Analysis of musical works. Theoretical foundations and technology for the analysis of musical works. Holistic analysis of a musical work on the example of Rondo from Sonata h – moll by F.E. Bach Definition of variational form, types of variations, principle of variation
Some questions of harmonic analysis
1. Significance of harmonic analysis.
Harmonic analysis makes it easier to establish and maintain a direct connection with live musical creativity; helps to realize that the techniques and norms of voice leading recommended in harmony are not only educational and training, but also artistic and aesthetic; provides quite specific and varied material for demonstrating the basic methods of voice leading and the most important laws of harmonic development; helps to learn the main features of the harmonic language and individual outstanding composers and entire schools (directions); convincingly shows the historical evolution in the methods and norms of using these chords, revolutions, cadences, modulations, etc.; brings you closer to being guided in the style norms of the harmonic language; leads, ultimately, to an understanding of the general nature of music, brings it closer to the content (within the limits that are available to harmony).
2. Types of harmonic analysis.
a) the ability to correctly and accurately explain a given harmonic fact (chord, voicing, cadence);
b) the ability to understand and harmonically generalize this passage (the logic of functional movement, the relationship of cadences, the definition of tonality, the interdependence of melody and harmony, etc.);
c) the ability to connect all the essential features of the harmonic warehouse with the nature of the music, with the development of the form and with the individual characteristics of the harmonic language of a given work, composer or a whole trend (school).
3. Basic methods of harmonic analysis.
1. Determining the main key of a given piece of music (or its passage); find out all other keys that appear in the process of development of this work (sometimes this task is somewhat removed).
Determining the main key is not always a fairly elementary task, as one might assume at first glance. Not all pieces of music begin with the tonic; sometimes with D, S, DD, "Neapolitan harmony", from an organ point to D, etc., or a whole group of harmonies of a non-tonic function (see R. Schumann, op. 23 No. 4; Chopin, Prelude No. 2, etc. .). In more rare cases, the work even begins immediately with a deviation (L. Beethoven, "Moonlight Sonata", part II; 1st symphony, part I; F. Chopin, Mazurka in E minor, op. 41 No. 2, etc.). d.). In some works, the tonality is shown quite difficult (L. Beethoven, sonata in C major, op. 53, part II) or the appearance of the tonic is delayed for a very long time (F. Chopin, prelude in A-flat major, op. 17; A. Scriabin, prelude in A minor, op. 11 and E major, op. 11; S. Taneyev, cantata "After reading the psalm" - beginning; piano quartet, op. 30 - introduction, etc.). In special cases, a clear, distinct attraction to the tonic of a given key is given in harmony, but in essence all functions are shown, except for the tonic (for example, R. Wagner, the introduction to the opera "Tristan and Isolde" and the death of Isolde; N. Rimsky-Korsakov, the beginning overture to "May Night"; P. Tchaikovsky, "I bless you, forests", beginning; A. Lyadov "Sorrowful Song"; S. Rachmaninov, 3rd concerto for piano, part II; S. Lyapunov, romances op. 51; A. Scriabin, prelude op. 11 No. 2). Finally, in many classical arrangements of Russian songs, sometimes the key designation of tonality goes beyond traditional norms and follows the specifics of the mode, why, for example, Dorian G minor can have one flat in the designation, Phrygian F-sharp minor - two sharps, Mixolydian G major is written without any signs, etc.
Note. These features of the key designation are also found in other composers who appeal to the materials of folk art (E. Grieg, B. Bartok, etc.).
Having found out the main key and then other keys that appear in this work, they determine the general tonal plan and its functional features. The definition of the tonal plan creates a prerequisite for understanding the logic in the sequence of keys, which is especially important in large-scale works.
The definition of the main key, of course, is combined with the simultaneous characterization of the mode, the general modal structure, since these phenomena are organically interconnected. Particular difficulties, however, arise when analyzing samples with a complex, synthetic type, modal basis (for example, R Wagner, introduction to Act II of "Parsifal", "Dreams", R Schumann, "Grillen", N Rimsky-Korsakov, "Sadko" , 2nd scene, excerpts from "Kashchei"; S Prokofiev, "Sarcasms", etc.), or when changing the mode or key at the end of the work (for example, M Balakirev, "Whisper, timid breathing"; F Liszt, "Spanish Rhapsody "; F Chopin, ballad No. 2, G Wolf, "The moon rose very gloomy today"; F Chopin, mazurkas D-flat major, B minor, op.30; And Brahms, Rhapsody E-flat major; S Taneyev, "Minuet "etc.) Such changes in either mode or tonality must be explained as far as possible, their regularity or logic must be understood in connection with the general or development of a given work, or in connection with the content of the text.
2. The next point in the analysis is cadences: the types of cadences are studied and determined, their relationship is established in the presentation and development of the work. It is most expedient to begin such a study with an initial, expositional construction (usually a period); but this should not be limited.
When the analyzed work goes beyond the period (the theme of variations, the main part of the rondo, independent two- or three-part forms, etc.), it is necessary not only to determine the cadenzas in the reprise construction, but also to compare them harmoniously with the expositional part. This will help to understand how cadences can generally be differentiated to emphasize stability or instability, complete or partial completeness, connection or delimitation of constructions, as well as to enrich harmony, change the nature of music, etc.
If there is a clear middle (link) in the work, then it is obligatory established by what harmonic means the instability characteristic of the middles is supported (such as: emphasis on half cadences, stop on D, organ point on D or tonal unstable sequences, interrupted cadences, etc.). P.).
Thus, this or that independent study of cadences must necessarily be combined with consideration of their role in harmonious development (dynamics) and form formation. For conclusions, it is essential to pay attention both to the individual harmonic features of the theme (or themes) itself and to the specifics of its modal-functional structure (for example, it is necessary to specifically take into account the features of major, minor, variable mode, major-minor, etc.), since all these harmonic moments are closely linked and interdependent. Such linkage is of the greatest importance in the analysis of works of large form, with a contrasting ratio of its parts and themes and their harmonic presentation.
3. Then it is desirable to focus attention in the analysis on the simplest moments of coordination (subordination) of melodic and harmonic development.
To do this, the main melody-theme (initially within the framework of the period) is analyzed structurally independently, unanimously - its character, dissection, completeness, functional pattern, etc. are determined. Then it is revealed how these structural and expressive qualities of the melody are reinforced by harmony. Particular attention should be paid to the climax in the development of the theme and its harmonic design. Recall that, for example, in the Viennese classics, the climax usually falls on the second sentence of the period and is associated with the first appearance of the subdominant chord (this enhances the brightness of the climax) (see L Beethoven, Largo appassionato from the sonata op. 2 No. 2, II part from the sonata op. .22, theme of the finale of the Pathetique Sonata, op.13, etc.).
In other, more complex cases, when the subdominant is somehow shown even in the first sentence, the climax, in order to increase the overall tension, is harmonized differently (for example, DD, S and DVII7 with a bright delay, Neapolitan chord, III low, etc.). For example, let us refer to the famous Largo e mesto from Beethoven's sonata in D major, op. 10, No. 3, in which the climax of the theme (in the period) is given on a bright consonance DD. Without explanation, it is clear that such a design of the climax is also preserved in works or sections of a larger form (see L. Beethoven, indicated by Largo appassionato from sonata op. 2 No. 2 - a two-part construction of the main theme, or the deepest Adagio - II part from sonata L Beethoven in D minor, op.31 No. 2)
It is natural that such a bright, harmonically convex interpretation of culminations (both main and local) by continuity passed into the creative traditions of subsequent masters (R. Schumann, F. Chopin, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Taneyev, S. Rachmaninov) and provided many magnificent samples (see the amazing apotheosis of love in the conclusion of the 2nd picture of "Eugene Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky, the side theme from the finale of the 6th symphony of P. Tchaikovsky, the end of the first act of "The Tsar's Bride" by N.R. -K o r s a ko in a Ypres.).
4. In a detailed harmonic analysis of a given chord sequence (at least within a simple period), it is necessary to fully understand what chords are given here, in what inversions, in what alternation, doubling, at what enrichment with non-chord dissonances, etc. At the same time, it is desirable to generalize how early and often the tonic is shown, how widely unstable functions are presented, with what gradualness and regularity the change of chords (functions) takes place, which is accentuated in the display of various modes and keys.
Of course, here it is also important to consider voice leading, that is, to check and realize the melodic meaningfulness and expressiveness in the movement of individual voices; understand - for example - the features of the location and doubling of consonances (see the romance of N. Medtner, "Whisper, timid breathing" - the middle); explain why full, polyphonic chords are suddenly replaced by unison (L. Beethoven, sonata op. 26, “Funeral March”); why the three-voice systematically alternates with the four-voice (L. Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata, op. 27 No. 2, part II); what is the reason for the register transfer of the theme (L. Beethoven, sonata in F major, op. 54, h, I, etc.).
In-depth attention to voicing will help students to feel and understand the beauty and naturalness of any combination of chords in the works of the classics and develop a demanding taste for voicing, because outside of voicing, music - in essence - is not created. With such attention to voicing, it is useful to follow the movement of the bass: it can either move in jumps along the main sounds of chords (“fundamental basses”), or more smoothly, melodicly, both diatonically and chromatically; the bass can also intonate more thematically significant turns (general, complementary and contrasting). All this is very important for harmonic presentation.
5. In harmonic analysis, register features are also noted, that is, the choice of one register or another, associated with the general nature of this work. Although the register is not a purely harmonic concept, the register has a serious impact on the general harmonic norms or methods of presentation. It is known that chords in high and low registers are arranged and doubled differently, that sustained sounds in middle voices are used more limitedly than in bass, that register “breaks” in the presentation of chords are undesirable (“ugly”) in general, that the methods for resolving dissonances change somewhat during register changes. It is clear that the choice and preferential use of a certain register is connected primarily with the nature of a musical work, its genre, tempo, and intended texture. Therefore, in works that are small and mobile, such as the scherzo, humoresque, fairy tale, caprice, one can see the predominance of the middle and high registers and, in general, observe a freer and more varied use of different registers, sometimes with bright shifts (see L. Beethoven, scherzo from the sonata op. 2 No. 2 - the main theme). In works such as elegy, romance, song, nocturne, funeral march, serenade, etc., register colors are usually more limited and rely more often on the middle, most melodious and expressive register (L. Beethoven, Part II of the Pathetique Sonata; R Schumann, middle part in "Intermezzo" of the piano concerto; R. Gliere, Concerto for voice and orchestra, part I; P. Tchaikovsky, Andantecantabile.op.il).
For everyone, it is obvious that it is impossible to transfer music like A. Lyadov’s “Musical Snuffbox” into the low register or, conversely, into the upper register of music like L. Beethoven’s “Funeral March” from the sonata op. 26 - without sharp and absurd distortions of the images and character of the music. This provision should determine the real importance and effectiveness of taking into account register features in harmonic analysis (let's name a number of useful examples - L. Beethoven, sonata "Appassionata", part II; F. Chopin, scherzo from the sonata in B-flat minor; E. Grieg, scherzo in E minor, op.54, A. Borodin, “At the monastery”, F. Liszt, “Funeral procession”). Sometimes, in order to repeat a given theme or passage of it, bold register jumps (“flipping”) are introduced into those sections of the form where previously there was only smooth movement. Typically, such a register-varied presentation takes on the character of a joke, scherzo or provocativeness, which, for example, can be seen in the last five bars of Andante from the Sonata in G Major (No. 10) by L. Beethoven.
6. In analysis, one cannot ignore the question of the frequency of changes of harmonies (in other words, of harmonic pulsation). Harmonic pulsation largely determines the general rhythmic sequence of harmonies or the type of harmonic movement characteristic of a given work. First of all, the harmonic pulsation is determined by the nature, tempo and genre of the analyzed musical work.
Usually, at a slow tempo, the harmonies change on any (even the weakest) beats of the bar, rely less clearly on the metro rhythm and give more scope to the melody, cantilena. In some cases, with rare changes in harmony in pieces of the same slow movement, the melody acquires a special pattern, freedom of presentation, even recitativity (see F. Chopin, nocturnes in B-flat minor, F-sharp major).
Fast-tempo pieces usually give a change of harmonies on strong beats of a measure, while in some examples of dance music, the harmonies change only in each measure, and sometimes even after two measures or more (waltzes, mazurkas). If a very fast melody is accompanied by a change of harmonies on almost every sound, then here only some harmonies acquire an independent meaning, while others should be considered rather as passing or auxiliary harmonies (L. Beethoven, trio from the scherzo in A major in the sonata op 2 No. 2, P Schumann, "Symphonic etudes", variation-etude No. 9).
The study of harmonic pulsation brings us closer to understanding the main features of accentuation of live musical speech and live performance. In addition, various changes in harmonic pulsation (its slowdown, acceleration) can be easily associated with issues of form development, harmonic variation or general dynamization of harmonic presentation.
7. The next moment of analysis is non-chord sounds both in the melody and in the accompanying voices. The types of non-chord sounds, their interrelation, methods of voice leading, features of melodic and rhythmic contrast, dialogic (duet) forms in harmonic presentation, enrichment of harmonies, etc. are determined.
Special consideration deserves the dynamic and expressive qualities that non-chord dissonances bring to harmonic presentation.
Since the most expressive of the non-chord sounds are the delays, so much attention is paid to them.
When analyzing diverse patterns of retentions, it is necessary to carefully determine their meter-rhythmic conditions, interval environment, brightness of functional conflict, register, their location in relation to melodic movement (climax) and expressive properties (see, for example, P. Tchaikovsky, Lensky’s arioso “How happy” and the beginning of the second scene of the opera "Eugene Onegin", the finale of the 6th symphony - in D major).
When analyzing harmonic sequences with passing and auxiliary sounds, students pay attention to their melodic role, the need to resolve the “accompanying” dissonances that form here, the possibility of enriching harmony with “random” (and altered) combinations on weak beats of the measure, conflicts with delays, etc. (see R. Wagner, introduction to "Tristan"; P. Tchaikovsky, Triquet's couplets from the opera "Eugene Onegin"; duet of Oksana and Solokha from "Cherevichki"; theme of love from "The Queen of Spades"; S. Taneyev, symphony in C minor, II Part).
The expressive qualities brought into harmony by non-chord sounds acquire a special naturalness and liveliness in the so-called "duet" forms of presentation. Let us refer to several samples: L. Beethoven, Largo appassionato from the sonata op. 2 No. 2, Andante from Sonata No. 10, 2nd movement (and in it the second variation); P. Tchaikovsky, nocturne in C-sharp minor (reprise); E. Grieg, "Anitra's Dance" (reprise), etc.
When considering samples of the use of non-chord sounds of all categories in simultaneous sounding, their important role is emphasized in harmonic variation, in enhancing the cantileverness and expressiveness of the general voice leading and in maintaining thematic richness and integrity in the line of each of the voices (see Oksana's aria in A minor from the fourth act of the opera N. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Night Before Christmas").
8. Difficult in harmonic analysis is the question of changing keys (modulation). The logic of the general process of modulation can also be analyzed here, otherwise - the logic in the functional sequence of changing keys, and the general tonal plan, and its modal-constructive properties (recall the concept of S.I. Taneev about the tonal basis).
In addition, it is desirable to understand on specific samples the difference between modulation from deviation and from matching tonalities (in other words, a tonal jump). Here it is also useful to clarify the specifics of “comparison with the result”, using the term of B. L. Yavorsky (we will indicate examples: many connecting parts in the sonata expositions of W. Mozart and early L. Beethoven; F. Chopin’s scherzo in B-flat minor, exceptionally convincing preparation of E major at the conclusion of the second scene of The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky).
The analysis must then truly substantiate the characteristic type of deviation inherent in the various sections of the musical work. The study of the actual modulations should show the typical features of the exposition constructions, the characteristic features of the modulation in the middles and developments (usually the most distant and free) and in the reprises (here they are sometimes distant, but within the framework of a broadly interpreted subdominant function).
