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.