedal notes, inverted pedal notes, suspensions.

Section B questions

Section B will start with one or two simple, short-answer factual questions about the music or its context – such as:

•   In which musical period was this piece written?
•   In which year was this piece written?
•   In which city was Messiah first performed?
•   What type of movement immediately precedes this chorus?
•   What is an oratorio? (Or what genre of music does Messiah belong to?)

  Then there will be a question demanding a longer answer in prose, worth 10 marks. This will be about one or more of the elements of music, as described above.

  Examples could include:

•   Describe how Handel creates contrast in this movement. Concentrate your answer on melody, rhythm and texture.
•   How does Handel achieve a sense of joy and optimism in this movement? Concentrate your answer on melody, rhythm, harmony and word setting.
•   What features of melody, harmony, rhythm, texture and instrumentation are typical of the Baroque period in this movement?

Notes on Handel’s “And the Glory of the Lord”

Modulations

The modulations happen in this order (all major keys): A-E, E-A, A-E, E-B, B-E, E-A or think of it this way: AEAEBEA

• Modulation 1 (from A major to E major) happens around when Idea 2 (“shall be revealed”) comes in for the first time

• Modulation 2 (from E major to A major) happens at the end of the orchestral link just before Idea 3 (“and all flesh shall see it together”) comes in for the first time – at the start of Idea 3, the key is already A major

• Modulations 3 and 4 (from A major to E major straight to B major) happen about 7 bars/seconds after the sopranos sing Idea 4 (“for the mouth…”). NOTE: THE MODULATIONS BETWEEN THE 3 CHORDS LITERALLY HAPPEN WITHIN 3 BARS. A short orchestral link happens a while after this and it is still in B major.

• *Modulation 5 happens somewhere around here from B major to E major – still thinking of a signal point*

• The final modulation, Modulation 6 (from E major to A major), happens just before “and all flesh” (A) -> “and all flesh” (T) -> “and all flesh” (B) i.e. just before the altos sing “and all flesh” echoed first by tenor and then bass in quick succession (LISTEN OUT FOR WHEN THE TEXTURE IS BRIEFLY REDUCED)