It is very interesting and useful in the analysis to understand the general dynamics of the modulation process, when it is rather convexly outlined. Usually the whole process of modulation can be divided into two parts, different in length and tension - leaving a given key and returning to it (sometimes also to the main key of the piece).
If the first half of the modulation is longer in scale, then it is also simpler in terms of harmony (see the modulation from A-flat to D in the "Funeral March" from the sonata op. 26 by L. Beethoven or the modulation from A to G-sharp , from L. Beethoven's scherzo in sonata op. 2 No. 2). It is natural that the second half in such cases is made very concise, but more complex in harmonic terms (see further sections in the above examples - the return from D to A flat and from G sharp to A, as well as the second part of the Pathetic Sonata » L. Beethoven - transition to Mi and return to A-flat).
In principle, this type of modulation process - from simpler to complex, but concentrated - is the most natural and integral and interesting for perception. However, occasionally there are also opposite cases - from short, but complex (in the first half of the modulation) to simple, but more detailed (second half). See the corresponding sample - development in L. Beethoven's sonata in D minor, op. 31 (I part).
In this approach to modulation as a special integral process, it is essential to note the place and role of enharmonic modulations: they, as a rule, appear more often precisely in the second, effective part of the modulation process. The brevity inherent in enharmonic modulation with some harmonic complexity is especially appropriate and effective here (see the above examples).
In general, when analyzing enharmonic modulation, it is useful to clarify for yourself its following role in each specific case: whether it simplifies the functional connection of distant keys (the norm for the classics) or complicates the connection of close keys (F. Chopin, Trio from Impromptu in A flat major; F Liszt, "William Tell Chapel") and a single-tone whole (see R. Schumann, "Butterflies", op. 2 No. 1; F. Chopin, mazurka in F minor, op. 68, etc.).
When considering modulations, it is necessary to touch upon the question of how the display of individual keys in a given work can harmonically differ if they are more or less extended in time and, therefore, independent in meaning.
For the composer and the work, not only the thematic, tonal, tempo and textural contrast in adjacent constructions is important, but also the individualization of harmonic means and techniques when showing one or another key. For example, in the first key, chords of a tertian, soft in gravity ratio are given, in the second - more complex and functionally intense sequences; or in the first - a bright diatonic, in the second - a complex chromatic major-minor basis, etc. It is clear that all this enhances the contrast of the images, the bulge of the sections, and the dynamism of the overall musical and harmonic development. See some samples: L. Beethoven. "Moonlight Sonata", finale, harmonic warehouse of the main and side part; sonata "Aurora", op. 53, exposition of part I; F. Liszt, the song “Mountains all encompasses peace”, “E major; P. Tchaikovsky -6th symphony, finale; F. Chopin, sonata in B-flat minor.
The cases when almost the same harmonic sequences are repeated in different keys are rarer and always individual (see, for example, F. Chopin's mazurka in D major, op. harmonies in both D major and A major are sustained in identical forms).
When analyzing samples for various cases of comparing keys, it is advisable to emphasize two points: 1) the delimiting significance of this technique for adjacent sections of a musical work and 2) its interesting role in a kind of "acceleration" of the modulation process, and the techniques of such "acceleration" are differentiated somehow and according to signs of style and are included in the process of harmonic development.
9. Features of development or dynamics in the harmonic language are prominently emphasized by harmonic variation.
Harmonic variation is a very important and lively technique, showing the great importance and flexibility of harmony for the development of thought, for enriching images, enlarging the form, and revealing the individual qualities of a given work. In the process of analysis, it is necessary to especially note the role of harmonic ingenuity in the skillful application of such variation in its formative quality.
Harmonic variation, applied on time and technically complete, can contribute to the unification of several musical constructions into a larger whole (see, for example, a similar interesting variation of harmonies in the ostinato two-bar in the mazurka in B minor, op. 30 by F. Chopin) and enrich the reprise of the work (W. Mozart, "Turkish March"; R. Schumann, "Album Leaf" in F sharp minor, op. 99; F. Chopin, Mazurka in C sharp minor, op. 63 No. 3 or N. Medtner, "The Tale in F minor, op. 26).
Often, with such harmonic variation, the melody changes somewhat and repeats here, which usually contributes to a more natural and vivid appearance of “harmonic news”. One can point to at least Kupava's aria from the opera "Snow Maiden" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov - "Spring Time", in G-sharp minor, and the harmonic (more precisely, enharmonic) version of the theme "The frisky boy" in F. Liszt's fantasy on themes opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by W. Mozart.
10. Analysis of samples with altered chords (consonances) of various structure and complexity can be directed to the following goals and points:
1) it is desirable, if possible, to show students how these altered chords are emancipated from the chromatic non-chord sounds that served as their undoubted source;
2) it is useful to compile a detailed list of all altered chords of various functions (D, DD, S, secondary D) with their preparation and resolution, which are in circulation in the music of the 19th-20th centuries (based on specific samples);
3) consider how alterations can complicate the sound and functional nature of chords of mode and tonality, how they affect voice leading;
4) show what new varieties of cadences the alteration creates (the samples must be written out);
5) pay attention to the fact that complex types of alteration introduce new moments into the understanding of the stability and instability of the mode, tonality (N. Rimsky-Korsakov, "Sadko", "Kashchei"; A. Skryabin, preludes op. 33, 45, 69; N. Myaskovsky, “Yellowed Pages”);
6) to show that altered chords - with their brilliance and coloring - do not annul harmonic gravitation, but perhaps amplify it melodically (special resolution of altered sounds, free doublings, bold jumps to chromatic intervals when moving and resolving);
7) pay attention to the connection of alterations with major-minor modes (systems) and the role of altered chords in enharmonic modulation.
4. Generalizations of data from harmonic analysis
Synthesizing and summarizing all the essential observations and, in part, the conclusions obtained as a result of the analysis of individual methods of harmonic writing, it is most expedient to then focus the attention of students again on the problem of harmonic development (dynamics), but in a more special and comprehensive understanding of it in accordance with the data of the analysis of the components of harmonic letters.
In order to understand the process of harmonic movement and development more clearly and visually, it is necessary to weigh all the moments of harmonic presentation that can create the prerequisites for movement with its ups and downs. In this aspect of consideration, everything should be taken into account: changes in the chord structure, functional routine, voice leading; specific cadence turns are taken into account in their alternation and syntactic connection; harmonic phenomena are coordinated to the best of their ability with melody and metrorhythm; the effects introduced into the harmony by non-chord sounds in different parts of the work (before the climax, on it and after it) are noted; enrichments and changes resulting from tonal changes, harmonic variation, the appearance of organ points, changes in harmonic pulsation, texture, etc. are also taken into account. In the end, a more or less clear and reliable picture of this development is obtained, which is achieved by means of homophonic-harmonic writing in its broader sense and taking into account the joint action of individual elements of musical speech (and the general character of music as a whole).
5. Stylistic moments in analysis
After such a more or less comprehensive harmonic analysis, it is essentially not difficult to link its conclusions and generalizations with the general content of a given musical work, its genre features and certain harmonic-stylistic qualities (and they show a connection with a specific historical era, one or another creative direction , creative person, etc.). It is clear that such linking is given on a limited scale and within the limits real for harmony.
On the paths that lead students to such at least a general stylistic understanding of harmonic phenomena, it is desirable (as experience shows) to have special additional analytical tasks (exercises, training). Their goal is to develop harmonious attention, observation and broaden the general outlook of students.
We will give a preliminary and purely indicative list of such possible tasks in the analytical part of the harmony course:
1) Very useful are simple excursions into the history of the development or practical application of individual harmonic techniques (for example, techniques of cadence, tonal presentation, modulation, alteration).
2) It is no less useful when analyzing a particular work to require students to find and somehow decipher the most interesting and significant "news" and individual features in its harmonic presentation.
3) It is advisable to collect several vivid and memorable examples of harmonic writing or to find “leitharmonies”, “leitkadanses”, etc., characteristic of certain composers (the works of L. Beethoven, R. Schumann, F. Chopin, R. Wagner, F. Liszt, E. Grieg, K. Debussy, P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Scriabin, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich).
4) It is also instructive to perform tasks on a comparative description of the method of applying outwardly similar techniques in the work of various composers, such as: diatonicity in L. Beethoven and the same diatonicity in P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Krrsakbva, A. Scriabin, S. Prokofiev; sequences and their place in L. Beethoven and F. Chopin, F. Liszt, P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Scriabin; harmonic variation in M. Glinka, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. Balakirev and the same in L. Beethoven, F. Chopin, F. Liszt; arrangements of Russian lingering songs by P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Lyadov, "S. Lyapunov; L. Beethoven's romance "Over the Gravestone" and tonal plans typical of F. Chopin and F. Liszt in major thirds; Phrygian cadence in Western and Russian music, etc.
It goes without saying that successful mastery of the most important techniques, methods and techniques of harmonic analysis is possible only with the great and constant help of the leader and systematic training in harmonic analysis in the classroom. Written analytical work, well thought out and regulated, can also be of great help.
Perhaps it will not be superfluous to remind once again that with any analytical tasks - more general and relatively in-depth - it is necessary to maintain a lively contact with direct musical perception. To do this, the analyzed work is played more than once, but is played or listened to both before analysis and necessarily after analysis - only under this condition will the analysis data acquire the necessary credibility and force of an artistic fact.
I. Dubovsky, S. Evseev, I. Sposobin, V. Sokolov. Harmony textbook.
As an example for harmonic analysis, we propose to consider a fragment of Waltz P.I. Tchaikovsky from Serenade for string orchestra:
Moderato. Tempo di Valse
Before performing a fragment on a musical instrument, you should pay attention to the tempo indications, and then play this fragment at a moderate waltz tempo.
It should be pointed out that the nature of the music is distinguished by danceability, light romantic coloring, which is due to the genre of the musical fragment, the roundness of the four-bar phrases, the smoothness of the rising with graceful leaps and the wave-like movement of the melody, which is carried out mainly by even quarter and half durations.
It should be noted that all this is quite consistent with the romantic style of music of the second half of the 19th century, when P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893). It was this era that brought great popularity to the waltz genre, which at that time penetrates even into such large works as symphonies. In this case, this genre is presented in a concerto for string orchestra.
In general, the analyzed fragment is a period consisting of 20 measures and extended in the second sentence (8+8+4=20). The homophonic-harmonic texture was chosen by the composer in full accordance with the already designated genre, so the expressive meaning of the melody comes to the fore. However, harmony not only performs functional support, but is also a means of shaping and development. The general direction of development in this completed construction is largely determined by its tonal plan.
First offer tonally stable ( G-dur), consists of two square four-bar phrases and ends on the dominant of the main key:
T - - TDD2T - - T - - T D T 4 6 T 6 - -
D D 7 - D9
In harmony, only authentic tonic-dominant turns are used, affirming the main tonality. G-dur.
The second sentence (bars 8–20) is a single indivisible long phrase of 8 bars, to which a four-bar addition is added, which arises as a result of an internal saturated tonal movement. In the second half of the second sentence, there is a deviation into the key of the dominant (bars 12–15):
7 8 9 10 11 (D major) 12
D D 7 D 9 D T T 2 S 6 S 5 6 S 6 D 5 6 - - T=S - - #1 DD 5 6
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
K 4 6 - - D 2 T 6 ( D major) S - - K 4 6 - - D7 - - T - - T
Scheme of harmonic development the analyzed musical fragment will look like this:
1 2 3 V 4 5 6 7 V 8 910
3/4 T T - | DD 2 - - | T T - | T - - | T D T | T 6 - - | D D 7 - | D 9 D T 6 | S 6 VI S 6 | D 6 5 - -|
11 12 13 14 15 V 16 17 18 19 20
| T - - | #1 D 6 5 k A major| K 6 4 - - | D 2 k D major| T 6 ( D major) | S - - | K 4 6 - -| D 7 - - | T - - | T ||
Deviation (bars 12–15) is done by introducing a cadence preceded by a common chord (T=S) and a double dominant in the form #1 D 7 k A major, but it is not resolved, but goes into a cadence quarter-sext chord, D 2 with resolution in T 6 of the new key ( D major).
The modulation prepared by the digression repeats the cadence turnover that was already used in the digression, but the construction ends differently - with the final full authentic perfect cadence, in contrast to the authentic imperfect cadence in the digression and the half authentic imperfect cadence at the end of the first sentence.
Thus, it should be noted that the entire development of the harmonic vertical in this fragment plays a formative role and corresponds to the general direction of the development of the musical image. It is no coincidence that the culmination of the whole theme falls on the most tense moment (bar 19). In melody, it is emphasized by an upward jump to the seventh, in harmony - by the dominant seventh chord, followed by its resolution to the tonic as the completion of the musical thought.
Municipal Autonomous Institution of Additional Education in the Field of Culture of the Beloyarsky District "Children's School of Arts in Beloyarsky", class of the village of Sorum
General Course Teaching Program
"Analysis of musical works"
Theoretical foundations and technology of analysis
musical works.
Performed:
teacher Butorina N.A.
Explanatory note.
The program is designed to teach the general course "Analysis of Musical Works", which summarizes the knowledge gained by students in the lessons of the specialty and theoretical disciplines.
The purpose of the course is to develop an understanding of the logic of musical form, the interdependence of form and content, the perception of form as an expressive musical means.
The program involves the passage of course topics with varying degrees of detail. The theoretical foundations and technology of analyzing musical works, the topics "Period", "Simple and Complex Forms", variational and rondo form are studied in the most detail.
The lesson consists of an explanation by the teacher of theoretical material, which is revealed in the process of practical work.
The study of each topic ends with a survey (in oral form) and the performance of work on the analysis of the musical form of a particular work (in writing).
Graduates of children's music school and children's art school pass the test on the material covered in writing. The assessment for the test takes into account the results of tests performed by students in the learning process.
In the educational process, the proposed material is used: "Tutorial on the analysis of musical works in the senior classes of children's music schools and children's art schools", an approximate analysis of musical works from "Children's Album" by P.I. Tchaikovsky, "Album for Youth" by R. Schumann, as well as selective works : S. Rachmaninov, F. Mendelssohn, F. Chopin, E. Grieg, V. Kalinnikov and other authors.
Requirements for minimum content by discipline
(basic didactic units).
- means of musical expression, their formative possibilities;
Functions of the parts of the musical form;
Period, simple and complex forms, variational and sonata form, rondo;
The specificity of shaping in instrumental works of classical genres, in vocal works.
sonata form;
polyphonic forms.
Thematic plan of the discipline.
| Name of sections and topics | Quantityclassroom hours |
| Total hours | |
| ChapterI 1.1Introduction. 1.2 General principles of the structure of the musical form. 1.3Musical and expressive means and their formative actions. 1.4 Types of presentation of musical material in connection with the functions of constructions in musical form. 1.5Period. 1.6 Varieties of the period. |
| Section II | |
| 2.1 One-part form. 2.2 A simple two-part form. 2.3 Simple three-part form (single-dark). 2.4 Simple three-part form (two-dark). 2.5 Variation form. 2.6Principles of variational form, methods of variational development. |
Theoretical basis and technology of analysis of musical compositions.
I. Melody.
Melody plays a decisive role in a piece of music.
The melody itself, unlike other expressive means, is able to embody certain thoughts and emotions, convey mood.
The notion of melody is always associated with us with singing, and this is not accidental. Changes in pitch: smooth and sharp rises and falls are associated primarily with the intonations of the human voice: speech and vocal.
The intonational nature of the melody gives the key to solving the question of the origin of music: few people doubt that it originates from singing.
The bases that determine the sides of the melody: pitch and temporal (rhythmic).
1.melodic line.
