Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610)

Last night I performed the Monteverdi Vespers, or 'Vespro della Beata Vergine' to use the full title. I briefly covered the Vespers earlier when researching polyphonic choral music, but there were some interesting aspects of it that I didn't cover.

We performed it with a period orchestra, which I found absolutely fascinating; there were strings, 3 cornetts, 3 suckbuts, a theorbo and an organ. On top of this, the orchestra was tuned a semitone higher than usual, so everything sounded a lot sharper than usual.

The cornetts produced a wonderful sound like a reedy trumpet, which isn't surprising given it's basically like an oboe with a trumpet mouthpiece. This made me wonder how you become a cornett player; do you start off as a woodwind player or a brass player? The sackbuts were basically baby trombones but they came in three different sizes, alto, tenor and bass. The theorbo was an amazing instrument, like a very large lute, which we used with the organ to provide the continuo part.

It was said by one of the performers that the church that Monteverdi had in mind when he wrote the piece had no real acoustic, so he had to write the echo in the music himself. Whilst this may be folklore, you can understand why people might come to this conclusion. There are numerous moments when Montiverdi writes an echo in the music, with tenor and soprano soloists, the cornetts and even in the choral writing. This can be made more effective by, as was done last night, positioning the performers in different parts of the church to create a visual effect as well as aural; this works well in a venue with a good acoustic as the echo is different for the performers located in different places.

Project 12: Two-part inventions

Oboe and Bassoon

I thought the oboe and bassoon would work well together, particularly with a flowing, legato melody. It begins with the bassoon imitating the oboe; the second oboe phrase is an inversion of the first. Augmentation and diminution are then introduced later on. The opening theme returns in the 6th bar but with a different rhythm; this is then played with towards the end.

Flute and Clarinet

To make the second piece contrasting I wrote it at a faster tempo and using the chromatic scale to create an agitated feel. The flute begins by inverting the clarinet opening melody before imitating it in a descending sequence in bars 2-3. There is diminution in bar 4 where the flute plays a semi-quaver sequence based on the clarinet's 4 quavers in the first bar; the semi-quaver flute opening is augmented by the clarinet in bar 5.

Research Point: Bach's Fugues and Inventions

G minor fugue, BWV 861

I found this video for the G minor fugue, which is cheating because it is his own analysis of the work. I still found it useful, however, because he sees additional aspects of the fugue that I wouldn't have identified and it;s always useful to see a different opinion of something:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyvSrpQ2eWY

The video maker highlights passages of imitation well, where there are responses or episodes and stretti later on in the work. The counter subject itself begins with an inversion of the second phrase of the subject.
Within the subjects and episodes themselves there are sequences and imitation, particularly from bars 25-28.  I couldn't see any obvious uses of augmentation or diminution though.


Invention No. 14, BWV 785

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xfapPKEN4

The opening melody is made up of pairs of phrases; the first rises whilst the second is similar to it but inverted. The second bar is than a similar pair of phrases but a fifth lower. Bars 4 and 5 have the opening motif in the left hand, which is then inverted in the right hand in a descending sequence; in bar 5 both hands then play their motifs together. In bars 6-8 the opening themes return but in opposite hands. Bars 9-11 see the themes swapping between hands every bar but the accompanying quavers become more elaborate; a four quaver descending sequence. The theme is shortened and swapped between hands more regularly until both hands play the same rhythmic motif.

Project 11: Inventing free counterpoint

Oboe and Glockenspiel

I took the first melody in example 47 and gave it to the oboe; I then wrote a companion melody for the glockenspiel. I wanted to add movement in the glockenspiel melody in the middle where the oboe has long notes, but to complement the oboe melody where it has movement.

Flute and Bassoon

I took the second melody in example 47 and gave to the bassoon; I then wrote a companion melody for the flute. The idea was for the 2 melodies to meet where the bassoon has staccato notes, but the flute to have the opposite rhythmic pattern to the bassoon. The last bar of the flute melody is designed to lead into the last 2 notes of the bassoon melody.

Clarinet, Snare Drum and Marimba

I decided to write for this group of instruments as I had a sort of upbeat melody in mind, so the addition of the snare drum creates a military feel. I wrote the clarinet melody to have emphasis on the 2nd beat, which feels slightly un-natural in a 3/4 time signature. The marimba melody moves at the same time as clarinet melody, with tremolos on the 2nd beat of the bar for emphasis.

