AS Music Unit 3

20th-century Art Music revision notes

These are some revision guidance notes for Paper 32 (Listening and Understanding), relating to the questions on Twentieth-Century Art Music. They are designed to be used in conjunction with your Anthology, your lesson notes, and if possible a copy of the anthology CD.

Format of the paper

The paper will contain a question on each area of study prescribed by Edexcel. You have to answer two questions, one on each of the two Areas of Study covered in lessons.

Each question is divided into 4 parts:

A. You are given a list of 4 technical terms – you have to define 2 of them (4 marks).

B. You have to give examples FROM THE WORKS IN THE AREA OF STUDY of the two terms you defined in part A (4 marks).

C. A question asking you to analyse some features of one of the works studied in detail. This may be sub-divided into several smaller questions (8 marks).

D. A comparison question, asking you to compare one or more aspects of two of the works studied. These will not normally include the one set for part C (14 marks).

Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite; Webern: Quartet Op.22; Berio: Sequenza III for female voice

These are the three works which are not set as special focus works this year. You may be asked about these in parts A and B of the question (the definitions), but not C and D (the more detailed questions). The glossary at the end of these notes gives you definitions of some of the terms you may be asked to define.

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8, movement 1

(1960)

General points about Shostakovich

§ Soviet composer, working mainly in the Stalinist era

§ Worked under very strict state censorship, and the state generally had very conservative ideas about art and music – experimental compositions were not tolerated

Form

§ In arch form: ABCBA. Symmetrical structure

A	B	C	B	A
Bars 1-27	bars 28-49	bars 50-85	bars 85-104	bars 105-126

§ The second B section and A section are altered versions of the original, not repetitions – the material is developed

§ Note how the theme from the start of the movement comes back briefly at the end of the B section (bars 46-49) and C section (bars 79-84) – you could argue that this makes it a sort of Rondo (ABACABA), but I think arch form is a better description because it emphasizes the symmetry of the structure

Texture

§ Lots of variety of texture creates interest

§ Opening section is a Fugato – i.e. he introduces his opening theme (or ‘subject’) in one part (the cello), then repeats it in a different key in the next part (viola), then the tonic key again in the next part.

§ B section is homophonic, using a triple pedal (i.e. long sustained notes in the bottom 3 parts), accompanying the melody in the first violin

§ C section is polyphonic, with a double pedal in the Cello and viola, melody in the 1st violin and counter-melody (i.e. a second melody that fits with the main one) in the 2nd violin

§ Second B section inverts the first (i.e. turns it upside down), with the melody going into the cello instead of the 1st violin. The top 3 chords play a mixture of chords and counter-melodies, giving a polyphonic texture (again), but a very different sounding one from sections A and C.

§ Short homophonic passages end sections A and C (bars 23-5 and 79-84).

Harmony and tonality

§ Not atonal (i.e. not in a key, with no distinction between consonance and dissonance) – harmonically quite conventional, by comparison with other C20th composers (e.g. Webern)

§ Piece is in C minor – 3 flats in the key signature

§ End is highly unconventional – goes away from the tonic key and ends on a G sharp

§ First few notes are harmonically a bit ambiguous – it’s not obvious what key the piece is in until bar 5

§ Uses unprepared dissonances (e.g. viola entry in bar 2 and 2nd violin in bar 3), but these normally resolve them onto a consonance soon afterwards

§ Use of chromaticism (i.e. notes with accidentals, that don’t belong to the key) – e.g. bars 13-15, or the B section melody in bars 28-33.

§ Good example of extended tonality – (i.e. the music has a key centre, but makes greater use of dissonance and chromaticism than would have been accepted in the 19th century)

Timbre

§ Instruments are used low in their ranges for most of the movement

§ Not technically advanced – doesn’t use extended instrumental technique (i.e. unconventional methods of producing sound from the instruments)

§ Prominent use of open strings for pedal notes

Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for prepared Piano, Sonatas 1-3

(1946-48)

General points about Cage

§ American composer, but had travelled widely and absorbed lots of influences from Europe and Asia

§ Studied with Schoenberg in the 1930s but disagreed strongly with many of his ideas

§ Very interested in the Eastern philosophy and religion – first Indian Hinduism (1940s), then Japanese Zen Buddhism (after 1950).