Every song has ups and downs. Changes in pitch and form a kind of sound line. Here are the most common melodic lines:
A) wavy the melodic line evenly alternates ups and downs, which brings a sense of completeness and symmetry, gives the sound smoothness and softness, and sometimes is associated with a balanced emotional state.
1. P.I. Tchaikovsky "Sweet dream"
2.E. Grieg "Waltz"
B) The melody persistently rushes up , with each "step" conquering new and new heights. If the upward movement prevails over a long period of time, there is a feeling of increasing tension, excitement. Such a melodic line is distinguished by strong-willed purposefulness and activity.
1. R. Schumann "e Frost"
2. R. Schumann "Hunting Song".
C) The melodic line flows calmly, slowly descending. descending movement can make a melody softer, more passive, feminine, and sometimes limp and lethargic.
1. R. Schumann "The First Loss"
2.P. Tchaikovsky "Disease of the Doll".
D) The melodic line stands still, repeating the sound of this height. The expressive effect of this kind of melodic movement often depends on the tempo. At a slow pace, it brings a feeling of a monotonous, dull mood:
1.P. Tchaikovsky "The funeral of a doll."
At a fast pace (rehearsals on this sound) - overflowing energy, perseverance, assertiveness:
1. P. Tchaikovsky "Neapolitan song" (II part).
Frequent repetitions of sounds of the same pitch are characteristic of melodies of a certain type - recitative.
Almost all melodies contain smooth, progressive movement and jumps. Only occasionally there are absolutely smooth melodies without jumps. Smooth is the main type of melodic movement, and the jump is a special, uncommon phenomenon, a kind of “event” during the melody. A melody cannot consist of only "events"!
The ratio of step and step motion, the preponderance in one direction or another can significantly affect the nature of the music.
A) The predominance of progressive movement in the melody gives the sound a soft, calm character, creates a feeling of smooth, continuous movement.
1.P. Tchaikovsky "The Organ Grinder Sings".
2. P. Tchaikovsky "An old French song."
B) The predominance of spasmodic movement in the melody is often associated with a certain expressive meaning, which the composer often tells us the title of the work:
1. R. Schumann "Brave rider" (horse running).
2. P. Tchaikovsky "Baba Yaga" (angular, "unkempt" appearance of Baba Yaga).
Separate jumps are also very important for the melody - they enhance its expressiveness and relief, for example, "Neapolitan song" - a jump to the sixth.
In order to learn a more “subtle” perception of the emotional palette of a musical work, it is also necessary to know that many intervals are endowed with certain expressive possibilities:
Third - sounds balanced and calm (P. Tchaikovsky "Mother"). Rising quart - purposefully, militantly and invitingly (R. Schumann "The Hunting Song"). Octave the jump gives the melody a tangible breadth and scope (F. Mendelssohn "Song without words" op. 30 No. 9, 3rd phrase of the 1st period). The jump often emphasizes the most important moment in the development of a melody, its highest point - climax (P. Tchaikovsky "An old French song", vols. 20-21).
Along with the melodic line, the main properties of the melody also include its metrorhythmic side.
Meter, rhythm and tempo.
Every melody exists in time, it lasts. WITH temporal The nature of music involves meter, rhythm and tempo.
Pace - one of the most notable means of expression. True, the tempo cannot be attributed to the number of means, characteristic, individual, therefore, sometimes works of different nature sound at the same tempo. But the tempo, together with other aspects of music, largely determines its appearance, its mood, and thus contributes to the transfer of those feelings and thoughts that are embedded in the work.
IN slow tempo, music is written, expressing a state of complete rest, immobility (S. Rachmaninoff "Island"). Strict, lofty emotions (P. Tchaikovsky "Morning Prayer"), or, finally, sad, mournful (P. Tchaikovsky "Funeral of a Doll").
more mobile, average pace quite neutral and found in music of different moods (R. Schumann "The First Loss", P. Tchaikovsky "German Song").
Fast tempo occurs primarily in the transmission of continuous, striving movement (R. Schumann "The Bold Rider", P. Tchaikovsky "Baba Yaga"). Fast music can be an expression of cheerful feelings, seething energy, bright, festive mood (P. Tchaikovsky "Kamarinskaya"). But it can also express confusion, excitement, drama (R. Schumann "Santa Claus").
Meter as well as tempo is related to the temporal nature of music. Usually in a melody, accents periodically appear on individual sounds, and weaker sounds follow between them - just as stressed syllables alternate with unstressed ones in human speech. True, the degree of opposition of strong and weak sounds in different cases is not the same. In the genres of motor, mobile music (dances, marches, scherzos), it is the largest. In the music of a lingering song warehouse, the difference between accented and unaccented sounds is not so noticeable.
organization music is based on a certain alternation of accented sounds (strong beats) and not accented (weak beats) on a certain pulsation of the melody and all other elements associated with it. A strong beat together with subsequent weak beats forms tact. If strong beats appear at regular intervals (all measures are the same in size), then such a meter is called strict. If the cycles are different in size, which is very rare, then we are talking about free meter.
Various expressive possibilities bipartite and quadruple meters on one side and tripartite with another. If the former at a fast pace are associated with the polka, gallop (P. Tchaikovsky "Polka"), and at a more moderate pace - with the march (R. Schumann "Soldier's March"), then the latter are primarily characteristic of the waltz (E. Grieg "Waltz" , P. Tchaikovsky "Waltz").
The beginning of a motive (a motive is a small, but relatively independent particle of a melody, in which around one strong several weaker sounds are grouped) does not always coincide with the beginning of the measure. A strong sound of a motive can be at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end (like an accent in a poetic foot). On this basis, motives are distinguished:
A) Choreic - accent at the beginning. The underlined beginning and soft ending contribute to the unification, continuity of the flow of the melody (R. Schumann "Father Frost").
b) iambic – start on the weak beat. Active, thanks to off-beat acceleration to a strong beat and clearly completed by an accented sound, which noticeably dismembers the melody and gives it greater clarity (P. Tchaikovsky "Baba Yaga").
IN) Amphibrachic motive (a strong sound is surrounded by weak ones) - combines an active iambic upbeat and a soft ending of a chorea (P. Tchaikovsky "German Song").
For musical expressiveness, it is very important not only the ratio of strong and weak sounds (meter), but also the ratio of long and short sounds - musical rhythm. There are not so many different sizes from each other, and therefore, very different works can be written in the same size. But the ratios of musical durations are countless, and in combination with meter and tempo they form one of the most important features of the individuality of a melody.
Not all rhythmic patterns have a bright characteristic. So the simplest uniform rhythm (the movement of a melody in even durations) easily “adapts” and becomes dependent on other expressive means, and most of all, on tempo! At a slow pace, such a rhythmic pattern gives the music balance, regularity, calmness (P. Tchaikovsky "Mother"), or detachment, emotional coldness and rigor ("Chorus" P. Tchaikovsky). And at a fast pace, such a rhythm often conveys continuous movement, non-stop flight (R. Schumann "The Brave Rider", P. Tchaikovsky "The Game of Horses").
Has a pronounced characteristic dotted rhythm .
He usually brings clarity, springiness and sharpness to the music. It is often used in energetic and effective music, in marching compositions (P. Tchaikovsky "March of Wooden Soldiers", "Mazurka", F. Chopin "Mazurka", R. Schumann "Soldier's March"). At the heart of the dotted rhythm - iambic : , which is why it sounds energetic and active. But sometimes it can help to soften, for example, a wide jump (P. Tchaikovsky "Sweet Dream" vols. 2 and 4).
Bright rhythmic patterns also include syncope . The expressive effect of syncopation is associated with the contradiction between rhythm and meter: a weak sound is longer than the sound on the previous strong beat. A new, not provided by the meter and therefore somewhat unexpected accent usually carries in itself elasticity, springy energy. These properties of syncopation led to their widespread use in dance music (P. Tchaikovsky "Waltz": 3/4, "Mazurka": 3/4). Syncopations are often found not only in the melody, but also in the accompaniment.
Sometimes syncopations follow one after another, in a chain, either creating the effect of a soft flight movement (M. Glinka “I remember a wonderful moment”, v. 9, Krakovyak from the opera “Ivan Susanin” - the beginning), then causing the idea of a slow, as if difficult, statement , about the restrained expression of a feeling or thought (P. Tchaikovsky "Autumn Song" from "The Seasons"). The melody, as it were, bypasses strong beats and acquires a free-floating character or smoothes the boundaries between parts of the musical whole.
Rhythmic pattern is able to bring into music not only sharpness, clarity, like a dotted rhythm and springiness, like syncopation. There are many rhythms that are directly opposite in their expressive effect. Often these rhythmic patterns are associated with triplets (which themselves are already perceived as smoother than 2x and 4x beats). So one of the most common rhythmic patterns in 3/8, 6/8 time signatures at a slow tempo expresses a state of calm, serenity, even restrained narrative. The repetition of this rhythm over a long period of time creates the effect of swinging, swaying. That is why this rhythmic pattern is used in the genres of barcarolle, lullaby and siciliana. The triplet movement in eighths at a slow tempo has the same effect (M. Glinka "Venetian Night", R Schumann "Sicilian Dance"). At a fast pace, a rhythmic pattern
It is a kind of dotted line and therefore acquires a completely different expressive meaning - it brings a sense of clarity and chase. Often found in dance genres - lezginka, tarantella(P. Tchaikovsky "New Doll", S. Prokofiev "Tarantella" from "Children's Music").
All this allows us to conclude that certain musical genres are associated with certain metro-rhythmic expressive means. And when we feel the connection of music with the genre of a march or a waltz, a lullaby or a barcarolle, then a certain combination of meter and rhythmic pattern is “guilty” in this first of all.
To determine the expressive nature of the melody, its emotional structure, it is also important to analyze its modal sides.
Lad, tonality.
Any melody consists of sounds of various heights. The melody moves either up or down, while the movement occurs along the sounds of by no means any pitch, but only along relatively few, “chosen” sounds, and each melody has some “own” series of sounds. Moreover, this usually small series is not just a set, but a certain system, which is called fret . In such a system, some sounds are perceived as unstable, requiring further movement, while others are perceived as more stable, capable of creating a feeling of complete or at least partial completeness. The interconnection of the sounds of such a system is manifested in the fact that unstable sounds tend to turn into stable ones. The expressiveness of a melody very significantly depends on what steps of the mode it is built on - stable or unstable, diatonic or chromatic. So in P. Tchaikovsky's play "Mother" the feeling of calmness, tranquility, purity is largely due to the peculiarities of the structure of the melody: so in bars 1-8 the melody constantly returns to stable steps, which are emphasized by the arrangement on strong beats and repeated repetition (first steps V , then I and III). Capturing the nearby unstable steps - VI, IV and II (the most unstable, sharply gravitating - the introductory tone of the VII step is missing). Everything together adds up to a clear and "pure" diatonic "picture".
And vice versa, a feeling of excitement and anxiety is introduced by the appearance of chromatic sounds after pure diatonicism in the romance “Islet” by S. Rachmaninov (see notes 13-15), drawing our attention to the change of image (mention in the text about a breeze and a thunderstorm).
Let us now define the concept of mode more clearly. As follows from the previous fret- this is a certain system of sounds that are interconnected, in subordination with each other.
Of the many modes in professional music, the most common are major and minor. Their expressive possibilities are widely known. Major music is more often solemn and festive (F. Chopin Mazurka F-Dur), or cheerful and joyful (P. Tchaikovsky "March of the Wooden Soldiers", "Kamarinskaya"), or calm (P. Tchaikovsky "Morning Prayer"). In the minor key, for the most part, music sounds thoughtful and sad (P. Tchaikovsky "Old French Song"), sorrowful (P. Tchaikovsky "The Funeral of a Doll"), elegiac (R. Schumann "The First Loss") or dramatic (R. Schumann "Grandfather Frost”, P. Tchaikovsky “Baba Yaga”). Of course, the distinction drawn here is conditional and relative. So in P. Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" the major melody of the middle part sounds disturbing and gloomy. The major color is darkened by the reduced II step A-Dur (B flat) and the minor (harmonic) S in the accompaniment (the opposite effect in E. Grieg's "Waltz").
The properties of modes are more pronounced when they are compared side by side, when there is a modal contrast. So the harsh, "blizzard" minor extreme parts of "Santa Claus" by R. Schumann are contrasted with the enlightened "sunny" major middle. Bright modal contrast can also be heard in P. Tchaikovsky's Waltz (Es-Dur –c-moll – Es-Dur). In addition to major and minor, folk music modes are also used in professional music. Some of them have specific expressive possibilities. So Lydian the mode of the major mood with the #IV step (M. Mussorgsky "The Tuileries Garden") sounds even lighter than the major. A Phrygian mode of minor mood with ьII art. (M.Mussorgsky Varlaam's Song from the opera "Boris Godunov") gives the music an even more gloomy flavor than natural minor. Other modes were invented by composers to embody some small images. For example, six-step whole tone M. Glinka used the mode to characterize Chernomor in the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. P. Tchaikovsky - in the musical incarnation of the ghost of the countess in the opera "The Queen of Spades". A.P. Borodin - to characterize the evil spirits (goblin and witches) in the fairy forest (romance "The Sleeping Princess").
The modal side of the melody is often associated with the specific national coloring of the music. Thus, the use of five-step frets is connected with the images of China, Japan - pentatonic. For eastern peoples, Hungarian music, frets with increased seconds are characteristic - Jewish harmony (M. Mussorgsky "Two Jews"). And for Russian folk music is characteristic modal variability.
The same fret can be placed at different heights. This height is determined by the main stable sound of the mode - tonic. The altitude position of the fret is called tonality. The tonality may not be as obvious as the mode, but it also has expressive properties. So, for example, many composers wrote music of a mournful, pathetic nature in c-moll (Beethoven's "Pathetic" sonata, Tchaikovsky's "The Funeral of a Doll"). But a lyrical, poetic theme with a touch of melancholy and sadness will sound good in h-moll (F. Schubert Waltz h-moll). D-Dur is perceived as brighter, more festive, sparkling and brilliant compared to the more calm, soft "matte" F-Dur (try to transfer P. Tchaikovsky's "Kamarinskaya" from D-Dur to F-Dur). The fact that each key has its own “color” is also proved by the fact that some musicians had “color” hearing and heard each key in a certain color. For example, Rimsky-Korsakov's C-Dur was white, while Scriabin's was red. But both perceived E-Dur in the same way - in blue.
The sequence of keys, the tonal plan of the composition is also a special expressive means, but it is more appropriate to talk about it later, when we talk about harmony. For the expressiveness of the melody, for expressing its character, meaning, other, albeit not so important, aspects are of no small importance.
Dynamics, register, strokes, timbre.
One of the properties of musical sound, and therefore of music in general, is volume level. Loud and quiet sonorities, their juxtapositions and gradual transitions make up dynamics musical work.
To express sadness, sadness, complaints, quiet sonority is more natural (P. Tchaikovsky "The Doll's Disease", R. Schumann "The First Loss"). Piano it is also able to express bright joy and peace (P. Tchaikovsky "Morning Reflection", "Mother"). Forte but it carries delight and jubilation (R. Schumann "Hunting Song", F. Chopin "Mazurka" op. 68 No. 3) or anger, despair, drama (R. Schumann "Santa Claus" Part I, climax in "The First Loss" by R. Schumann).
The increase or decrease in the sound is associated with an increase, an increase in the transmitted feeling (P. Tchaikovsky "The Doll's Disease": sadness turns into despair) or, on the contrary, with its attenuation, extinction. This is the expressive nature of dynamics. But it also has an "external" pictorial meaning: strengthening or weakening of sonority can be associated with approach or removal (P. Tchaikovsky "Baba Yaga", "The Organ Grinder Sings", M. Mussorgsky "Cattle").
The dynamic side of music is closely related to the other side - colorful, associated with a variety of timbres of different instruments. But since this course of analysis is related to piano music, we will not dwell on the expressive possibilities timbre.