Flute, Timpani and Tubular Bells

I thought the flute and tubular bells would work well together, particularly at a slow tempo. The tubular bells mimic the flute melody, but with a different ending. I added the timpani to provide additional texture; quiet rolls to mimic thunder and create tension.

The significance of Key

I was at a choir rehearsal a few months ago when the conductor mentioned that the creed we were singing was written in C Major, as C Major had an affiliation with faith in the Catholic church. This got me thinking about the significance of keys and whether more thought goes into selecting a key than I first realised.

For example, C Major was considered to be a key of strength particularly when combined with a modulation from C minor to C Major; many academics associated C minor with strive and struggle so the resolution to C Major is seen as a triumph. C minor also seems to have particular significance to Beethoven; many of his powerful and emotional works are written in the key.

I was intrigued that Baroque composers seemed to favour G and D Major for joyous works, but one commentator mentioned that the invention of the valve trumpet shifted the preference of composers to flatter keys.

I also hadn't considered how some keys lie better on some instruments. Many comments were made about setting violin concertos in A or E Major as these are the higher open strings so a fuller, richer sound can be achieved in these keys. There was also reference to Chopin believing B Major was the simplest key to play on the piano because its notes naturally fitted the human hand. There was also an interesting comment about issues around clarinet writing and minor to parallel major modulations; the main example being D minor to D Major where a Bb clarinet would better suit the former and an A clarinet the latter.

I have a natural preference towards sharper keys, A and E Major in particular, as for me sharp keys sound sweeter than flat keys. Equally C Major always sounds bland and mundane, but maybe that’s because it’s the first scale you learn on most instruments so is the most familiar.

I found it interesting that it Bb minor is considered a dark key. The oboe solo in Tchaikovsky’s 2^nd symphony is written this key; Tchaikovsky described it as “the feeling you get when you are all alone.”

I also found different lists compiled by people describing the characteristics of keys; this document summarises the ideas of three different people:

http://www.skylineperformingarts.org/instrumental_files/documents/misc/Key%20meanings.pdf

I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but I find Schubart's ideas the most relatable. He does, however, have some negative connotations to major keys, such as Ab Major; D minor also has a more positive spin than other minor keys. Maybe I should generate my own ideas. 

BBC Four - Symphony Episode 4

Having watched the third episode in the series last week, I watched the 4th and final episode on iplayer over the weekend. This episode started in the by looking at Shostakovich's 1st symphony, commenting on the humour and wit in it; something which would be important to consider in future symphonies as the Stalinist regime gained power. Equally, they looked at Charles Ives and how he wrote "nationalist" music by incorporating the sounds he heard around him e.g. marching bands and hymns.

The programme then moved on to look at the effect of the Second World War on the music output at the time. Again they used Shostakovich as an example and his 7th symphony, how it was written during the siege of Leningrad for the forces available at the time with no provisions for publishing the music. They mentioned the power and effect the symphony had on the people of Leningrad, encapsulating their defiance and suffering.

The programme then moved on to look at the end of the war and the want for a triumphant composition along the lines of Beethoven's 9th symphony. The programme drew comparison between Copland's 3rd symphony and Shostakovich's 9th symphony. Copland's 3rd symphony, incorporating the 'Fanfare for the Common Man', draws on blues, country and American folk music to create a heroic and stirring work. In contrast, Shostakovich's 9th symphony has a neo-classical feel to it, using a much smaller orchestra than some of his earlier works and is generally lighter than what was expected; Shostakovich even noted that he began working on a large scale, grand celebration of victory, but stop working on it. One of the commentators on the programme commented about how the final movement, expected to be the triumphant conclusion to the piece begins with a bassoon solo "the clown of the orchestra", which seals the mood of the movement as a low key celebration of victory. The symphony was not well received by the Soviet leadership and was a contributing factor in his second denunciation under the Zhdanov Doctrine.

Assignment 3: Reflections

Trio in D

I decided to write for three woodwind instruments, with flute, oboe and bassoon creating a good mix of tones and ranges. I opted for an opening triad, two middle triads and the ending triad. As this created three sections, I wanted each to have a distinct sound to it. Overall I think the piece works well, particularly the mix of instruments, the range of the music as a whole and the contrast between the sections.

The piece starts out in D Major with all instruments on a unison D. This then opens out into a chord of A Major in the next bar. I felt this gave sets up the tonality of the piece well, although it is completely homophonic.

