I wanted to write a piece in ABCA form with the following
principle - the music begins sorrowful with someone mourning the passing of a loved
one. The person then begins to reflect on the happy times they shared, so a more
upbeat, bright passage is required. This then leads to a more aggressive, animated
passage where things start to go wrong and something tragic happens; a death or
a break up. The sorrowful, morning mood returns to end the piece.
I thought the first motif I wrote for the Bassoon East
European Minor Scale piece as part of Project 7 would make a good starting
point for the sorrowful, mourning melody. I decided to write for oboe as I
thought the tone of the oboe in the upper register would suit the mood I was
trying to create. I transposed the minor version of the East European scale
provided in example 25 up a fourth so that the 3 notes a semi-tone apart were
focused around a D so that it was in the right part of the oboe’s upper
register; Poulenc uses this part of the oboe’s register to superb effect in the
third movement of his oboe sonata to create a very passionate, mournful melody.
To aid writing I set a key signature of D Major so that the only accidental that
needed to be added was an Eb; I used the Eb’s as focus points because it is the
only note which doesn't fit into a D Major scale. Bars 5-9 are designed to
create more of a major feel to the melody; it’s loosely based on a flute solo
from Shostakovich’s 5th symphony, 3rd movement (bar 94).
The final phrase of the lento passage was written to sound as though the melody
resolved into D Major, creating the impression of a positive outcome to the
situation to aid the transition to the next section.
From working on Project 7 I found the nine-note scales quite
easy to work with; the extra chromatic notes allow a few different keys to be
explored. I decided to use the scale in the left hand side in example 25, but
with a Bb; this allowed the keys of F and Bb Major and G minor to be employed. I
recently sang Schubert’s Mass in Ab flat where he frequently modulates to the
flattened submediant to very good effect. Using this idea, I was able to modulate
from D Major at the end of the first section to Bb Major at the beginning of
the second section. I wrote it in 6/8 to give it a dancing feel, with the
melodic line emphasising the beat; I also set it lower in the oboe’s register so
that a fuller, more rounded tone would be possible. Using ideas from Phaeton
(six metamorphoses after Ovid) I added rests to some of the groups towards the
end to add a sense of unease and uncertainty. The music modulates from Bb Major
to F Major before the last line of the section sees the introduction of F#s to
introduce G minor and the transition into the next section.
I used the chromatic scale to create an agitated feel to the
third section as it loses the sense on tonality. The section from bar 39 to 44 is
based around a rising sequence, but with rests interspersed at different points
to make it sound uneasy. Whilst this
passage requires quite a lot of skill and dexterity I don’t think it is
outside the realms of a good oboe player. The section ends on a held top D
which allows a return of the opening music. The opening two phrases return, but
are heavily ornamented with particular emphasis on the Ebs; Debussy’s Syrinx
was the inspiration for this. I add a low B to the end of the second phrase to
give it a rawer, edgy ending. The phrases return in their unornamented form,
with the added bottom B again before the last phrase of the first section ends
the piece, but it ends on an Eb rather than a D so that it doesn't sound like a
natural resting point or ending, as though there is some unfinished business.
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