To create a certain mood, the nature of a musical work, it is important and register in which the melody is played. Low sounds are heavier and heavier (the heavy tread of Santa Claus in the play of the same name by R. Schumann), upper- lighter, lighter, louder (P. Tchaikovsky "Song of the Lark"). Sometimes the composer deliberately limits himself to the framework of a single register to create a specific effect. Thus, in P. Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" the feeling of a toy is largely due to the use of only high and medium registers.
In the same way, the character of the melody depends to a large extent on whether it is performed coherently and melodiously or dryly and abruptly.
strokes give melodies special shades of expressiveness. Sometimes strokes are one of the genre features of a piece of music. So Legato characteristic of works of a song nature (P. Tchaikovsky "An old French song"). Staccato more commonly used in dance genres, in genres scherzo, toccata(P. Tchaikovsky "Kamarinskaya", "Baba Yaga" - scherzo, "Game of horses" - scherzo + toccata). Performing touches cannot, of course, be considered an independent expressive means, but they enrich, enhance and deepen the character of the musical image.
Organization of musical speech.
In order to learn to understand the content of a musical work, it is necessary to understand the meaning of those “words” and “sentences” that make up musical speech. A necessary condition for comprehending this meaning is the ability to clearly distinguish between parts and particles of the musical whole.
The factors of dismemberment into parts in music are very diverse. It could be:
Pause or rhythmic stop on a long note (or both)
P. Tchaikovsky: "An old French song",
"Italian Song"
"Nanny's Tale"
2. Repetition of the construction just described (repetition can be exact, varied or sequential)
P. Tchaikovsky: “March of Wooden Soldiers” (see the first two 2-bar phrases), “Sweet Dream” (the first two 2-bar phrases are a sequence, the same - the 3rd and 4th phrases).
3. Contrast also has dismembering capabilities.
F. Mendelssohn "Song without words", op.30 No. 9. The first and second phrases are contrasting (see vols. 3-7).
The degree of contrast between two complex musical constructions determines whether they merge into one whole or split into two independent ones.
Despite the fact that only instrumental works are analyzed in this course, it is necessary to draw students' attention to the fact that many instrumental melodies songs by it's nature. As a rule, these melodies are enclosed in a small range, they have a lot of smooth, progressive movement, the phrases are distinguished by song breadth. Similar song type of melody cantilena inherent in many pieces from the "Children's Album" by P. Tchaikovsky ("Old French Song", "Sweet Dream", "The Organ Grinder Sings"). But the melody of the vocal warehouse is not always cantilena. Sometimes it resembles in its structure recitative and then there are many repetitions on the same sound in the melody, the melodic line consists of short phrases separated from each other by pauses. Melody chanting and declamatory warehouse combines the features of cantilena and recitative (P. Tchaikovsky "Funeral of a Doll", S. Rachmaninoff "Island").
In the process of introducing students to different sides of the melody, it is important to convey to them the idea that they affect the listener in a complex way, in interaction with each other. But it is quite clear that not only different facets of the melody interact in music, but also many important aspects of the musical fabric that lie beyond its boundaries. One of the main aspects of the musical language, along with the melody, is harmony.
Harmony.
Harmony is a complex area of musical expression, it combines many elements of musical speech - melody, rhythm, governs the laws of development of the work. Harmony is a certain system of vertical combinations of sounds into consonances and a system of connection of these consonances with each other. It is advisable to consider first the properties of individual consonances, and then the logic of their combinations.
All used harmonic consonances in music differ:
A) according to the principles of construction: chords of tertian structure and non-tertian consonances;
B) by the number of sounds included in them: triads, seventh chords, non-chords;
C) according to the degree of consistency of the sounds included in their composition: consonances and dissonances.
Consistency, harmony and fullness of sound distinguish major and minor triads. They are the most universal among all chords, the range of their application is unusually wide, the expressive possibilities are multifaceted.
More specific expressive possibilities have an increased triad. With its help, the composer can create the impression of fantastic fabulousness, unreality of what is happening, mysterious enchantment. Of the seventh chords, mind VII7 has the most definite expressive effect. It is used to express moments of confusion, emotional tension, fear in music (R. Schumann "Santa Claus" - 2nd period, "First loss", see the end).
The expressiveness of a particular chord depends on the entire musical context: melody, register, tempo, volume, timbre. In a specific composition, a composer can enhance the original, “natural” properties of a chord by a number of techniques or, on the contrary, muffle them. That is why the major triad in one work can sound solemn, jubilant, and in another transparent, unsteady, airy. The soft and shaded minor triad also gives a wide emotional range of sound - from calm lyricism to deep mourning of a funeral procession.
The expressive effect of chords also depends on the arrangement of sounds in registers. Chords whose tones are taken compactly, concentrated in a small volume, give the effect of a denser sound (this arrangement is called close). And vice versa, a decomposed, with a large space between the voices, the chord sounds voluminous, booming (wide arrangement).
When analyzing the harmony of a musical work, it is necessary to pay attention to the ratio of consonances and dissonances. So, the soft, calm character in the first part of the play “Mother” by P. Tchaikovsky is largely due to the predominance of consonant chords (triads and their inversions) in harmony. Of course, harmony has never been reduced to the succession of consonances alone - this would deprive the music of aspiration, gravitation, would slow down the course of musical thought. Dissonance is the most important stimulus in music.
Various dissonances: um5/3, uv5/3, seventh and non-chords, non-terzian consonances, despite their "natural" rigidity, are used in a fairly wide expressive range. By means of dissonant harmony, not only the effects of tension, sharpness of sound are achieved, but with its help you can also get a soft, shaded color (A. Borodin "The Sleeping Princess" - second harmonies in the accompaniment).
It should also be taken into account that the perception of dissonances changed over time - their dissonance gradually softened. So over time, the dissonance of D7 became little noticeable, lost the sharpness that it had at the time of the appearance of this chord in music (C. Debussy “Doll Cake Walk”).
It is quite obvious that in any piece of music individual chords and consonances follow each other, forming a coherent chain. Knowledge of the laws of these connections, the concept of fret functions chord chart helps you navigate the complex and diverse chord structure of a piece. T5/3, as a center that attracts all movement to itself, has the function of stability. All other consonances are unstable and are divided into 2 large groups: dominant(D,III ,VII ) and subdominant(S, II, VI). These two functions in harmony are in many respects opposite in their meaning. The functional sequence D-T (authentic revolutions) is associated in music with an active, strong-willed character. Harmonic constructions involving S (plagal phrases) sound softer. Such revolutions with a subdominant were widely used in Russian classical music. The chords of other degrees, in particular III and VI, bring additional, sometimes very subtle expressive nuances into the music. The consonance of these steps was especially used in the music of the era of romanticism, when composers were looking for new, fresh harmonic colors (F. Chopin "Mazurka" op. 68, No. 3 - see vols. 3-4 and 11-12: VI 5/3- III 5/3).
Harmonic techniques are one of the most important means of developing a musical image. One of these approaches is harmonic variation when the same melody is harmonized with new chords. The familiar musical image, as it were, turns to us with its new faces (E. Grieg "Song of Solveig" - the first two 4-bar phrases, F. Chopin "Nocturne" c-moll vols. 1-2).
Another means of harmonious development is modulation. Virtually no piece of music can do without modulation. The number of new keys, their relationship with the main key, the complexity of tonal transitions - all this is determined by the size of the work, its figurative and emotional content and, finally, the composer's style.
It is necessary that students learn to navigate in related keys (I degree), where modulations are most often performed. Distinguish between modulations and deviations (short modulations not fixed by cadence turns) and comparisons (transition to another key on the verge of musical constructions).
Harmony is closely related to the structure of a piece of music. Thus, the initial exposition of musical thought always bears a comparatively stable character. Harmony emphasizes tonal stability and functional clarity. The development of the theme involves the complication of harmony, the introduction of new keys, that is, in a broad sense - instability, example: R. Schumann "Santa Claus": compare the 1st and 2nd periods in the I part of a simple 3-part form. In the 1st period - reliance on t5 / 3 a-moll, D5 / 3 appears in cadences, in the 2nd period - deviation in d-moll; e-moll without final t through mindVII7.
For the expressiveness and brilliance of harmony, not only the choice of certain chords and the relationships that arise between them is important, but also the way the musical material is presented or texture.
Texture.
The various types of texture encountered in music can be divided, of course, very conditionally, into several large groups.
The invoice of the first type is called polyphony . In it, the musical fabric is made up of a combination of several rather independent melodic voices. Students should learn to distinguish between polyphony imitation, contrast and subvocal. This analysis course is not focused on polyphonic compositions. But even in works with a different type of texture, polyphonic development techniques are often used (R. Schumann "The First Loss": see the 2nd sentence of the 2nd period - imitation is used at the moment of culmination, introducing a feeling of special tension; P. Tchaikovsky "Kamarinskaya" : the theme uses sub-voice polyphony, typical of Russian folk music).
The texture of the second type is chord warehouse in which all voices are delivered in the same rhythm. Differs in special compactness, full sonority, solemnity. This type of texture is typical for the genre of march (R. Schumann "Soldier's March", P. Tchaikovsky "March of Wooden Soldiers") and chorale (P. Tchaikovsky "Morning Prayer", "In the Church").
Finally, the texture of the third type - homophonic , in the musical fabric of which one main voice (melody) stands out, and the rest of the voices accompany it (accompaniment). It is necessary to introduce students to various types of accompaniment in a homophonic warehouse:
A) Harmonic figuration - the sounds of chords are taken alternately (P. Tchaikovsky "Mother" - the presentation of the accompaniment in the form of a harmonic figuration enhances the feeling of softness, smoothness).
B) Rhythmic figuration - the repetition of chord sounds in any rhythm: P. Tchaikovsky "Neapolitan Song" - the repetition of chords in the ostinato rhythm gives the music clarity, sharpness (staccato), is perceived as a sound-image technique - imitation of percussion instruments.
A homophonic warehouse with various types of figuration in the accompaniment is also characteristic of many musical genres. So for the nocturne, for example, an accompaniment in the form of a harmonic figuration in a wide arrangement of chords in a broken form is typical. Such a trembling, hesitant accompaniment is inextricably linked with the specific "night" coloring of the nocturne.
Texture is one of the most important means of developing a musical image, and its change is often caused by a change in the figurative-emotional structure of a work. Example: P. Tchaikovsky "Kamarinskaya" - change in 2 variations of the warehouse from homophonic to chordal. Associated with the change of a light graceful dance to a powerful general dance.
Form.
Each piece of music, large or small, “flows” in time, represents a certain process. It is not chaotic, it is subject to known patterns (the principle of repetition and contrast). The composer chooses the form, the compositional plan of the composition based on the idea and the specific content of this composition. The task of the form, its “duty” in a work is to “link”, coordinate all expressive means, streamline the musical material, organize it. The form of the work should serve as a solid basis for a holistic artistic idea of it.
Let us dwell in more detail on those forms that are most often used in piano miniatures, in the pieces "Children's Album" by P. Tchaikovsky and "Album for Youth" by R. Schumann.
1.One-part form.Period.
The smallest form of a complete presentation of a musical theme in homophonic-harmonic music is called a period. The feeling of completeness is caused by the melody coming to a steady sound at the end of the period (in most cases) and the final cadence (harmonic revolution leading to T5 / 3). Completeness allows using the period as a form of independent work - vocal or instrumental miniature. Such a work is limited to a mere presentation of the topic. As a rule, these are periods of re-building (the 2nd sentence repeats the 1st sentence almost exactly or with a change). The period of such a structure helps to better remember the main musical idea, and without this it is impossible to remember a piece of music, to understand its content (F. Chopin “Prelude” A-Dur- A + A1.
If the period is part of a more developed form, then it may not be a repeated structure (repetition will not be inside the topic, but outside it). Example: L. Beethoven "Pathetic" sonata, II part theme A+B.
Sometimes, when the period is actually over, another addition to the period sounds. It can repeat any part of the period or can be based on relatively new music (P. Tchaikovsky "Morning Prayer", "The Doll's Illness" - both pieces in the form of a period with an addition.
Simple forms:
A) A simple 2-part form.
The possibility of development within the period is very limited. In order to give any significant development of the theme, it is necessary to go beyond the one-part form, it is necessary to build a composition from a large number of parts. So there are simple forms - two and three-part.
A simple 2-part form grew out of the principle of juxtaposing contrasting parts in folk music (a verse with a chorus, songs with instrumental acting out). Part I presents the theme in the form of a period. It can be monophonic or modulating. Part II is not more complicated than the period, but still a completely independent part, and not just an addition to period 1. The second part never repeats the first, it is different. And at the same time, there must be a connection between them. The affinity of the parts can manifest itself in their common mode, tonality, size, in their identical size, and often in melodic similarity, in common intonations. If familiar elements prevail, then the 2nd part is perceived as an updated repetition, development initial topic. R. Schumann's "First Loss" can serve as an example of such a form.
If the elements of the new prevail in the second part, then it is perceived as contrast , matching. Example: P. Tchaikovsky "The organ grinder sings" - a comparison of the organ grinder's song in the 1st period and the instrumental playing of the barrel organ in the 2nd, both periods are square 16-bar repetitive structure.
Sometimes at the end of the 2-part form, the strongest means of musical completion is used - the principle reprisals. The return of the main theme (or part of it) plays an important role in terms of meaning, enhancing the significance of the theme. On the other hand, reprise is also very important for the form - it gives it a deeper completeness than harmonic or melodic stability alone can provide. This is why in most samples of the 2-partial form the second part combines return care. How does this happen? The second part of the form is clearly divided into 2 constructions. The first, which occupies a middle position in the form (“third quarter”), is devoted to the development of the theme set forth in the 1st period. It is dominated by either transformation or matching. And in the second final construction, one of the sentences of the first theme is returned, i.e. an abbreviated reprise is given (P. Tchaikovsky "An old French song").
B) A simple 3-part form.
In the reprise 2-part form, only half of the 2nd part falls to the share of the reprise. If the reprise repeats completely the entire 1st period, then a simple 3-part form is obtained.
The first part does not differ from the 1st part in two private forms. The second is entirely devoted to the development of the first theme. Example: R. Schumann "The Brave Rider", or a presentation of a new topic. Now she can get a detailed presentation in the form of a period (P. Tchaikovsky "Sweet Dream", R. Schumann "Folk Song").
The third part is a reprise, full period and this is the most important difference between the three-part form and the two-part form, which ends with a recapitulation sentence. The three-part form is more proportional, more balanced than the two-part form. The first and third parts are similar not only in their content, but also in size. The dimensions of the second part in the tripartite form may differ significantly from the first in size: it may noticeably exceed the length of the first period. An example is P. Tchaikovsky's “Winter Morning”: Part I is a 16-bar square period of repeated structure, Part II is a non-square 24-bar period, consisting of 3 sentences, but it can be much shorter than it (L. Beethoven Minuet from Sonata No. 20, where parts I and III are 8 cycles of square periods, II part is 4 cycles, one sentence).
The reprise can be a literal repetition of the first part (P. Tchaikovsky "Funeral of a Doll", "German Song", "Sweet Dream").
The reprise may differ from the I part, sometimes in details (P. Tchaikovsky “March of the Wooden Soldiers” - different final cadenzas: in the I part, the modulation from D-Dur to A-Dur, in III - the main D-Dur is approved; R. Schumann " Folk song "- changes in the reprise significantly modified the texture). In such reprises, a return is given with a different expressiveness, based not on simple repetition, but on development.
Sometimes there are simple three-part forms with an introduction and conclusion (F. Mendelssohn "Song without Words" op. 30 No. 9). The introduction introduces the listener into the emotional world of the work, prepares him for something basic. The conclusion completes, sums up the development of the entire work. Conclusions that use the musical material of the middle part are very common (E. Grieg "Waltz" a -moll). However, the conclusion can also be built on the material of the main topic in order to affirm its leading role. There are also conclusions in which elements of the extreme and middle parts are combined.
complex forms.