The 1^st section begins with a legato motif for oboe which is picked up by the flute a bar later and the bassoon a bar after that. It creates the impression of being a round, but after a few bars each part develops the theme into their own melodic lines; the flute introduces some chromatic notes to bring about the resolution on the 2^nd triad, A Major. 

The 2^nd section begins like the 1^st section trying to create the impression of a round. This time the flute begins followed by the oboe and the bassoon. To contrast the 1^st section, this section is much more light and detached to begin with. The oboe motif develops into a legato melody reminiscent of the first section, whilst the bassoon and flute imitate each other with rising and descending scales. The flute and bassoon continue to imitate each other with a failing sequence whilst the oboe melody becomes scalic and more detached, leading into the next triad of A Major.

The 3^rd section again begins like a round with the bassoon starting, followed by flute and the oboe, but this time each instrument has a subtly different motif; the flute’s uses triplets whilst the oboe’s is detached with dotted rhythms. The instruments exchange this 2 bar motif, each one entering a note higher than the previous one until the melody breaks down into a series of broken chord-based motifs which brings about the perfect cadence and the final triad of D Major. 

Project 10: A contrapuntal trial

Clarinet Trio

As a contrapuntal trial I wrote a trio for clarinet. The idea was that each part had a separate melody based on a different rhythmic idea.

Project 9: Descants

Overall I found this exercise a lot easier than exercise 8. I think this was because you didn't have to pay such close attention to what the different parts were doing as there were only 2 and you didn't have to work to a prescribed chord sequence; it might just have been that the melody was already written so I didn't have to start from scratch.


Quem Patores

I wrote this with an oboe playing the melody and a flute playing the descant. I left the oboe melody with no articulation markings as I wanted to mimic a singer with a syllable on every note. The flute, on the other hand, has a much more legato melody.

You Gentlemen of England

I wrote this with an oboe again playing the melody, but this time with a clarinet playing the descant. I wrote it for an A clarinet since the key signature was A Major. The clarinet descant mimics the oboe melody but then becomes more elaborate. This time both parts have legato lines except bar 7 for the oboe; this creates a nice contrast, as the clarinet interjections at the end of each section.

Na haste do castanheiro

I wrote this with a clarinet playing the melody and a bassoon playing the descant. I wrote it for an A clarinet since the key signature was D Major. I think using the bassoon provides an effective counter-melody, though it makes it difficult to set up the cadence at the end as you expect the bass line to lead it. The accents in the clarinet part are to give it a 1 in a bar feel whilst the bassoon gives accents to the other beats. The bassoon part, in particular, is detached and bouncy.

Project 8: Rounds and Catches

Flute Round

I started by writing a flute round using the chords from sequence 2 with one chord per bar. It has quite a quick tempo and I tried to write so that there was always movement between the parts.  The image below shows a complete single part with the rehearsal marks (A, B and C) denoting where each new part joins.

The image below shows what the round looks like when all parts are playing together.

Oboe Round

I wrote a round for oboe using the chords from sequence 4, again with one chord per bar. Like the flute round I wanted to ensure movement across the parts, but this time the round is Adagio and has more of a lilt to it. The image below shows a complete single part with the rehearsal marks (A, B and C) denoting where each new part joins.

The image below shows what the round looks like when all parts are playing together.

BBC Four - Symphony Episode 3

I watched the third episode of this series on Friday evening, although I had seen the full series when it was originally aired. The third episode, "New Worlds and New Nations", looks at the draw of Vienna for composers, the works of Brahms, Wagner and Bruckner, as well as the nationalist composers of the late Romantic era, such as Dvorak, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.

They look at Dvorak's 6th and 9th symphonies and how he utilised the musical cultures of the Czech Republic in the former and America in the latter. They particularly focused on the 3rd movement of the 6th symphony, where Dvorak uses a style of a Furiant (a Bohemian dance), and the 2nd movement of the 9th symphony where the melodic theme has been linked with Negro spirituals. I found this interesting to see how the composers got the inspirations for their large scale works. 

There was an interesting moment, whilst looking at Sibelius and his Finnish influences, where they mentioned the encounters between him and Gustav Mahler; how they would talk about symphonic form, but each composer had a different view of what it meant to them. Sibelius said he admired the severity and logic of the form and how it created connections between motifs, Mahler said the symphony should be like the world, it should embrace everything. 

