IB World Music Investigation

So what do they have in common?

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:53:00 -0400

Meter- Duple

Texture- Both Symphony #9 and Pajaro Campana are mostly homophonic.

An example of where Symphony #9 is homophonic at at 0:16/measure 19 when the March theme is introduced by the brass instruments. The main melody is played by these instruments with the pizzicato strings providing chordal structure underneath.

An example of where Pajaro Campana is homophonic is at 0:25 because the main theme is played with the guitar playing the 1-3-5 of the main chords underneath the melody.

Tonality- Pajaro Campana has a major tonality throughout the song. Symphony #9 goes in and out of a major tonality, ending in a Tierce de Picardie in E-major in the last measure.

Timbre/tone color- Both pieces have a strong presence of stringed instruments. Pajaro Campana is played entirely by stringed instruments. Symphony #9 has the expected European string section- violin, viola, cello, and bass- which accompany the brass and woodwind instruments. The string instruments do carry the melody often though, such as at 2:30 when the strings play the transition into the three descending note motive.

Dynamics- Both pieces display varying dynamics. At the end of both, there is a sharp diminuendo followed by a louder, more exciting coda or cadence.

In Symphony #9, the diminuendo comes at 9:37 as the strings play descending notes into a Horn solo. The loud ending cadence is about a minute later at 10:20 after the strings play ascending notes into the March theme.

Pajaro Campana has a diminuendo at 2:39 where just one instrument strums the same note and then other instruments join in waterfall of overwhelming sound.

Form- Both songs have an introduction that is quite different from the main theme of the rest of the song.

Form- Pajaro Campana

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:33:00 -0400

Like Dvorak, this Incan folk song begins with an introduction by the strings. It is also in a duple meter. In the first section of the song, at 0:25, the dotted eighth and sixteenth rhythm melody is introduced in a major tonality. Ornamentation in the harp leads way into the next section.

This inner section consists of the harp playing the basic chords repeatedly over the ostinato of the low guitar which provides structure to the seemingly out of order, flowing piece of music.

Again, the main theme is played in a lower octave this time. Then comes another interlude in a sharp diminuendo. For the first time, we hear the guitar playing a straight quarter note melody. When the harp is played again, the same lower melody can be heard syncopated with the upper melody.

Pajaro Campana ends in a major, rising arpeggio.

Form- Symphony #9

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:30:00 -0400

Dvorak’s Symphony #9 allegro con fuoco begins with a demanding introduction in the key of E-minor in duple meter. A main theme emerges, which will later become a sort of obsession, which is played loudly in fortissimo by horns and trombones. It is then imitated by instruments in the higher register, such as violins and woodwinds. Through moving triplets and eighth notes, the second theme is introduced.

The second theme starts with a solo clarinet. The strings bring the climax of the melody and each phrase ends with an important motive: three staccato descending notes, which are pictured above in the top three lines (flute, oboe, and clarinet).

The piece becomes very complex at this point with descending notes repeated by celli and basses and then the three descending note motive is played around the orchestra humorously. It plays against a countermelody for awhile and then goes away as all the instruments begin a downward trend into the development section of the piece.

The development is a mixture of three themes, transitions, modulations, and previous themes from other movements of the symphony. The March theme from the beginning of the movement plays against the descending motive. Other melodies are heard in different rhythmic patterns over top of the triplets that add excitement and forward motion to the piece. The dynamic level continues to grow until the March theme overpowers everything else while the other instruments play downward chromatic scales back to the original key of E-minor.

Now we’re in the recapitulation, or basically an overview of all four movements of the symphony. It begins with the main themes of the exposition and then the solo Horn takes over with the March theme from the allegro con fuoco in E-minor. The orchestra increases in sound and excitement and the brass are heard well over the fast arpeggios of the strings. After an abrupt diminuendo, chords from the Largo are played. Themes from earlier movements all mix together and rush by in beautiful harmony. At last, the March theme is played one last time. Interestingly, during the last cadence, instead of the movement ending in the home key of E-minor, it ends in E-major. The act of ending in a major chord in a piece played almost entirely in the minor is called Tierce de Picardie.

MELODY Symphony #9 The melody here is a mixture of disjunct and...

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:24:00 -0400

MELODY

Symphony #9

The melody here is a mixture of disjunct and conjunct. The main theme is conjunct (shown in the top two lines, starting in the second measure). However, in the lower instruments there are often arpeggios, jumps in fifths or octaves, and other figures to create excitement under the melody or long tones.

Pajaro Campana

Pajaro Campana is mostly disjunct in it’s melody. There are parts when the harp strums over many notes, but this isn’t so much a melodic figure as it is ornamentation and almost percussive.

Instruments

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:41:00 -0400

Symphony #9

Flute - Oboe - Clarinet - Bassoon - French horn - Trumpet - Trombone - Bass Trombone - Timpani - Violin - Viola - Cello - Bass

Pajaro Campana

Guitar - Harp

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Both pieces have a strong string family presence that carry the melody.

Texture

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:16:00 -0400

Symphony #9: Homophonic

The piece is composed of many instruments playing melodies over a basic chordal structure that is passed through different instruments so it is homophonic, for the most part. Especially during solos, like the clarinet soli at 9:46, the piece is homophonic because only a low voice, like the timpani, is providing chordal structure to the main melody.

Pajaro Campana: Homophonic

The Incan folk song is homophonic because it consists of a basic melody accompanied by chords (alternating quarter note ostinato in guitar). Other times, two parts move together in harmony, creating chords.

"I am convinced that the future music of this country must be founded on what are called Negro..."

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:53:15 -0400

““I am convinced that the future music of this country must be founded on what are called Negro melodies. These can be the foundation of a serious and original school of composition, to be developed in the United States. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.””

- Antonín Dvořák