They are formed by simple forms, approximately in the same way as the simple forms themselves are formed from periods and equivalent parts. This is how complex two-part and three-part forms are obtained.
The presence of contrasting, brightly contrasted images is most characteristic of a complex form. By virtue of their independence, each of them requires extensive development, does not fit into the framework of the period and forms a simple 2- and 3-part form. This mainly applies to Part I. The middle (in 3-part form) or part II (in 2-part form) can be not only a simple form, but also a period (P. Tchaikovsky's "Waltz" from the "Children's Album" is a complex three-part form with a period in the middle, " Neapolitan song "- a complex two-part, II part of the period).
Sometimes the middle in a complex three-part form is a free form, consisting of a number of constructions. The middle in period form or in simple form is called trio , and if it is in free form, then episode. Three-part forms with a trio are typical for dances, marches, scherzos; and with an episode - for slow plays of a lyrical nature.
A reprise in a complex three-part form can be accurate - da capo al fine, (R. Schumann "Santa Claus", but can be significantly modified. Changes can relate to its scale and it can be significantly expanded and reduced (F. Chopin "Mazurka" op.68 No. 3 - in the reprise, instead of two periods, only one remained. A complex two-part form is much less common than a three-part one. Most often in vocal music (arias, songs, duets).
Variations.
As well as the simple two-part form variational the form originates from folk music. Often in folk songs, couplets were repeated with changes - this is how the couplet-variation form developed. Among the existing types of variations, variations on an unchanging melody (soprano ostinato) are closest to folk art. Especially often such variations are found among Russian composers (M. Mussorgsky, Varlaam's song "As it was in the city in Kazan" from the opera "Boris Godunov"). Along with variations of soprano ostinato, there are other types of variational form, for example strict , or ornamental variations, which were widely used in Western European music of the 18th-19th centuries. Strict variations, in contrast to soprano ostinato variations, require mandatory changes in melody; the accompaniment also varies. Why are they called strict? It's all about the extent to which the melody changes, how far the variations deviate from the original theme. The first variations are more similar to the theme, the subsequent ones are more distant from it and differ more from each other. Each subsequent variation, preserving the basis of the theme, as if wraps it in a different shell, colors it with a new ornament. The tonality, harmonic sequence, form, tempo and meter remain unchanged - these are unifying, cementing means. That is why strict variations are also called ornamental. Thus, variations reveal different aspects of the theme, complement the main musical idea stated at the beginning of the work.
The variational form serves as the embodiment of one musical image, shown with exhaustive completeness (P. Tchaikovsky "Kamarinskaya").
Rondo.
Let us now get acquainted with the musical form, in the construction of which two principles participate on an equal footing: contrast and repetition. The rondo form originated, like variations, from folk music (a choral song with a chorus).
The most important part of the form is the refrain. It is repeated several times (at least 3), alternating with other themes - episodes that may resemble the sound of a refrain, or may initially differ from it.
The number of parts in a rondo is not an external sign, it reflects the very essence of the form, as it is associated with a contrasting comparison of one image with several. Viennese classics most often use the rondo form in the finals of sonatas and symphonies (J. Haydn, sonatas in D-dur and e-moll; L. Beethoven, sonatas in g-moll No. 19 and G-Dur No. 20). In the 19th century, the scope of this form expanded significantly. And if the Viennese classics were dominated by the song and dance rondo, then the Western European romantics and Russian composers found the rondo lyrical and narrative, fabulous and pictorial (A. Borodin, romance "The Sleeping Princess").
Conclusions:
None of the musical-expressive means appears in its pure form. In any work, meter and rhythm are closely intertwined at a certain tempo, the melodic line is given in a certain harmony and timbre. All aspects of the musical "fabric" affect our hearing at the same time, the general character of the musical image arises from the interaction of all means.
Sometimes different expressive means are aimed at creating the same character. In this case, all expressive means are, as it were, parallel to each other, co-directed.
Another type of interaction of musical expressive means is a mutual complement. For example, the features of the melodic line can speak of its song character, and the four-beat meter and clear rhythm give the music a marching quality. In this case, chanting and marching successfully complement each other.
Finally, a contradictory correlation of different expressive means is also possible, when melody and harmony, rhythm and meter can come into conflict.
So, acting in parallel, mutually complementing or conflicting with each other, all means of musical expression work together and create a certain character of the musical image.
Robert Schumann
"Hunting Song" .
I. Character, image, mood.
The bright music of this play helps us visualize the scene of an old hunt. The solemn signal of the trumpet heralds the beginning of the hunting ritual. And now riders with guns are rapidly rushing through the forest, dogs are rushing forward with frantic barking. Everyone is in joyful excitement, in anticipation of victory over a wild beast.
II. Form: simple tripartite.
1 part - square eight cycle period,
2 part - square eight cycle period,
3rd part - non-square twelve cycle period (4+4+4t.).
III. Means of musical expression.
| 1. Major mode F-Dur. 2.Fast pace. The smooth movement of the eighths __________ prevails. 4.Melody: rapidly "takes off" up in a wide range of jumps in the sounds of T. 5.Hatch: staccato. 6. The quarter motif at the beginning of the first and second sentences is the calling signal of the hunting horn. 7. Tonal plan of the first part: F-Dur, C-Dur. | There is a feeling of joyful revival, rapid movement, a solemn atmosphere of hunting. Horse racing, the sound of hooves. |
| Part II develops the theme of Part I: both motifs - the trumpet signal and the running of horses - are given in variant form. 8. Trumpet signal: ch5 replaces ch4. In the motif of the riders, the pattern of the melody changes and harmonic sounds are added, but remains unchanged rhythm only 1 offer of the first period. 9. Dynamics: sharp contrasts ff -p. 10. Tonal plan of the middle: F-dur, d-moll (sequence). | This is the effect of the call of hunters at a distance. |
| Reprise: 11. The trumpet signal and the motif of the riders sound at the same time! For the first time, a homophonic-harmonic warehouse sounds in its full form. 12.climax 2 and 3 sentences - the trumpet signal is for the first time given not in unison with an octave doubling, as in parts I and II, but in chord stock(four-part chords in close arrangement. 13. Sealing texture. 14. Bright dynamics. | The effect of approaching hunters to each other is created, they drive the beast from different sides. Solemn finale of the hunt. The beast is caught, all the hunters have gathered together. Universal rejoicing! |
Villa – Lobos
"Let Mom rock."
I Character, image, mood.
An unforgettable picture from a distant childhood: a mother's head bent over a falling asleep child. Quietly and affectionately, the mother sings a lullaby to the baby, tenderness and care can be heard in her voice. The cradle swings slowly and it seems that the baby is about to fall asleep. But the prankster cannot sleep, he still wants to frolic, run, ride a horse (or maybe the child is already sleeping and dreaming?). And again gentle, thoughtful "words" of the lullaby are heard.
II Form: simple tripartite.
Parts I and III are non-square periods of 12 bars (4 + 4 + 4 + 2 bars addition in the reprise).
Part II - a square period of 16 cycles.
III Means of musical expression:
1.Genre basis- Lullaby. It starts with a 2-bar intro - accompaniment without a melody, like in a song.
Genre features:
2. Singing melody - cantilena. A smooth progressive movement with soft moves per third prevails.
3. Rhythm: calm movement at a slow pace, with stops at the end of phrases.
Edvard Grieg
"Waltz".
I .Character, image, mood.
The mood of this dance is very changeable. At first we hear elegant and graceful music, slightly whimsical and light. As if butterflies flutter in the air of the dancer, barely touching the toes of the parquet shoes. But the trumpets in the orchestra sounded brightly and solemnly, and many couples spun in a waltz whirlwind. And again a new image: someone's beautiful voice sounds gentle and affectionate. Maybe one of the guests sings a simple and uncomplicated song to the accompaniment of a waltz? And again familiar images flicker: lovely little dancers, the sounds of an orchestra and a thoughtful song with notes of sadness.
II .Form: simple three-part with coda.
Part I - square period - 16 measures, repeated twice + 2 measures of introduction.
Part II - a square period of 16 cycles.
Part III - exact reprise (the period is given without repetition). Coda - 9 cycles.
III .Means of musical expression.
1. Means of genre expressiveness:
A) tripartite size (3/4),
B) homophonic - harmonic warehouse, accompaniment in the form of: bass + 2 chords.
2. The melody in the first sentence has a wave-like structure (soft rounded phrases). A smooth, stepwise movement prevails, the impression of a whirling movement.
3. Stroke - staccato.
4. Grace with syncopation at the end of phrases 1 and 2. The impression of lightness, airiness, a slight jump at the end.
5. Tonic organ point in the bass - a feeling of whirling in one place.
6. In the second sentence, a change in texture: chordal warehouse. Active sound of trolls on a strong beat. The sound is bright, magnificent solemn.
7. Sequence with a favorite for romantics tertsovy step: C-Dur, a-moll.
8. Features of the minor mode (a-moll): due to the melodic appearance, the minor sounds major! The melody moves along the sounds of the upper tetrachord in phrases 1 and 2.
Middle part:(A - Dur ).
9. Change of texture. The melody and accompaniment are reversed. There is no bass for a strong beat - a feeling of weightlessness, lightness.
10. Lack of low case.
11. The melody has become more melodious (legato replaces staccato). A song was added to the dance. Or maybe this is an expression of a soft, feminine captivating image - someone's face that stands out in a crowd of dancing couples.
Reprise - accurate, but not repeatable.
Code- motive of a song from the middle part against the background of a stretching tonic fifth.
Fryderyk Chopin
Mazurka op.68 No. 3.
I .Character, image, mood.
Brilliant ballroom dance. Music sounds solemn and proud. The piano is like a powerful orchestra. But now, as if from somewhere far away, a folk tune is heard. It sounds loud and cheerful, but barely perceptible. Maybe this is a memory of a village dance? And then the bravura ballroom mazurka sounds again.
II Form: simple tripartite.
I part - a simple two-part of 2 square 16 cycle periods;
Part II is a square eight-bar period with a 4-bar intro.
III part - abbreviated reprise, 1 square 16-bar period.
III Means of musical expression:
1. Triple size (3/4).
2. Rhythmic pattern with a dotted line on the strong beat gives sharpness and clarity to the sound. These are genre features of the mazurka.
3. Chord warehouse, dynamics f Andff - solemnity and brightness.
4. The intonational "grain" of the upper melodic voice - a jump to ch4 with subsequent filling) - an invocative, victorious, jubilant character.
5. Major mode F-Dur. At the end of sentence 1, modulation in C-Dur, in 2 return to F-Dur).
6. The melodic development is based on sequences (terts step, typical for romantics).
In the 2nd period, the sound is even brighter, but the character also becomes more severe, warlike.
1.Dynamics ff .
3. A new motive, but with a familiar rhythm: or. Rhythmic ostinato throughout the first movement.
A new intonation in the melody - terts moves, alternating with stepwise movement. Melodic phrases do not retain waveform. Downward movement prevails.
4. The key is A-Dur, but with a minor shade, since S 5/3 is given in a harmonic form (tt.17, 19, 21, 23)) - a severe shade.
The second sentence is a reprise (it repeats exactly the 2nd sentence of the first period).
Middle part - light, light, soft, gentle and cheerful.
1. Ostinatnaya tonic fifth in bass - imitation of folk instruments (bagpipes and double bass).
2. The dotted rhythm has disappeared, the smooth movement of the eighth notes at a fast pace prevails.
3. In the melody - soft terts moves up and down. Sensation of fast swirling movement, softness, smoothness.
5. A special way characteristic of Polish folk music - Lydian(mi bekar with the tonic B flat) - the folk origins of this topic.
6.Dynamics R, a barely perceptible sound, the music seems to come from somewhere far away, or hardly breaks through the haze of memories.
Reprise: shortened compared to Part I. There is only the first period, which is repeated. The brilliant ballroom mazurka sounds again.
The word "analysis" in translation from Greek means "decomposition", "dismemberment". Musical and theoretical analysis of a work is a scientific study of music, which includes:
- An exploration of style and form.
- Definition of musical language.
- The study of how important these elements are for expressing the semantic content of the work and their interaction with each other.
An example of the analysis of a musical work is a method that is based on the division of a single whole into small parts. In contrast to analysis, there is a synthesis - a technique that involves the combination of individual elements into a common one. These two concepts are closely related to each other, since only their combination leads to a deep understanding of a phenomenon.
This also applies to the analysis of a piece of music, which should ultimately lead to a generalization and a clearer understanding of the object.
Term meaning
There is a broad and narrow usage of the term.
1. Analytical study of any musical phenomenon, patterns:
- major or minor structure;
- the principle of operation of the harmonic function;
- norms of the metrorhythmic basis for a particular style;
- laws of composition of a musical work as a whole.
In this sense, musical analysis is combined with the concept of "theoretical musicology".
2. The study of any musical unit within the framework of one specific work. This is a narrow but more common definition.
Theoretical basis
In the XIX century, there was an active formation of this musical section. Many musicologists, with their literary works, provoked the active development of the analysis of musical works:
1. A. B. Marx “Ludwig Beethoven. Life and art". This creation, written in the first half of the 19th century, became one of the first examples of a monograph that included an analysis of musical works.
2. H. Riemann "Guide to Fugue Composition", "Beethoven's Bow Quartets". This German musicologist created the doctrine of harmony, form and meter. Based on it, he deepened the theoretical methods of analyzing musical works. His analytical works were of great importance for the progress in this musical direction.
3. The work of G. Krechmar "Guide to concerts" helped develop theoretical and aesthetic methods of analysis in Western European musicology.
4. A. Schweitzer in his literary work “I. S. Bach considered the musical works of composers in three unified aspects of analysis:
- theoretical;
- performing;
- aesthetic.
5. In his three-volume monograph "Beethoven" P. Becker analyzes the sonatas and symphonies of the greatest composer with the help of their poetic idea.
6. H. Leuchtentritt, "Teaching about Musical Form", "Analysis of Chopin's Piano Works". In the works, the authors carry out a competent combination of a high scientific and theoretical level of analysis and figurative characteristics with aesthetic assessments.
7. A. Lorenz "Secrets of form in Wagner." In this literary work, the writer conducts a study based on a detailed analysis of the operas by the German composer R. Wagner. Establishes new types and sections of the analysis of the forms of a musical work: synthesizing scenic and musical patterns.
8. The most important example of the development of analysis in a piece of music are the works of the French musicologist and public figure R. Rolland. These include work "Beethoven. Great creative epochs. Rolland analyzes the music of various genres in the composer's work: symphonies, sonatas and operas. Creates his own unique analytical method, which is based on poetic, literary metaphors and associations. This method goes beyond the strict boundaries of musical theory in favor of a free understanding of the semantic content of the art object.
Such a technique would subsequently have a great influence on the development of the analysis of musical works in the USSR and in the West.
Russian musicology
In the 19th century, along with advanced trends in social thought, there was an intensive development in the field of musicology in general and in musical analysis in particular.
Russian musicologists and critics directed their efforts to confirm the thesis: in each piece of music a certain idea is expressed, some thoughts and feelings are transmitted. This is what all works of art are made for.
A. D. Ulybyshev
One of the first to prove himself was the first Russian music writer and activist A. D. Ulybyshev. Thanks to his works "Beethoven, His Critics and Interpreters", "A New Biography of Mozart", he left a noticeable mark on the history of critical thought.
Both of these literary creations include analysis with critical and aesthetic assessments of many musical works.
V. F. Odoevsky
Not being a theoretician, the Russian writer turned to the domestic musical art. His critical and journalistic works are filled with an aesthetic analysis of many works - mainly operas written by M. I. Glinka.
