Melody. The piece consists of sections A and B. The melody in section A is cantabile. In this section the right hand plays the melody and the left hand plays an accompaniment using the dominant pedal (Ab). The melody lines in section A are long with ornamentation such as turns.
The first A sections, bars 1 to 64, and presents the first two themes. The first or main them takes up the first eight measures, and is played by the piano, then repeated by the orchestra. The second theme follows the same pattern. Then a reprise and development of the first theme transitions to the next episode. The second section, B (measures 65-164), contain themes three, four, and five.
Vivaldi was progressive musically. He established the concerto form as an instrumental standard, played with the idea that the soloist was at war with the larger orchestra and using the contrasts to dramatic effect, not only between players but in speed and volume levels as well, and he pushed the envelope on violin technique, something in which he probably remained untouched. His usual writing style was antiphony, a simple style, which allowed him to experiment with instrument solos and maintain a light and innocent texture to the music. Vivaldi was one of the rare Italian composers interested in woodwind instruments. He composed several concertos for the bassoon, oboe, recorder and flute, as well as the rarer clarinet.
Sonata form mainly focuses on the harmonic and thematic expression of music that sets the mood in the exposition. The development is contrasted and elaborated, and usually resolved with a safe sound of harmony in the end, recapitulating the main ideas. Among all of the examples we have heard in class like Mozart’s Symphony 25, or the Moonlight Sonata, I believe that Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 represents sonata form with the most accuracy. The exposition of Symphony No.
Introductions partis played with piano and then with xylophone. It starts off with four bar just about right rhythm. The first part, which is chorus with 32-bar form (A1 and A2), starts off slowly with the entire band without making the song boring. Right after the band plays the first chorus and interlude. I like the xylophone part because it felt like it was one part of the song.
In Mozart’s K.333 the cadences are used to reinforce the tonality, such as in bars 9-10 where the cadence is in the tonic key. Dominant pedal notes are also used to add strength to these cadences, for example in the bars 57-58. In Poulenc’s Sonata these perfect cadences are not so clear and there are occasional discords that weaken the strength of the key. An example of this is in bar 4, where a perfect cadence is suggested, however it is interrupted by the horn. These kinds of interruptions would not occur in Mozart’s pieces as they were written in the stricter classical period, whereas
THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1750-1825) THE CLASSICAL PERIOD OF MUSIC 1) TIME OF GREAT MUSICAL EXPERIMENTATION AND DISCOVERY 2) CENTERS AROUND ACHIEVEMENTS OF VIENNESE SCHOOL A) HAYDN B) MOZART C) BEETHOVEN 3) THREE CHALLENGING PROBLEMS A) EXPLORE MAJOR-MINOR SYSTEM TO ITS FULLEST B) TO PERFECT A LARGE FORM OF ABSOLUTE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC (THE SONATA CYCLE) C) TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ITS (SONATA CYCLE) VARIOUS TYPES 1) SONATA 2) CONCERTO SYMPHONY 3) ELEMENTS OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD 1) ELEGANT AND LYRICAL MELODIES A) ELEGANT AND LYRICAL MELODIES B) CLEAR-CUT CADENCES 2) THE HARMONIES THAT SUSTAINED THESE MELODIES A) FIRMLY ROOTED IN THE KEY RHYTHM 3) A) MUSIC WAS IN EITHER 2, 3, 4, OR 6/8 B) STAYED IN RHYTHMIC STYLE IT BEGAN WITH 4) FORM A) UNFOLDED
The bass and chords were played on one or more continuo instruments, typically harpsichord, organ or lute. Firstly, in Bach’s music, the basso continuo instrument, the harpsichord, tends to be playing a melody while in Vivaldi’s music, it tends to be playing chords. When the harpsichord is playing a melody, the music feels more layered, as there is one additional melody in the music as well as other individual melodies played by the other instruments in the piece of music. On the other hand, when the harpsichord plays chords it is contributing to the harmony rather than melody and in other words, accompanies the melodies played by other instruments in the music and helps create more depth in the music. This is evident from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto 5, Movement 1, measures 21-28 and Vivaldi’s Spring, Movement 1, measures 56-59.
Structure • Sonata form – repeat of the exposition was predominantly used in the classical period • Exposition x 2: o 1st subject – b.1-43 o Bridge passage – b.44-58 o 2nd subject – b.59-94 o Codetta – b.95-124 • Development – b.125-247 • Recapitulation: o 1st subject – b.248-287 o Bridge passage – b.288-302 o 2nd subject – b.303-372 • Extended Coda – b.373-502 Pitch Melody: • Piece begins in C minor with several modulations throughout: o The second subject modulates to E flat major through the descending arpeggios in the bridge passage o The development is in F minor before modulating back to the tonic of C minor in the recapitulation o The second subject in the recapitulation is in C major, the tonic major o The piece is back to C minor in the coda and there is an extended tutti perfect cadence from bar 496 to the end o The modulations are of major and minor tonalities, a classical characteristic • From bar 6 there is the use of imitation and sequences in the throughout the strings before the whole orchestra restates the theme at bar 18. • There is then the return of the main motif announced by the full string and wind sections and the horns, followed by sequenced variations. • At bar 38 a new rhythmic and melodic ascending motif is introduced in the strings: • The bridge passage consists of
The initial melody idea in the development is the dotted quaver-semiquaver motif taken from bar 14-15 of the exposition section. In bars 112-113 there are diminished 7th chords taken from the 2nd subject of the exposition (bar65-66), these diminished 7ths lead us into D major (bar 114). In bar 116-117 diminished 7ths are used again to take us to G major for bars 118. Diminished 7th chords used again in bar 120-121 which takes us to the key of C minor for bars 122-125. The rapid modulation continues throughout the 1st section still going round the cycle of 5ths moving to F minor (bar 126-129), Bb major (bar 130-131), Eb major (bar 132-133), then Eb minor (134-135) and finally resolves onto the unrelated key of Bb major for the second section of the development.