§ Best known for his interest in music and chance. However, this dates from the 1950s and later, and is not really relevant to Sonatas and Interludes, which were written in the late 1940s.

The prepared piano

§ Cage invented it in order to expand the sonic possibilities of the piano, by giving it a more percussive quality and greater variety of timbre

§ Various objects are inserted between the strings of a grand piano, to modify the sound of many of the notes. Cage gives extremely precise instructions about what objects were to be inserted and where

§ Different materials alter the sound in different ways – rubbers tend to produce a dry, bongo-like sound. Metal objects may produce a more bell-like sound, or sometimes a raspy quality

§ Some of the notes have only one object inserted, leaving one string to play the original pitch

§ Notes with two or more objects don’t play the original pitch at all

§ Most of the notes in the upper half of the piano (from G below middle C upwards) are modified

§ only about 6 are left out – as a result these are often prominent when they are heard in the pieces

§ The only notes below here that are modified are the 3 Ds – Cage hardly uses the other bass notes at all, giving the work a very high-pitched character overall

Form

§ Sonata 1 is in binary form (AB – two sections of roughly equal length, each of which is repeated)

§ Sonatas 2 and 3 are in rounded binary form (same as binary form, but section B is longer than section A)

§ These forms are typical of 18th century sonatas, but not of 19th century ones, which tended to use ternary form

Rhythm and duration

§ The rhythmic structure of each sonata is predetermined rigidly – there is nothing random or improvisatory about it.

§ Each piece uses a nested rhythmic structure (also known by some writers as fractal structure or micro-macro- rhythmic structure). This means:

1. The length and rhythmic subdivision of each phrase of the piece is organised according a numerical sequence invented by Cage. For example, Sonata 1 uses the sequence 1 ¼ + ¾ + 1 ¼ + ¾ + 1 ½ + 1 ½. This sequence determines the number of 4/4 bars that make up each phrase. (To make this clear in the score, Cage puts a double bar at the end of each phrase – the end of bars 7, and 12)

2. The same sequence of numbers then determines the number of phrases that make up the whole piece (allowing for the repeats). This table explains how:

Number of phrases	1 ¼	¾	1 ¼	¾	1 ½	1 ½
Bar numbers	bars 1-8	bars 9-12	bars 1-8 (repeated)	bars 9-12 (repeated)	bars 13-26	bars 13-26 (repeated

§ Sonata 2 works in the same way with the following numerical sequence:

1 ½ + 1 ½ + 2 3/8 + 2 3/8

§ Ditto Sonata 3, with the following sequence: 1 + 3 ¼ + 1 + 3 ¼

§ A good word to describe this type of approach to composition is constructivism – i.e. composing according to a rigid plan or scheme that is worked out in advance

Thematic and melodic structure

§ Although the durations and rhythms of the piece show a highly constructivist approach, his approach to pitch (i.e. which notes he puts where) seems to be more improvisatory

§ Some choices of pitch seem to result from the preparation of the piano, so that he might use a group of bongo-like notes followed by a group of gong-like notes, with one normal one thrown in as a surprise (!)

§ At times there are (perhaps surprisingly) patterns of notes that recur like a theme or motif (i.e. a short melodic idea that is repeated and developed). Here are some examples

Sonata No. 2	LH bars 2-3. 4-quaver motif spanning a minor 3rd. Repeated after crotchet rest	LH bar 21-2. Similar figure, starts on middle note but still spans a minor 3rd with crotchet rest in the middle LH bars 24-6. Different development but still based on the same figure
	RH end bar 4-bar 5. Melody based around C-E flat-G-A	RH bar 10-13. Melody uses the same pitches, just adding an A flat at the end RH bar 28. Semiquaver passage uses a figure based around the same group of notes, but adding an F natural
Sonata No. 3	LH bar 9. G#-C# interval starts off new phrase, leading into chromatic idea	LH bar 17. Next phrase starts with same idea. LH bars 19-24. Chromatic idea is developed into a longer melody, but returns to G#-C# to end LH bar 25. Final phrase starts as bar 9
	LH bars 11-12. Octave idea.	LH bars 14-15. Repeats octave idea at different pitch