A. N. Serov
The composer and critic gave rise to the method of thematic analysis in Russian music theory. His essay "The Role of One Motif in the Entire Opera "Life for the Tsar"" contains examples of musical text, with the help of which A. N. Serov studied the formation of the final choir and its themes. At the basis of its formation, according to the author, lies the maturation of the main patriotic idea of the opera.
The article "Thematism of the Leonora Overture" contains a study of the connection between the themes of the overture and L. Beethoven's opera.
Other Russian progressive musicologists and critics are also known. For example, B. L. Yavorsky, who created the theory of modal rhythm and introduced many new ideas into complex analysis.
Types of analysis
The most important thing in the analysis is to establish the patterns of development of the work. After all, music is a temporary phenomenon, reflecting the events that occur in the course of its development.
Types of analysis of a musical work:
1. Thematic.
The musical theme is one of the most important forms of artistic expression. This type of analysis is a comparison, the study of topics and the entire thematic development.
In addition, it helps to determine the genre origins of each topic, since each individual genre implies an individual range of expressive means. By determining which genre underlies, one can more accurately understand the semantic content of the work.
2. Analysis of individual elements that are used in this work:
- meter;
- rhythm;
- timbre;
- dynamics;
3. Harmonic analysis of a piece of music(examples and more detailed description will be given below).
4. Polyphonic.
This view means:
- consideration of musical texture as a certain way of presentation;
- analysis of melody - the simplest single category, which contains the primary unity of artistic means of expression.
5. Performing.
6. Analysis of the compositional form. Is in the search for type and form, as well as in the study of comparisons of themes and development.
7. Complex. Also, this example of the analysis of a musical work is called holistic. It is produced on the basis of an analysis of the form of the composition, and is combined with an analysis of all components, their interaction and development as a whole. The highest goal of this type of analysis is the study of the work as a socio-ideological phenomenon, coupled with all historical connections. He is on the verge of theory and history of musicology.
Regardless of what type of analysis is performed, it is necessary to clarify the historical, stylistic and genre prerequisites.
All types of analysis involve temporary, artificial abstraction, the separation of a particular element from others. This must be done in order to conduct an objective study.
Why do you need music analysis?
It can serve different purposes. For example:
- The study of the individual elements of the work, the musical language is used in textbooks and theoretical works. In scientific research, such components of music and patterns of compositional form are subjected to comprehensive analysis.
- Excerpts from examples of the analysis of musical works can serve as evidence when presenting general theoretical problems (deductive method) or leading viewers to general conclusions (inductive method).
- As part of a monographic study that is dedicated to a particular composer. This concerns a compressed form of a holistic analysis of a musical work according to a plan with examples, which is an integral part of historical and stylistic research.
Plan
1. Preliminary general inspection. It includes:
a) observation of the type of form (three-part, sonata, etc.);
b) drawing up a digital scheme of the form in general terms, without details, but with the name of the main topics or parts and their location;
c) analysis of a musical work according to plan with examples of all the main parts;
d) defining the functions of each part in the form (middle, period, etc.);
e) the study of which elements are given special attention to the development, in what way they develop (repeated, compared, varied, etc.);
f) search for answers to questions, where is the culmination (if any), in what ways is it achieved;
g) determination of the thematic composition, its homogeneity or contrast; what is its character, by what means it is achieved;
h) study of tonal structure and cadences with their correlation, closedness or openness;
i) definition of the type of presentation;
j) drawing up a detailed digital diagram with a characteristic of the structure, the most important moments of summation and crushing, the length of the breath (long or short), the properties of proportions.
2. Comparison of the main parts specifically in:
- tempo uniformity or contrast;
- high-altitude profile in general terms, the relationship of climaxes with a dynamic scheme;
- characterization of general proportions;
- thematic subordination, uniformity and contrast;
- tonal subordination;
- characterization of the whole, the degree of typicality of the form, in the basics of its structure.
Harmonic analysis of a piece of music
As mentioned above, this type of analysis is one of the most important.
To understand how to analyze a piece of music (using an example), you need to have certain skills and abilities. Namely:
- understanding and ability to harmonically generalize a specific passage according to the logic of functional movement and harmony;
- the ability to associate the properties of the harmonic warehouse with the nature of the music and the individual characteristics of a given work or composer;
- correct explanation of all harmonic facts: chord, cadence, voice leading.
Executive Analysis
This type of analysis includes:
- Search for information about the author and the musical work itself.
- Style representations.
- Definition of artistic content and character, images and associations.
Strokes, playing techniques and means of articulation are also an important part of the above example of performing analysis of a musical work.
vocal music
Musical works in the vocal genre require a special method of analysis, which differs from instrumental forms. How is the musical-theoretical analysis of a choral work different? An example plan is shown below. Vocal musical forms require their own method of analysis, different from the approach to instrumental forms.
Necessary:
- Determine the genre of the literary source and the musical work itself.
- Explore the expressive and pictorial details of the choir part and instrumental accompaniment and literary text.
- To study the differences between original words in stanzas and lines with a changed structure in music.
- Determine the musical meter and rhythm, observing the rules of alternation (alternation of rhymes) and squareness (non-squareness).
- Draw conclusions.
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The musical work "..." was written by Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov to the verses of S. Yesenin and is included in the opus "Two choirs to the verses of S. Yesenin" (1967).
Sviridov Georgy Vasilyevich (December 3, 1915 - January 6, 1998) - Soviet and Russian composer, pianist. People's Artist of the USSR (1970), Hero of Socialist Labor (1975), laureate of Lenin (1960) and USSR State Prizes (1946, 1968, 1980). Student of Dmitri Shostakovich.
Sviridov was born in 1915 in the city of Fatezh, now the Kursk region of Russia. His father was a postal worker and his mother was a teacher. Father, Vasily Sviridov, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the civil war, died when George was 4 years old.
In 1924, when George was 9 years old, the family moved to Kursk. In Kursk, Sviridov continued to study at an elementary school, where his passion for literature began. Gradually, music began to come to the fore in the circle of his interests. In elementary school, Sviridov learned to play his first musical instrument, the balalaika. Learning to pick by ear, he showed such talent that he was accepted into the local ensemble of folk instruments. From 1929 to 1932 he studied at the Kursk Music School with Vera Ufimtseva and Miron Krutyansky. On the advice of the latter, in 1932 Sviridov moved to Leningrad, where he studied piano with Isaiah Braudo and composition with Mikhail Yudin at the Central Music College, from which he graduated in 1936.
From 1936 to 1941, Sviridov studied at the Leningrad Conservatory with Pyotr Ryazanov and Dmitry Shostakovich (since 1937). In 1937 he was admitted to the Union of Composers of the USSR.
Mobilized in 1941, a few days after graduating from the conservatory, Sviridov was sent to the military academy in Ufa, but was discharged at the end of the year for health reasons.
Until 1944 he lived in Novosibirsk, where the Leningrad Philharmonic was evacuated. Like other composers, he wrote military songs. In addition, he wrote music for performances by theaters evacuated to Siberia.
In 1944 Sviridov returned to Leningrad, and in 1956 he settled in Moscow. He wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, cantatas, songs and romances.
In June 1974, at the festival of Russian and Soviet songs, held in France, the local press presented Sviridov to their sophisticated public as "the most poetic of modern Soviet composers."
Sviridov wrote his first compositions back in 1935 - the famous cycle of lyrical romances to the words of Pushkin.
While he was studying at the Leningrad Conservatory, from 1936 to 1941, Sviridov experimented with different genres and different types of composition.
Sviridov's style changed significantly in the early stages of his work. His first works were written in the style of classical, romantic music and were similar to the works of German romantics. Later, many of Sviridov's works were written under the influence of his teacher Dmitri Shostakovich.
Starting from the mid-1950s, Sviridov acquired his own bright original style, and tried to write works that were exclusively Russian in nature.
Sviridov's music remained little known in the West for a long time, but in Russia his works enjoyed great success with critics and listeners for their simple but subtle lyrical melodies, scale, masterful instrumentation and a pronounced national character of expression equipped with world experience.
Sviridov continued and developed the experience of Russian classics, especially Modest Mussorgsky, enriching it with the achievements of the 20th century. He uses the traditions of the old cant, ritual chants, znamenny singing, and at the same time - modern urban mass song. Sviridov's work combines novelty, originality of the musical language, refinement, exquisite simplicity, deep spirituality and expressiveness. The seeming simplicity, combined with new intonations, sound transparency, seems to be especially valuable.
musical comedies --
“The sea spread wide” (1943, Moscow Chamber Theater, Barnaul), “Lights” (1951, Kiev Theater of Musical Comedy);
"Liberty" (words by Decembrist poets, 1955, not completed), "Brothers-people!" (words by Yesenin, 1955), “A poem in memory of Sergei Yesenin” (1956), “Pathetic oratorio” (words by Mayakovsky, 1959; Lenin Prize, 1960), “We do not believe” (Song about Lenin, words by Mayakovsky, 1960), "Kursk Songs" (folk words, 1964; USSR State Prize, 1968), "Sad Songs" (Blok's words, 1965), 4 folk songs (1971), "Bright Guest" (Yesenin's words, 1965-75);
cantatas --
"Wooden Rus'" (small cantata, words by Yesenin, 1964), "It's snowing" (small cantata, words by Pasternak, 1965), "Spring Cantata" (words by Nekrasov, 1972), Ode to Lenin (words by R. I. Rozhdestvensky, for reader, choir and orchestra, 1976);
for orchestra --
"Three Dances" (1951), suite "Time, forward!" (1965), Small triptych (1966), Music for the monument to the fallen on the Kursk Bulge (1973), Snowstorm (musical illustrations for Pushkin's story, 1974), symphony for string orchestra (1940), Music for chamber orchestra (1964); concerto for piano and orchestra (1936);
chamber instrumental ensembles --
piano trio (1945; State Prize of the USSR, 1946), string quartet (1947);
for piano --
sonata (1944), sonatina (1934), Little Suite (1935), 6 pieces (1936), 2 partitas (1947), Album of Pieces for Children (1948), polka (4 hands, 1935);
for choir (a cappella) --
5 choirs to the words of Russian poets (1958), "You sing me that song" and "The soul is sad about heaven" (to the words of Yesenin, 1967), 3 choirs from the music for the drama by A. K. Tolstoy "Tsar Fedor Ioannovich" (1973 ), Concert in memory of A. A. Yurlov (1973), 3 miniatures (round dance, stonefly, carol, 1972-75), 3 pieces from the Album for Children (1975), Snowstorm (words by Yesenin, 1976); "Songs of the Wanderer" (to the words of ancient Chinese poets, for voice and orchestra, 1943); Petersburg Songs (for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, bass and piano, violin, cello, words by Blok, 1963);
poems: “Country of the Fathers” (words by Isahakyan, 1950), “Departed Rus'” (words by Yesenin, 1977); vocal cycles: 6 romances to the words of Pushkin (1935), 8 romances to the words of M. Yu. Lermontov (1937), “Slobodskaya Lyrics” (words by A. A. Prokofiev and M. V. Isakovsky, 1938-58), “Smolensky horn "(words by various Soviet poets, different years), 3 songs to the words of Isahakyan (1949), 3 Bulgarian songs (1950), From Shakespeare (1944-60), Songs to the words of R. Burns (1955)," I have a father -peasant "(words by Yesenin, 1957), 3 songs to the words of Blok (1972), 20 songs for bass (different years), 6 songs to the words of Blok (1977), etc .;
romances and songs, arrangements of folk songs, music for dramatic performances and films.
Works by G.V. Sviridov for the choir, and cappella, along with works of the oratorio-cantata genre, belong to the most valuable section of his work. The range of topics that rise in them reflects his characteristic desire for eternal philosophical problems. Basically, these are thoughts about life and man, about nature, about the role and purpose of the poet, about the Motherland. These themes also determine the selection of poets by Sviridov, mostly domestic: A. Pushkin, S. Yesenin, A. Nekrasov, A. Blok, V. Mayakovsky, A. Prokofiev, S. Orlov, B. Pasternak ... Carefully recreating the individual features of the poetry of each of them, the composer at the same time brings their themes together already in the process of selection, combining them into a certain circle of images, themes, plots. But the final transformation of each of the poets into a “like-minded person” takes place under the influence of music, which imperiously invades the poetic material and transforms it into a new work of art.
On the basis of deep penetration into the world of poetry and his reading of the text, the composer, as a rule, creates his own musical-figurative concept. At the same time, the defining factor is the allocation in the content of the poetic primary source of that main, humanly universally significant, which makes it possible to achieve a high degree of artistic generalization in music.
The focus of Sviridov is always a person. The composer likes to show strong, courageous, restrained people. The images of nature, as a rule, "perform" the role of a background to human experiences, although they are also suitable for people - calm pictures of the expanse, the vast expanse of the steppe ...
The composer emphasizes the commonality of the images of the earth and the people who inhabit it, endowing them with similar features. Two general ideological and figurative types predominate. Heroic images are recreated in the sound of the male choir, wide melodic leaps, unisons, sharp dotted rhythm, chord warehouse or movement in parallel thirds, the nuance of forte and fortissimo prevail. On the contrary, the lyrical beginning is characterized mainly by the sound of the female choir, a soft melodic line, undertones, movement with even durations, quiet sonority. Such a differentiation of means is not accidental: each of them carries a certain expressive and semantic load in Sviridov, while the complex of these means constitutes a typically Sviridov “image-symbol”.
The specifics of the choral writing of any composer is revealed through the types of melodics characteristic of him, the methods of voice leading, the ways of using various types of texture, choral timbres, registers, and dynamics. Sviridov also has his favorite tricks. But the common quality that connects them and determines the national-Russian beginning of his music is song in the broad sense of the word, as a principle that colors both the modal basis of his thematics (diatonic), and texture (unison, voicing, choral pedal), and form ( couplet, variation, strophicity), and intonational-figurative structure. Another characteristic property of Sviridov's music is inextricably linked with this quality. Namely: vocality, understood not only as the ability to write for the voice, but as vocal convenience and melodiousness of melodies, as an ideal synthesis of musical and speech intonations, which helps the performer to achieve speech naturalness in the pronunciation of a musical text.
If we talk about the technique of choral writing, then, first of all, we should note the subtle expressiveness of the timbre palette and textural techniques. Equally, owning the techniques of subvocal and homophonic development, Sviridov, as a rule, is not limited to one thing. In his choral works one can observe the organic connection of homophony and polyphony. The composer often uses a combination of an undertone with a theme expressed in a homophonic way - a kind of two-dimensional texture (the undertone is the background, the theme is the foreground). The subvoice usually gives the overall mood or paints the landscape, while the rest of the voices convey the specific content of the text. Often, Sviridov's harmony consists of a combination of horizontals (a principle that comes from Russian folk polyphony). These horizontals sometimes form whole textured layers, and then their movement and connection give rise to complex harmonic consonances. Sviridov's particular case of textural multi-layering is the technique of duplicated voice leading, which leads to parallelism of fourths, fifths and whole chords. Sometimes such a duplication of texture simultaneously in two "floors" (in male and female choirs or in high and low voices) is caused by the requirements of a certain timbre brilliance or register brightness. In other cases, it is associated with "poster" images, with the style of Cossack, soldier's songs ("The son met his father"). But most often parallelism is used as a means of sound volume. This striving for the maximum saturation of the “musical space” finds a vivid expression in the choirs “The soul is sad about heaven” (to the words of S. Yesenin), “Prayer”, in which the performing ensemble is divided into two choirs, one of which duplicates the other.
In Sviridov's scores, we will not find traditional choral textural techniques (fugato, canon, imitation) or typical compositional schemes; there are no general, neutral sounds. Each technique is predetermined by a figurative purpose, any stylistic turn is expressively concrete. In each piece, the composition is completely individual, free, and this freedom is determined, internally regulated by the subordination of musical development with the construction and meaningful dynamics of the poetic fundamental principle.
