"Courtyard Apocalypse"

Duration:

·         The tempo is moderately fast but still legato. The tempo sounds a lot slower than it actually is because of the longer sustained notes being played particularly by the string section

·         The tempo is 4/4; simple time

·         The melody is straight but the timpani plays a syncopated rhythm on beats 2& and 3. This rhythm is a continuous rhythmic ostinato.

·         In general, both the melody and accompaniment are straight with exception to the timpani.

·         The melody is played by both the strings and brass, each at separate times. In a way, it kind of acted as a call and response, with the strings playing the melody and then the brass.

·         The timpani’s rhythm uses accents and is quite short and punchy. This is in comparison to the very legato melody of the strings and the brass.

·         At 1.33 the brass section in particular, plays a descending line to end the song. This line also decreases in dynamics to create a soft end to the piece. The strings don’t play a descending line, instead they hold a sustained note that fades out toward the end.

Pitch:

·         Major key

·         The melody moves mostly in steps as does the accompaniment.

·         The range of the melody is in a comfortable range for both the brass and the string instruments

·         The main melody is repeated several times in the piece, with the timpani playing a constant ostinato underneath the melody

Texture:

·         The texture is homophonic-melody and accompaniment

·         There are 2 layers of sound; hence the piece being of homophonic texture

·         The timpani play the accompaniment as does the brass when the strings have the melody and vice versa.

·         The texture is quite dense for the entire piece. The use of timpani, brass and string instruments is a cause for this as these families consist of very full and strong sounds, in particular brass and the lower stringed instruments.

·         Towards the end of the piece, however, the texture does get thinner as the subtraction of instruments becomes apparent. This allows the piece to fade out softly and with a sense of lightness

Tone Colour:

·         Orchestra; brass, strings and percussion.

o   Double Bass (melody)-bowed (arco)

o   Cello-arco

o   Viola-arco

o   Violin-arco

o   Tuba (melody)-blown using mouthpiece

o   Trombone-blown

o   Trumpet-blown

o   French Horn-blown

o   Timpani (accompaniment)-hit using mallets

o   Cymbals-hit with mallets

·         The use of all these instruments creates a soft, warm feeling/mood in the song and also a very strong and punchy rhythm when the dynamics are increased and the mood is much more intense.

·         The tone colour does vary but only at the beginning and end of the piece. The piece starts off with just the timpani and deep sounding drums playing. The strings come in shortly after as does the brass section. This can be term additive entry of instruments. The opposite happens at the end of piece as instruments fade out and just the tuba is left playing. A decrease in dynamics also affects this change in tone colour.

Dynamics and Expressive Techniques:

·         Generally, the dynamics are fairly loud but they do significantly decrescendo towards and at the end of the piece. The timpani begins the piece very strongly as it plays an accentuated rhythm with a small dynamic increase each time.

·         The melody is played using the technique of legato (smooth, flowing rhythms). Tenuto and slurs are also used in the melody and accompaniment. (brass and strings)

·         At 1.13 the dynamics increase (crescendo); particularly the strings. This leads up to the decrescendo and end of the piece

·         At 1.35 the decrescendo starts as the descending line is played

Structure:

·         Introduction-just timpani

·         A-strings and brass

·         B-slight variation within the melody

·         A-repeated A section again

·         C-new unheard rhythm, dynamics also increased

·         Outro-descending line and ‘fade out’ of instruments.

"The Painted Veil"

Duration:

·         The tempo is set straight away with the piano and the lower electronic sounding instrument playing semiquavers

·         The tempo of the piano accompaniment is quite fast but it contrasts to the very slow rhythm of the melodic strings. When the woodwind and percussion is added the tempo still remains the same but seemingly gets faster because their rhythms are quick.

·         The time signature is 4/4 (common time), simple time signature

·         The time signature remains the same throughout the piece

·         The piano plays a rhythmic repeated ostinato underneath the melody for majority of the piece.  This rhythm consists of semiquavers; hence why it sounds quite quick.

·         The piece is relatively straight rhythm-wise, however the piano at the start does accent the off beats (accompaniment). The muted trumpet does this as well at about 1 minute

·         There are many different rhythmic layers due to the vast array of instruments playing. there are approximately 8 rhythmic layers.

·         the piano continues its ostinato basically throughout the whole piece which provides a constant contrast between rhythmic values of the melody and accompaniment. The accompaniment plays faster more full rhythms and the melody plays legato rhythms

Pitch:

·         The piece is minor

·         The accompaniment (piano) moves in steps as does the melody (strings, brass and woodwind)

·         There are counter melodies as well as the main melody. The strings have the main melody while the brass and woodwind (flute) also play a melody in parts of the piece.

·         The range for the flute is a comfortable range for a flute as is the piano pitch range. Similar for the strings as they play fairly narrow rhythms. The brass is also in a comfortable range, however some brass parts are played high pitched.

·         At 0.17 the melody is played by the string section. This rhythm is repeated again at 1.36 again by the string section.

·         The high pitch of the piano at the beginning contrasts with the very low pitch of the lower brass section. At 0.48 the general pitch becomes quite high as the flute takes the melody and a muted trumpet comes in.

Texture:

·         There are multiple layers of sound in this piece therefore making it polyphonic. This means that there are many layers of equal importance.

·         The strings are the predominant melody players, however the woodwind and brass do also have an important role. The percussion also helps to maintain an underlying pulse and also add different tone colours to the piece.

·         The texture is quite dense majority of the way through the piece. This is due to the amount of instruments playing; an orchestra.

·         The texture becomes a little thinner at 1.15 as some instruments drop out and the flute takes the melody which creates a much lighter feel. At 1.38 the texture resumes its original thickness as the brass re-enters. At 2.20 the texture thins once more. The piece ends with a thinner texture than what it started with due to the soft dynamics and the subtraction of instruments.

Tone Colour:

·         The ensemble playing is an orchestra. There are strings, brass, woodwind and percussion.

o   Piano

o   Violin (smooth (legato), tension creating due to the long sustained notes)

o   Viola

o   Cello

o   Harp

o   Double bass

o   Trombone

o   Trumpet (tension creating)

o   Tuba

o   French Horn

o   Flute (airy and light sounding)

o   Timpani (heavy, low and dull sounding)

o   Wood block (high)

o   Glockenspiel (metallic and high pitched)

o   Electronic sounding, low pitched instrument possibly plucked (at the beginning)

o   Low pitched, woody glockenspiel sounding

·         The strings are bowed (arco) but the double bass is plucked (pizzicato). The brass is blown using a mouthpiece as is the woodwind. The timpani is hit with mallets as is the other percussion instruments.

Dynamics & Expressive Techniques:

·         The dynamics are moderately loud throughout the piece but vary here and there.

·         Dynamics begin moderately soft and then build as more instruments are added. At 1.10 the dynamics increase (crescendo). At 1.34 the brass play a long sforzando. At 2.04 there is another crescendo that is played but then the dynamics soften afterwards. The dynamics are now soft (piano) and remain at this level through to the end of the piece.

·         The electronic sound at the start plays using staccato and pizzicato. The piano here plays using accents mainly on beats 1 and 3.

·         The strings play predominantly sing the technique of legato

·         The trumpet plays using a mute to differ the tone colour and 1.00

·         The flute also plays small turns and 1.10

·         At 1.27 the brass play a sforzandoto heighten the tension

Structure:

·         Introduction (electronic sound and piano at first; other instruments begin adding; texture)

·         A  (strings play melody)

·         B (flute takes over along  with muted trumpet and wood block)

·         A (strings with melody again)

·         C (glockenspiel, timpani and brass; this section is very slow)