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Published byTabitha Bryant Modified over 9 years ago
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Diversity of approaches – no single style No single tonality – atonal Irregular rhythms, changing metre, changing tempi Unusual instrumental techniques Use of non western instruments
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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
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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.
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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.
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ETHNIC INSTRUMENTS › CROTALES CROTALES › MARACAS MARACAS › RAINSTICK RAINSTICK › MARIMBA MARIMBA › GUIRO GUIRO
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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 11. + 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
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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
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Rhythm changes between
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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.
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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 92-127Section C (Dies Irae)Crotchet = 120Section C Bars 128-140Section A2 (Main Melody)Crotchet = 80Section A2 Bars 141-174Coda (Totentanz/Dies Irae)Crotchet = 120Coda
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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