The dramatic feature of some choirs is noteworthy. Two contrasting images, presented at the beginning in the form of independent, complete constructions, in the final section seem to be brought to a common denominator, merge into one figurative plane (“In the blue evening”, “The son met his father”, “How the song was born”, “The herd” ) - the principle of dramaturgy, coming from instrumental forms (symphony, sonata, concerto). In general, the implementation in the choir of techniques borrowed from instrumental, in particular orchestral genres, is typical for the composer. Their use in choral compositions significantly expands the range of expressive and formative possibilities of the choral genre.
The noted features of Sviridov's choral music, which determine its artistic originality, led to the widespread recognition of the composer's choirs and the rapid growth of their popularity. Most of them are heard in the concert programs of the leading domestic professional and amateur choirs, recorded on gramophone records, released not only in our country, but also abroad.
Yesenin Sergey Alexandrovich (September 21, 1895 - December 28, 1925) - Russian poet, representative of the new peasant poetry and lyrics.
Yesenin's father left for Moscow, got a job as a clerk there, and therefore Yesenin was sent to be raised in the family of his maternal grandfather. My grandfather had three adult unmarried sons. Sergei Yesenin later wrote: “My uncles (three unmarried sons of my grandfather) were mischievous brothers. When I was three and a half years old they put me on a horse without a saddle and put me at a gallop. They also taught me how to swim: they put me in a boat, sailed to the middle of the lake and threw me into the water. When I was eight years old, I replaced one of my uncles with a hunting dog, swam on the water for shot ducks.”
In 1904, Sergei Yesenin was taken to the Konstantinovsky Zemstvo School, where he studied for five years, although according to the plan, Sergei had to receive education for four years, but due to the bad behavior of Sergei Yesenin, they left him for the second year. In 1909, Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin graduated from the Konstantinovsky zemstvo school, and his parents sent Sergei to a parochial school in the village of Spas-Klepiki, 30 km from Konstantinov. His parents wanted their son to become a village teacher, although Sergei himself dreamed of something else. In the Spas-Klepikovskaya teacher's school, Sergei Yesenin met Grisha Panfilov, with whom he then (after graduating from the teacher's school) corresponded for a long time. In 1912, Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin, after graduating from the Spas-Klepikovskaya teacher's school, moved to Moscow and settled with his father in a hostel for clerks. Father arranged for Sergei to work in an office, but soon Yesenin left there and got a job at I. Sytin's printing house as a subreader (assistant proofreader). There he met Anna Romanovna Izryadnova and entered into a civil marriage with her. On December 1, 1914, Anna Izryadnova and Sergei Yesenin had a son, Yuri.
In Moscow, Yesenin published his first poem "Birch", which was published in the Moscow children's magazine "Mirok". He joined the literary and musical circle named after the peasant poet I. Surikov. This circle included novice writers and poets from the worker-peasant environment.
In 1915, Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin left for St. Petersburg and met there with the great poets of Russia of the 20th century with Blok, Gorodetsky, Klyuev. In 1916, Yesenin published his first collection of poems “Radunitsa”, which included such poems as “Do not wander, do not crush in the crimson bushes”, “Hewn roads sang” and others.
In the spring of 1917, Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin married Zinaida Nikolaevna Reich, they have 2 children: daughter Tanya and son Kostya. But in 1918, Yesenin broke up with his wife.
In 1919, Yesenin met Anatoly Maristof and wrote his first poems, Inonia and Mare Ships. In the autumn of 1921, Sergei Yesenin met the famous American dancer Isadora Duncan and already in May 1922 officially registered his marriage with her. Together they went abroad. We visited Germany, Belgium, USA. From New York, Yesenin wrote letters to his friend - A. Maristof and asked to help his sister if she suddenly needed help. Arriving in Russia, he began to work on the cycles of poems "Hooligan", "Confession of a Hooligan", "Love of a Hooligan".
In 1924, a collection of poems by S.A. Yesenin “Moscow Tavern” was published in St. Petersburg. Then Yesenin began to work on the poem "Anna Snegina" and already in January 1925 he finished working on this poem and published it. After parting with his ex-wife Isadora Duncan, Sergei Yesenin married Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya, who was the granddaughter of the famous Russian writer of the 19th century, Leo Tolstoy. But this marriage lasted only a few months.
From Yesenin's letters of 1911-1913, the difficult life of the novice poet, his spiritual maturation, emerges. All this was reflected in the poetic world of his lyrics in 1910-1913, when he wrote over 60 poems and poems. Here his love for all living things, for life, for the Motherland is expressed. In this way, the poet is especially tuned in by the surrounding nature.
From the very first verses, Yesenin's poetry includes the themes of the motherland and revolution. The poetic world becomes more complex, multidimensional, and biblical images and Christian motifs begin to occupy a significant place in it.
Sergey Yesenin speaks about the connection of music with poetry, painting, architecture in his literary essays, compares patterned folk embroideries and ornaments with its majestic solemnity. Yesenin's poetic work is intertwined with his musical impressions. He possessed “an extraordinary sense of rhythm, but often, before putting his lyrical poems on paper, he played them ... apparently for self-examination, on the piano, testing them for sound and hearing, and, ultimately, for simplicity, crystal clarity and intelligibility to the human heart, to the soul of the people.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that Yesenin's poems attract the attention of composers. More than 200 works written on the poems of the poet. There are operas (“Anna Snegina” by A. Kholminov and A. Agafonov) and vocal cycles (“To you, O motherland” by A. Flyarkovsky, “My father is a peasant” by Sviridov). 27 works were written by Georgy Sviridov. Among them, the vocal-symphonic poem “In Memory of Sergei Yesenin” should be especially noted.
The work “You sing me that song” is included in the cycle “Two choirs to poems by S. Yesenin”, written for homogeneous compositions: the first for a female, the second for a double male choir and baritone solo.
The choice of performing ensembles in this case was based on the principle of contrast interaction, and the timbre comparison was deepened by the contrast of moods, in one piece - lyrically fragile, in the other - courageous and severe. It is possible that the factor of performing practice also played a certain role in this (located in the middle of the concert program, such works provide alternate rest for various groups of the mixed choir). These features, combined with the stylistic unity of the literary basis (the works were created to the words of one poet) make it possible to consider "Two Choirs" as a kind of diptych.
Literary text analysis
The literary source of the work is S. Yesenin's poem "You sing me that song that before ...", dedicated to the poet's sister Shura.
You sing me that song that before
Our old mother sang to us.
No regrets for the lost hope
I can sing along to you.
I know, and I know
Therefore, worry and worry -
You sing to me, well, and I'm with this one,
Here with the same song as you
Just close my eyes a little...
I see dear features again.
That I have never loved alone
And the gate of the autumn garden,
And fallen leaves from mountain ash.
You sing to me, well, I'll remember
And I will not forgetfully frown:
So nice and so easy for me
Seeing mother and yearning chickens.
I'm forever behind fogs and dews
I fell in love with the birch camp,
And her golden braids
And her canvas sundress.
Me for a song and for wine
You seemed like that birch
What is under the native window.
Sergei Yesenin had a very difficult relationship with his sister Alexandra. This young girl immediately and unconditionally accepted the revolutionary innovations and abandoned her former way of life. When the poet came to his native village of Konstantinovo, Alexandra constantly reproached him for short-sightedness and the lack of a correct worldview. Yesenin, on the other hand, laughed quietly and rarely got involved in socio-political debates, although he was internally worried that he had to be on opposite sides of the barricades with a person close to him.
Nevertheless, Yesenin refers to his sister in one of his last poems “You sing me that song that before ...”, written in September 1925. The poet feels that his life path is coming to an end, therefore he sincerely wants to keep in his soul the image of his native land with its traditions and foundations, which are so dear to him. He asks his sister to sing him the song that he heard in his distant childhood, noting: "Without regretting the bent hope, I will be able to sing along to you." Being hundreds of kilometers from his parental home, Yesenin mentally returns to the old hut, which once seemed to him the royal mansions. Years have passed, and now the poet realizes how primitive and miserable was the world in which he was born and raised. But it was here that the author felt that all-consuming happiness that gave him the strength not only to live, but also to create amazingly imaginative poems. For this, he is sincerely grateful to his small homeland, the memory of which still excites the soul. Yesenin admits that he was not the only one who loved "the gate of the autumn garden and the fallen leaves of mountain ash." Similar feelings, the author is convinced, were experienced by his younger sister, but she very soon stopped noticing what was really dear to her.
Yesenin does not reproach Alexandra for the fact that she has already managed to lose the romanticism inherent in her youth, having fenced herself off from the outside world with communist slogans. The poet understands that everyone has their own path in this life, and they will have to go through it to the end. No matter what. However, he is sincerely sorry for his sister, who, for the sake of other people's ideals, rejects what she absorbed with her mother's milk. The author is convinced that time will pass, and her views on life will change again. In the meantime, Alexandra seems to the poet "that birch tree that stands under the native window." The same fragile, tender and helpless, able to bend under the first gust of wind, the direction of which can change at any moment.
The poem consists of 7 stanzas, four stanzas each. The main size of the poem is a three-foot anapaest (), the rhyme is crossed. Sometimes there is a change of a triple meter to two meter (trochee) within one line (2 stanza (1 line), 3 stanza (1, 3 lines), 4 stanza (1 line), 5 stanza (1, 3 lines), 6 stanza (2nd line), 7th stanza (3rd line)).
In the chorus, the poem is not fully used, stanzas 2, 3 and 5 are omitted.
You sing me that song that before
Our old mother sang to us.
No regrets for the lost hope
I can sing along to you.
You sing to me. After all, my consolation -
That I have never loved alone
And the gate of the autumn garden,
And fallen leaves from mountain ash.
I'm forever behind fogs and dews
I fell in love with the birch camp,
And her golden braids
And her canvas sundress.
Therefore, the heart is not hard -
Me for a song and for wine
You seemed like that birch
What is under the native window.
What stands under the native window. Sviridov made some changes to the text that affected the details. But even in these minor discrepancies, Sviridov's creative approach to the borrowed text, the special care in polishing the sounding word, the vocal phrase, affected. In the first case, the changes are caused by the desire of the author of the music to facilitate the pronunciation of individual words, which is important in singing, in the other, the alignment of the third line (due to its lengthening by one syllable) in relation to the first line facilitates the subtext of the motive and the natural placement of stresses.
You sing to me. After all, my joy - You sing to me, dear joy
And fallen leaves from mountain ash. - And fallen leaves of mountain ash.
You seemed like that birch - You seemed like a birch to me,
The chorus "You sing me that song" is one of the brightest examples of Sviridov's song lyrics. In a naturally sung, clearly diatonic melody, various genre features are implemented. You can hear the intonations of a peasant song in it, and (to a greater extent) echoes of an urban romance. In this combination, different aspects of reality were embodied: both the memory of the village life dear to the poet’s heart, and the atmosphere of urban life that really surrounded him. Not without reason, in conclusion, the poet draws a metaphorical image that arises in his imagination as a clear dream shining through the fog.
Therefore, the heart is not hard -
Me for a song and for wine
You seemed like that birch
What is under the native window.
The last line repeated by the composer sounds like a quiet song fading away.
2. Musical-theoretical analysis
The form of the choir can be defined as couplet-strophic, where each couplet is a period. The form of the choir reflected the specifics of the song genre (squareness, variation of the melody). The number of couplets corresponds to the number of stanzas (4). Couplet variation is reduced to a minimum, with the exception of the third couplet, which performs a function similar to the developing middle of the three-part form.
The first couplet is a square period of two sentences. Each sentence consists of two equal phrases (4 + 4), where the second continues the development of the first. The middle cadence is based on a tonic triad, thanks to which the initial musical image acquires integrity.
The second sentence develops similarly to the first and consists of two phrases (4 + 4).
This structure is preserved throughout the work, making it simple and understandable, close to folk songs.
The final construction, built on the repetition of the last line, is a four-bar episode that completely duplicates the final phrase of the fourth verse.
The melody of the choir is simple and natural. The initial motive-appeal sounds sincerely and lyrically. The ascending movement I - V - I and the "filled" diatonic return to the V degree (fa #) becomes the basis of the melodic organization.
The second phrase, outlining the same ascending fifth, only from the fourth degree, returns again in the cadence to the fifth degree.
At the climax, the melody “takes off” for a short moment in a high register (ascending octave move), conveying the subtle emotional experiences of the protagonist, after which it returns to the reference tone (fa#).
Contradictory feelings were embodied and intertwined in this uncomplicated and heartfelt line: bitterness about “declined hopes” and a fragile dream of the return of the past. With jumps (^ch5 and ch8), the composer subtly emphasizes the main textual peaks (“without regret”, “I can do it”).
Verses 2 and 4 develop similarly.
3 couplet brings new paint. The parallel major timidly "sprouts" like a quivering memory of the native side. Soft movement along the sounds of a major triad sounds gentle and touching.
However, the general mood of the melody is preserved in the appearance of the fifth degree of the main key. At the end, it is underlined by a quart chant that sounds dreamy and sincere.
The second sentence does not begin with an octave move, but with a softer, melodious one (^m6), returning in the second phrase to the previous melodic organization.
The final episode is built on the final intonation of the first sentence. The fact that the melody does not come to the tonic at the end, but remains on the fifth sound, introduces a special “unfinished” intonation-hope, a bright image of a dream about the past days.
The texture of the choir is harmonic, with a melody in the upper voice. All voices move in a single rhythmic content, revealing one image. With the introduction of an undertone in the last verse (the unison of three sopranos), this image seems to split in two, developing further simultaneously in two parallel planes: one corresponds to the continued confidential and intimate conversation, the other takes the artist’s imagination to a distant dream personified in the image of a birch. Here we see a technique typical for Sviridov, when a bright memory is expressed in a solo timbre, personified.
The main key is natural h-moll. The main feature of the work's tonal plan is the modal variability (h-moll/D-dur), passing from verse to verse, which colors the melody with colors of opposite modal inclinations (the contrast of the juxtaposition of parallel tonalities is especially expressive on the faces of the verses) and creates the effect of harmonic chiaroscuro. Periodic minor-major overflows to some extent convey the change of shades of sadness and bright dreams. Of the four verses, only the third begins not in the main key, but in a parallel major (D-dur), and is thematically transformed (its second half varies less significantly). The last phrase (four-bar code complement) returns the main key in B minor after fret modulation to parallel major.
Clockwise Harmonic Analysis
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VI6 III53 d6(-5) |
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III53(-5) t64 II6(#3,5)(DD6) |
s53 III53(-5) d43(-3) |
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VI6 III53 III53(-5)= T53(-5) |
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T53(-5) = III53(-5) |
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III6 II6(#3,5)(DD6) |
s6 III6 II6(#3,5) (DD6) |
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VI64 III53= T53 T53(-5) |
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VI6 III53 d6(-5) |
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VI43 (#1,-5) VI(#1) II6(#3,5) (DD6) |
s53 III53(-5) d43(-3) |
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VI6 III53 III53(-5)= T53(-5) |
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VI6 III53 d6(-5) |
The harmonic language is simple, which corresponds to folk songwriting, tertian movements between voices, simple triads, and sixth chords are used. The use of an elevated IV and VI degree (bars 9, 25, 41, 57) gives the melody an ambiguity, “blurring”: it becomes veiled, as if in a haze, which makes it especially poetic. Sometimes, thanks to the melodic movement of voices, which is the main genre beginning in this work, chords appear with missing tones or, on the contrary, doubling. The combination of chords and unisons at the junctions of parts sounds contrasting, where the melody “unfolds” into a harmonic vertical.
Simple chords and revolutions present colorful parallelisms. The work is characterized by the wide moves of some voices against the background of the ostinato of others. The repetition of consonances serves as a stable background for the free intonation deployment of the melody.
