 Diversity of approaches – no single style  No single tonality – atonal  Irregular rhythms, changing metre, changing tempi  Unusual instrumental techniques  Use of non western instruments

 Use of 3 note cell3 note cell  Ideas built to be distorted and dismantled  Binary oppositions eg b141 – tonality in one instrument and atonality in another  Borrowed use of music quotations

 In Shakespeare’s ‘the tempest’ play, Ferdinand the king’s son, believes his father to have died in a shipwreck.  The water nymph, Ariel, tells Ferdinand that the corpse has changed into something rich and strange.  This change becomes a metaphor for Deane’s compositional approach.

 Deane employs this dismantling process in Seachanges – the use of interference and distortion, instruments abandoning their natural sounds, numerical progression by subtraction, addition and the use of prime numbers.  Order and disorder are constantly colliding.

 ETHNIC INSTRUMENTS › CROTALES CROTALES › MARACAS MARACAS › RAINSTICK RAINSTICK › MARIMBA MARIMBA › GUIRO GUIRO

 Instrumental techniques 1. No accents 2. Poss – play as many notes as possible 3. Harmonics on cymbals Harmonics 4. Flag. – Flagelot – any kind of harmonicFlagelot 5. Col. Legno – strings played with wood of bow Col. Legno 6. Lv- let vibrate Lv- 7. Senza vibrato – without vibration 8. Sul pont – above the bridge Sul pont 9. Glissando – sliding from one pitch to another 10. Strum – guitar like strumming of the strings Strum Indicates left hand pizzicatoleft hand pizzicato 12. Snap pizzicato (circle with a + sign) Snap pizzicato 13. Arco – played with the bow Arco 14. Double and multi stopping – bow drawn across several strings Double and multi stopping 15. Con. Ped – the sustaining pedal is used Con. Ped

 G-C creates an interval of 4 th or 5 th when inverted  G-A creates interval of 2 nd  A-C creates an interval of 3 rd or 6 th when inverted

 Rhythm changes between

 Opening section C uses inverse and retrograde inverse of Dies Irae chant.  The melody is played directly at times but sometimes played in 5ths.  Principle of permutation used in this section.

Bars 1-16IntroductionCrotchet = 80Introduction Bars 17-45Section A b17-27 (Main Melody)b17-45Section AMain Melody Bars 46-64Section B (Totentanz)Crotchet = 120Section B Bars 65-91Section A1 (Main Melody)Crotchet = 80Section A1 Bars Section C (Dies Irae)Crotchet = 120Section C Bars Section A2 (Main Melody)Crotchet = 80Section A2 Bars Coda (Totentanz/Dies Irae)Crotchet = 120Coda

 Intro b1-20 – changing time signatures, bars of silence, high shrill opening represents the harsh glare and heat of the Mexican sun.  B1 introduction of 3 note cell G-A-C – forms the basis of entire work.3 note cell  B15 – cello brings it to earth B15  B16 – piano – descending chords based on inversion of opening 3 notes  B19 – violin A harmonic and an open string B19

 B21 – cello – 3 notes cell expanded into inversion of the main melody B21  B21 – Glissando B21  B24 – flute prepares for marimba  B25 – marimba – fast ascending passage  B27 – violin – 1 st complete statement of main melody – 6 note phrase – subtraction used. B27  Cello inversion of main melody Cello inversion  B37 – 2 nd statement of melody – inversion on piccolo – reduces gradually – maracas begin to dominate – music becomes more intense. B37  B44 – pedal marking on piano B44

 B47 – maracas introduce section B47  B49 – strings take up rhythm in parallel 5ths B49  B52 – distortion of 3 note cell B52  B61 – silence echoes the silence of the introduction B61  B65 – main melody and inversion for 3 rd time – now in accented crotchets on piano – violin and cello repeated 5ths B65  B68 – piccolo and strings in parallel 5ths B68

 B69 – danse macabre rhythm on the maracas and piano plays accented chords B69  B70 – violin – glissando 5ths on fingerboard B70  B72 – cymbal and gong introduce next section B72  B73 – cello – D acts as a drone

 B74 – Violin – main melody heard softly in minims for the 4 th time and cello inversion of melody B74  B77 – subtraction principal and flute lively counter melody B77  B82 – cymbals, gong and crotales add to rhythm B82  B85 – piano – 9 note chord – subtraction principal B85  B88 – piano – main melody and strings cello – based on distortion of 3 note cell B88

 B91 – piano – repeating 2nds B91  B93 – marimba – canon for marimba and violin based on inverted Dies Irae melody B93  B99 – Dies Irae idea in cello in 5ths B99  B106 – cello – Dies Irae idea in 5ths B106  B109 – piano joins canon but disappears after 3 bars B109  B113 – violin/cello – Dies Irae Idea – conveys ghostly, skeletonic effect B113  B115 – piano – accented chords leads to march like Dies Irae idea B115  B122 – music begins to change B122

 Duo for flute and piano  B128 – flute – 6 note phrase based on 3 note cell – reduces down to a single G – piano plays surprose Eb chord – increases from 1 note to 7 notes B128  B134 – cello – anticipates Danse Macabre which is rhythm of next section B134

 B141 – strings C major chords – Danse Macabre rhythm B141  B144 – flute – plays canon of b93 – continues freely B144  B152 – music rushes towards climax B152  B157 – repeat of Totentanz B157  166 – all play A – exciting cross rhythms 166  No finality only dissolution!finality only

 Order and Disorder – setting something up as a norm only to dismantle it as quickly.  Permutation – changing the order of things 1,2,3,4,5,6, becomes 1,3,5,2,4,6.  Chord construction – use of block chords on the piano – seen as clusters. This effect becomes almost percussive like.  Numerical Progression – subtraction and addition are both used. Prime numbers in Section C in the guiro where the number of notes and number of rests are all primes.  Melodic Transformation › Augmentation b128 Augmentation b128 › Diminution b121 Diminution b121 › Inverse b21 Inverse b21 › Retrograde b93 Retrograde b93

 Significance of C Major b141 Deane begins clearly in C Major – 2 string parts in C but marimba and piano try to move away to play ‘atonal’.  First performance – a skeleton was placed in the piano – it was taken out at the end of the piece at b163 and was shaken at the other players. This served as a cue for the other players to take up the maracas and play. Deane asked that this was discontinued in future performances.

 In 20 th century music atonality is often a feature as we hear in ‘Seachanges’. However there are a number of places where there is a clear tonal anchoring: › B21 anchor note G B21 anchor note G › B50 anchor note A › B55 anchor note B › B73-84 anchor note D B73-84 anchor note D › B88-91 anchor G B88-91 anchor G › B157 anchor B B157 anchor B › B164 anchor A B164 anchor A

 Contemporary features – changing time signatures, use of dissonance, atonality.  Compositional Techniques – inverse, canon, retrograde, subtraction, addition, prime numbers and permutation.  Explain form of the work.  Different performing techniques.  Piano being used as percussion.  Approaches to dynamics.  Themes  Understanding of musical context of the piece.  Personal response to the work.  Ethnic instruments being used.