1. Tippett Tonality

2. Sometimes the piece has an ambiguous tonality which depends on modes and pentatonic scales. This is a way of arranging chords around the tonic chord in a logical, predictable way.

3. From the first and last bar what key do you think the piece is in ?

4. There is no key signature ! The first note in bar 1 is an A. The last bar ends with an A and E The note A is prominent from bar 129, and 165, also in parts of the coda. However near the end (from bar 220) less A’s are played, and the music is in a kind of Lydian-mode G major with C#s before the final ‘bare fifth’ A–E chord emerges. (Bare fifth meaning only the tonic and dominant being played.)

5. Although it looks like it would be in either A major or A minor, it’s not that simple. The opening melody in bars 1–4 use the pentatonic set A,B,D,E,G. C# or C natural are not included although both these notes are played in the bars after. In parts of the Recapitulation and Coda (e.g. bars 165–167) C# is prominent, and makes the piece sound as though it is in A major.

6. the tonalities of the first and second subjects of the Exposition are different. The first subject is basically in A, the second in G. The tonalities of the first and second subjects of the Exposition are different. The first subject is in A, the second in G. The second subject is transposed in the Recapitulation (bar 165), so it is now in A like the first subject (bar 129) this being a common feature of sonata form. More distant tonal areas are visited in the Development. These include C# minor at bar 80 and F minor at bar 91. The most ambiguous section tonally begins at bar 113, as the ascent to the Recapitulation begins.

7. Different keys are used in the Development. These include C# minor at bar 80. F minor at bar 91. The most tonally ambiguous section begins at bar 113, (the build up to the Recapitulation.)

8. Questions What key is the first subject in (exposition) ? What key is the second subject in (exposition) ? What type of mode is used throughout the piece ? What are the last two notes of the piece and what was this chord called ?