Triad chords are a feature of Sviridov's harmony. In culminating places and phrase boundaries, Sviridov's sixth chord sometimes appears - a sixth chord with a double third.
The pace of the work is moderate (slowly) The movement indicated by the composer indicates a calm, unhurried development in which it will be possible to convincingly convey to the audience the main idea of the poem - appeal and reflection. The tempo in the coda of the work gradually slows down (poco a poco ritenuto), the music gradually fades away, personifying a fading dream.
The size - 3/4 - does not change throughout the composition. He was chosen by the composer in accordance with the three-syllable size of S. Yesenin's poem.
Speaking about the rhythmic side of the work, it is appropriate to note that, with a few exceptions, the rhythm of the choral parts is based on one rhythmic formula.
The off-beat movement is born from the poetic meter and carries the desire to move forward. With the help of a dotted rhythm (dotted quarter - eighth), the composer “sings” the second beat, and he underlines each first with a tenuto stroke (sustained). All phrase endings are organized using a sustained chord. This gives the impression of a measured wiggle. The lulling repetition of the ostinato rhythm, passing from phrase to phrase, in combination with the same type of square constructions, with an almost universal quiet sound, creates distinct associations with a lullaby.
The dynamics of the work and its character are closely related. Sviridov gives instructions next to the pace - quietly, penetratingly. Starting in the nuance of pp, the dynamics very subtly follow the development of phrases. There are many dynamic author's instructions in the choir. At the climax, the sound increases to the mf nuance (the climax of the first and second verses), after which the dynamic plan becomes quieter, reducing to the rrrr nuance.
In the fourth verse, the composer, with the help of dynamics, boldly emphasizes the main choral line and the undertone of the three sopranos and the difference in their figurative plans by the ratio of performing nuances: choir - mp, solo - pp.
Dynamic plan of the choir.
You sing me that song that before
An old mother sang to us,
No regrets for the lost hope
I can sing along to you.
You sing to me, dear consolation -
That I have never loved alone
And the gate of the autumn garden,
And fallen rowan leaves.
I'm forever behind fogs and dews
I fell in love with the birch camp,
And her golden braids
And her canvas sundress.
That's why the heart is not hard,
what a song and a wine
You looked like a birch to me
What is under the native window.
What is under the native window.
3. Vocal-choral analysis
The work “Sing me that song” was written for a female four-part choir.
Party ranges:
Soprano I:
Soprano II:
General range of the choir:
Analyzing the ranges, one can notice that, in general, the work has convenient tessitura conditions. All parts are quite developed, the lower sounds of the range are used sporadically, in unison moments, and the highest notes appear in climaxes. The largest range - 1.5 octaves - is in the part of the first sopranos, since the upper voice performs the main melodic line. The overall range of the choir is almost 2 octaves. Basically, the parties are in the working range throughout the entire sound. If we talk about the degree of vocal loading of the parties, then they are all relatively equal. The choir was written without musical accompaniment, so the singing load is quite large.
In this work, the main type of breathing is in phrases. Within the phrases, chain breathing should be used, which is obtained by a quick, imperceptible change of breath by the singers within the choir part. When working on chain breathing, it is necessary to strive to ensure that the successive introductions of the singers do not destroy the unified line of development of the theme.
Consider the complexities of the choral system. One of the main conditions for a good horizontal order is the unison within the party, in the work on which the main attention should be directed to educating the singers of the ability to listen to their choral part, adapt to other voices and strive to merge in the overall sound. When working on the melodic system, the choirmaster must observe certain rules developed by practice for intonation of the steps of the major and minor modes. For the first time these rules were systematized by P. G. Chesnokov in the book “Chorus and its management”. Intonation should be built on a modal basis, on awareness of the modal role of sounds. The initial stage of work on the system is to build the unison and melodic line of each part.
The upper voice is always of no small importance in any score. The part of the first sopranos throughout the work performs the function of a leading voice. Tessitura conditions are quite convenient. It is characterized by both simple singing intonations and complex intonational moments of the romance type. There is a combination of both jump and step movement in the party. Difficult moments (execution of jumps h5^ (bars 1, 4-5, 12-13, 16-17, 20-21, 28-29, 44, 48-49, 52-53, 60-61, 64-65), ch4^ (bars 1-2, 13-14, 17-18, 29-30, 33-34, 38, 45-46, 49-50, 61-62), ch8 ^(bars 8-9, 24-25 , 56-57), ch4v (bars 11-12, 27-28, 38-39, 60), ch5v(bars 15-16, 47-48), m6^ (bars 40-41)) it is necessary to isolate and sing them like exercise. Choristers must clearly understand the relationship between sounds. The main melodic line should sound in relief, at full breath, in the right character.
It is also necessary to draw the attention of singers to the fact that small intervals require one-sided narrowing, while pure intervals require a clean and stable intonation of sounds. All ascending ch4 and ch5 must be executed precisely, but at the same time softly.
When working on the formation in the part of the second sopranos, you need to pay attention to the moments when the melody is at the same height (bars 33-34, 37-38) - a decrease in intonation may occur. This will be avoided by the execution of such moments with an upward trend. The attention of performers should be drawn to maintaining a high singing position.
This part has a smoother melodic line than the top voice, but it also has jumps that require precision. They arise both in unison with the part of the first sopranos, and independently, often in tertian proportion with the upper voice (m6^ (bars 8-9, 24-25, 56-57), ch4v (bars 10, 26, 58)).
There are also alterations in the part of the second sopranos - bars 38, 41-42. The sound sol# needs to be intoned with a rising trend.
Parts of the first and second violas have a rather soft melodic line, built mainly on step and tert movement. The choirmaster's attention will be required by the precise performance of the jumps that occasionally occur in the lower voices (first altos - ch4^ (bars 9, 25), second altos - ch5^ (bars 8, 24, 56), ch4v (bars 14-15, 29-30, 45-46, 61-62, 63-64), ch4^ (bars 30-31, 38, 46-47, 62-63)). Leaps should be performed carefully, using good breathing and a soft attack. This also applies to the movement along the sounds of the major triad in the part of the second violas (VI step) (bars 4-5, 12-13,20-21,28-29, 52-53, 60-61)
Alterations quite often appear in the melodic lines of these parts: passing (bars 9-10, 25-26, 57-58) and auxiliary (bars 41-42), where the intonation will be based on modal gravity.
Proper staging of vocal work in the choir is the key to a clean and stable order. The quality of intonation of a melody is interconnected with the nature of sound formation, a high singing position.
The quality of the horizontal system is influenced by such factors as a single (covered) manner of forming vowels and vibrato. The choristers must find a unified manner of sound production in which the degree of rounding of vowels should be maximum.
The purity of intonation also depends on the direction of the melody. A long stay at the same height can cause a decrease in intonation, it is in this direction that the initial part of the melodic line in the viola part is set out. To eliminate the difficulty, we can offer the singers to mentally imagine the opposite movement while singing. This tip can also be used when working with jumps.
In this work, work on the melodic system should be carried out in close connection with the harmonic one. Intonation should be built on a modal basis, on awareness of the modal role of sounds. The tertial sound of the mode often appears in the soprano part, and here the following rule of performance must be followed: the tertial major note must be sung with a rising tendency. In order to calibrate the chord sequences, the choirmaster is recommended to sing them not only in the original performance, but also use them as chanting as turns.
When working on the harmonic system in this work, it is useful to use the technique of performing with a closed mouth, which allows you to activate the musical ear of the singers and direct it to the quality of the performance.
Particular attention should be paid to the work on the general choral unison, which occasionally occurs between parts (bars 8, 16, 24, 32, 39, 40, 44, 48, 56). Often the unison appears at the beginning of the formations after pauses, and the choir needs to develop the skill of "anticipating" the unison.
Steady clean intonation and dense, free sounding is facilitated by the diaphragmatic type of breathing and a soft sound attack. To overcome inaccuracies, it is advisable to sing difficult parts in batches. It is also useful to sing with your mouth closed or in a neutral syllable.
An ensemble in any art form means a harmonious unity and consistency of details that form a single compositional integrity. The concept of "choral ensemble" is based on the coordinated, balanced and simultaneous performance of a choral work by singers. In contrast to the purity of intonation, which can be cultivated individually for each singer, the skills of ensemble singing can only be developed in a team, in the process of joint performance.
An important side of the vocal-choral analysis is the appeal to the questions of the private and general ensemble. When working on a private ensemble, a single style of vocal and choral performance technique, unity of nuance, subordination of private and general climaxes of the work, and a general emotional tone of performance are worked out. Each member of the choir needs to learn to listen to the sound of his part, determining its place in the sound of the entire team as a whole, the ability to adjust his voice to the general choir sound.
As already mentioned, a single emotional tone of performance is outlined in a private ensemble, it provides for work on unison within the party. In the general ensemble, when connecting unison groups, various options for the ratio of sound strength are possible (in the subvocal texture, it is necessary to maintain the balance of all parts, timbre colors, and the nature of the pronunciation of the text). So at the beginning of the work, the main melodic line is in the part of the first sopranos, and the other parts are performed by the line of the second plan, but the composer points to a single dynamic correlation of the parts.
Let's turn to other types of ensemble.
The dynamic ensemble plays an important role in this work. In this work, one can speak of a natural ensemble, since the voices are in equal tessitura conditions, and the soprano part is tessitura somewhat higher. From the point of view of a dynamic ensemble, unison moments are also interesting, where a balanced and unified choral sounding is required. Here you will need the ability to regulate the dynamics of sound through the active work of singing breathing. In the final part, an overtone of three sopranos appears, which should sound quieter, although they are tessitura higher than the main theme.
The rhythmic ensemble will require from the performers an accurate and verified intralobar pulsation, which will allow not to shorten the duration, and not to speed up and load the initial tempo. This is due to a single rhythmic organization, where all parties must move from chord to chord as accurately as possible. A moderate pace, without relying on the internal pulse, can lose momentum and slow down. The complexity in these episodes is the introduction of voices after pauses, on which all the junctions of the episodes are built.
The work on the rhythmic ensemble is closely connected with the training of the choir participants in the skills of simultaneously taking breath, attacking and making sound. A serious shortcoming of choral singers is the inertia of the tempo-rhythmic movement. There is only one way to deal with this: to accustom singers to the possibility of changing the tempo every second, which automatically entails stretching or shortening of rhythmic units, to cultivate their performance flexibility.
The following techniques can be used in the work on the metro-rhythmic ensemble of the choir:
Clapping rhythmic pattern;
Pronunciation of the musical text by rhythmic syllables;
Singing with tapping of intralobar pulsation;
Solfegging with division of the main metric beat into smaller durations;
Singing at a slow tempo with a splitting of the main metric beat, or at a fast tempo with an enlargement of the metric beat, etc.
The most common tempo disturbances in the choir are associated with speeding up when singing on a crescendo and slowing down when singing on a diminuendo.
This also applies to the diction ensemble: in the moments of a single textual material, the singers will have to pronounce the words together, taking into account the nature of the text, relying on intralobar pulsation. The following points are difficult:
pronouncing consonant sounds at the junction of words that should be sung together with the next word, as well as consonants in the middle of words at the junction of syllables (for example: you sing me that song that was before, etc.);
pronunciation of the text in dynamics p with preservation of diction activity;
clear pronunciation of consonants at the end of a word (for example: mother, sing along, one, mountain ash, birch, etc.);
the performance of words that include the letter “p”, where the technique of its somewhat exaggerated pronunciation is used (for example: before, dear joy, under the darling, birch)
Turning to the issues of choral diction, it is important to note the need for all singers of the choir to use uniform rules and techniques of articulation. Let's name some of them.
Beautiful, expressive vowels produce beauty in a vocal sound, and conversely, flat vowels produce a flat, ugly, non-vocal sound.
Consonants in singing are pronounced at the height of vowels, to
to which they adjoin. Failure to comply with this rule
leads in choral practice to the so-called "porches", and sometimes to impure intonation.
In order to achieve dictional clarity, in the choir it is necessary to expressively read the text of the choral work in the rhythm of the music, highlighting and practicing hard-to-pronounce words and combinations.
The timbre ensemble, as well as the nature of the pronunciation of the text, is closely interconnected with the nature of the music: a light warm timbre must be preserved throughout the entire work. The nature of the sound is calm and peaceful.
The work “You sing me that song” is a choral song that combines folk traditions and classical incarnation, and requires more cover, roundness of sound, performers need to develop a unified manner of sound and timbre formation. For its execution, a small or medium-sized composition of performers is required. It can be performed by an educational or amateur choir with a developed range and skills in ensemble singing.
On the basis of musical-theoretical and vocal-choral analysis, it is possible to make a performance analysis of the work.
The author created a choral miniature of amazing beauty. Exactly following the poetic word and using various means of musical expression: moderate tempo, textural features, expressive moments emphasizing the text, subtle dynamics, the composer paints a picture of his native land, conveys longing and a dream of bygone days. As already mentioned above, "You sing me that song" is a choral miniature. This genre sets certain tasks for the performers, the main of which is to reveal the poetic image in a relatively small work, develop it, and at the same time maintain an even sound and smoothness. The main performing principle is the continuous development and unity of the image.
Agogics in this chorus is closely related to phrasing and climaxes.
Each motif contains its own small peak, from which private climaxes gradually develop.
G. Sviridov very accurately marked the climaxes with the help of dynamics and stroke indications.
The first climax appears in bar 2 on the word "song", and the next one - in bar 6 ("old"), the author points to them with a tenuto stroke, diminuendo and melodic line movements. These small peaks are preparing a private climax of the first verse, which sounds like the words "without regretting the bent hope." The climax appears suddenly, without long preparation. After this peak, a number of reference sounds appear.
A long movement from the top can cause some difficulty, you need to calculate the dynamic scale so that the decay is uniform.
The second verse develops similarly, but in a bolder dynamic and very expressive (espressivo). Its apex is also at the beginning of the second sentence. Here the composer warns that this moment should be performed gently and softly.
The third verse sounds in ppp dynamics, which comes on suddenly (subito ppp) and the climactic episode, despite the intonation rise, should sound in the same dynamics (sempre ppp).
The fourth verse carries the main peak. The composer emphasizes with the help of tenuto the words "that's why the heart is not hard" they sound in the dynamics of mp (espressivo).
After again a quiet climax in the nuance of pp.
Particular attention should be paid to the execution of strokes. The main type of sound science in this choir is light legato (connected). There are many notes in the score under the tenuto (withstanding) stroke, which indicates the ultimate coherence of the notes performed.
In a choral work without instrumental accompaniment, the play of register and timbre colors of singing voices is most clearly manifested, the extraordinary emotional impact of music and words, the beauty of the human voice, is revealed with great fullness.
For performance analysis, it is also important to consider the tasks facing the conductor and the definition of the stages of work on the work with the performing team.
When working with this choir, the conductor must master the following techniques. Accurate display of the prepared auftact to organize the entry of the choir at the beginning of the work and later.
The next necessary auftakt is combined. With it, the joints between the parts will be organized. In a combined aftertaste, it is important to accurately show the withdrawal and move on to the introduction.
Of great importance is the separation of the functions of the hands, since the conductor needs to simultaneously solve several performing tasks, for example, showing a long note (left hand) and maintaining a pulse (right hand). The left hand will also solve dynamic and intonation tasks during the performance. For example, when showing a small crescendo, in addition to the gradually retracting left hand, the conductor will need to gradually increase the amplitude of the gesture, bringing the choral sonority to a louder nuance. The main type of sound knowledge will require the conductor to have a collected brush and an accurate display of the conductor's point and a smooth interlobular auftact in the legato stroke.
The conductor must lead the choir, clearly showing the development in phrases, the climax. Closer attention will be required at the end of the work, where the conductor must correctly and evenly distribute the dynamic "ascension", while maintaining the tempo. Intralobar pulsation will be a support for solving this problem. The performance of the long ppp in the third verse will also require the conductor's attention.
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