The program briefly looked at Mahler, in particular his 3rd symphony and the ground breaking developments he made in orchestration and musical sound. They mentioned how he grew up around military marching bands and how he tried to re-create the sound of the "slightly out of tune" marching band; Mahler tries to create a very raw and biting tone to some of the passages. He also knows exactly how he wants pieces to sound, calling for oboes and horns to play with their bells in the air. They say in passing how Mahler was the Berlioz of his day for musical sound and orchestration. Having studied Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique' at school I understand what they mean by this; both composers did some ground breaking things with their respective works. 

Valery Gergiev Interview in BBC Music Magazine

In the June issue of BBC Music Magazine, James Naughtie writes about an interview with Valery Gergiev. They talk about the influence of Russian composers and his upbringing and education. They talk about his education under Ilya Musin and how he won a conducting competition Musin didn't want him to enter.

For me, the most interesting piece of the article was where Gergiev says he was left with a recording of a Tchaikovsky symphony by Musin and asked to write down the second viola part. When he couldn't, Musin said he had to learn how to listen. I found this interesting, because I have only recently discovered how listening to different recordings of a pieces will bring out different parts in the texture. Equally, I have started listening to pieces with the score in front of me and it makes you realise how many subtleties there are hidden away in an orchestral texture; it then creates a new listening experience for a piece you may have thought you knew very well.

Research Point: Polyphonic Vocal Music

Thomas Tallis - If ye love me

This piece, like many Renaissance choral works, starts with a homophonic passage before Tallis introduces more polyphonic writing. This starts with the sopranos, followed by the tenors singing the same opening notes, but then a slightly altered melody to fit with the soprano line. He does the same with the alto and bass entries so all 4 parts are singing together; the polyphony creates a pulse or beat to the music that you couldn't feel in the opening homophonic passage. The tenors begin the next phrase, but this new pulse is slower than the previous phrase, as the melodies are based around minims rather than crochets. Tallis brings some parts in on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bars to create a syncopated feel to the music which is very effective.


William Byrd - Nunc Dimittis from the Great Service

This was the first piece of Byrd I ever sung and it has stuck with me ever since because of the sheer beauty of the writing and the way the different lines weave around each other, particularly in the amens; we sang this at an evensong with the Arvo Part 'Magnificat', so it provided quite a contrast!

There are some passages where one voice leads the others by a bar, but through the polyphony this is eventually resolved. It is also a useful way of introducing a new section or line in the text; one of the downsides of heavy polyphonic writing is that the text can get lost. The use of rising and descending scales really lifts a particular line out of the texture, particularly in the amens where the text isn't changing.


Claudio Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610)

Whilst not an English Elizabethan composer, Monteverdi was composing in Italy around the time of Byrd and  Morley. His 1610 Vespers is a large work for SSATTBB soloists, double choir and orchestra. I bring this piece up as I'm performing it in a couple of weeks time so had a copy of it to hand.

Monteverdi uses a Cantus Firmus based on existing Gregorian chants for the text of most movements as the basis to build the choral writing around. He also combines large homophonic and polyphonic passages to great effect; these polyphonic passages can be built around up to 10 voice parts. He also uses the double choir to different effects, sometimes writing call and response passages between the 2 choirs and sometimes using all parts at once, either polyphonically or homophonically.

I think the most effective part of this piece is in his polyphonic writing where he uses syncopation to great effect; in many cases one voice part sing identical music to a different part but 1-2 beats later. When used in light, detached passages this is very effective.

Research Point: Henry Purcell

When researching Purcell rounds and catches I found the following playlist on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioiOJf7YsX4&list=PL52CF65EACA871B81

I found these videos useful as they also show the sheet music so you can see how the round is set out, though you need to do a bit of work to see how the parts move when put together.


Come, let us drink (Z245)

My first thought when hearing this was how long the opening theme was before the second voice entered, and thus how much thought and planning must have gone into composing it; there are moments when each part moves together in thirds while the number of beats in the bar is constantly changing (though these may be editorial).


Once, twice, thrice I Julia try'd (Z265)


I think the most effective thing about this round is how the opening melody is slow moving, with many rests, but once combined in full the other parts move in these rests. He also writes it so that when one part has a held note another part moves, and vice versa, to create a constant flow to the music. The line "fo kif's my ar", when combined with the first line of the round, sounds as "fo kif's my arse", which is amusing but I'm not sure if this translates the same in Old English. 



Since time so kind to us doth prove (Z272)

The most effective thing about this round is how Purcell sets out the words and music so the singers sound like they are having a conversation or argument with one another; you have the great effect of "I must", "what do you mean?", "I must", "Oh fye". This effect only becomes apparent once the 3rd and final voice is added to the texture.