• There are several other examples of repeated motifs – see how many you can spot

The emotions and Indian aesthetic theory

• During the 1940s Cage became interested in the Hindu theory of Rasa. This was a theory of the emotions.
• He learned about Rasa from the writings of Coomaraswamy, an Indian writer from the early C20th.
• According to Coomaraswamy, there were nine permanent emotional states. The task of an artist was to express these. Cage specifically intended to do this in his Sonatas and Interludes, although he never said which musical sections were supposed to represent which emotion.
• The nine permanent emotional states were divided into four light ones (the erotic, the comic, the heroic and the wondrous) and four dark ones (the odious, the furious, the pathetic, and the terrible). If these were combined in the correct proportions, they would produce the ninth, tranquility.

If you want to revise John Cage in more detail, then look at the revision notes I did for Year 13.

Reich: New York Counterpoint, mvt. 2

General points about Reich

§ Didn’t like atonal music, and thought most new music from the 1950s and ‘60s was too complex. Wanted to revert to a tonal style, which was more accessible to audiences.

§ His early works (until the mid 1970s) are usually described as ‘Minimalist’ – i.e. using large numbers of repetitions of a simple musical idea, which is gradually transformed according to a clearly defined musical ‘process’. His later pieces (mid ‘70s onwards) are arguably not minimalist any more, but still tend to feature lots of repeated ideas

§ Interested in technology – some of his early pieces use tape, or else a mixture of tape and live performance

Use of technology

§ 10 tracks are pre-recorded by the player on a multi-track recorder, then the 11th track is played live

Key and tonality

§ Clarinets are transposing instruments – they sound a tone lower than written. Bass clarinets sound an octave and a tone lower than written

§ Piece is in a loosely tonal style. Harmonic language mainly triadic.

§ Main melodic material based around two triads of E major and F# major – see bars 1 and 2. Alternates constantly between the 2 triads throughout the piece.

§ Uses a key signature of B major (5 sharps)

§ From the prominence on E major triad in the 1st bar, the fact that the piece ends on E major and the fact that E is the lowest bass note in the bass clarinet chords, E seems to be the key note (this is a matter of interpretation)

§ The key signature of 5 sharps combined with a keynote of E puts this piece in the Lydian mode, transposed down a semitone

Textures and counterpoint

§ The texture is mainly polyphonic (as you would expect from a title including the word Counterpoint)

§ Most entries come in pairs, e.g. cls. 7 and 8 in bar 1, cl. 5 and live cl. in bar 2

§ Frequent examples of paired imitation. Throughout the piece the imitative entries are very close together – only a quaver apart (e.g. see bar 3)

§ Bars 3-8 have a 4-part texture with 2 imitative pairs (cls. 7 and 8, and cl. 5 and live cl.) a quaver apart

§ Bars 9-10 are still in 4 real parts, but some of them are doubled

§ In bars 13-24 there is a 6-part texture, with 3 imitative pairs: initially these are 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 6 and live cl., but the grouping shifts from time to time

§ From bar 25 until its part ends in bar 66 the live clarinet plays a freer, more improvisatory part that does not form part of the scheme of paired imitation

§ In bar 27 cls. 7 and 8 and the two bass clarinets (9 and 10) start a pulsing chord underneath the imitative texture. There are six examples of this in the piece (see table 1 for analysis).

§ The pulsing chords form a repeated sequence of three 11th chords (i.e. chords containing the 11th note up from the root – they may also contain other added notes, such as 7th and 9ths – see table 1)

§ From bar 65 to the end the texture gradually thins out: pulsing chords stop in bar 65, then the live clarinet in bar 66, leaving just the 3 imitative pairs. Two pairs drop out in the last bar, leaving just cls. 1 and 4.

Table 1. Analysis of chords in cl. 7-10

Bars 27-32	Bars 33-8	Bars 39-46	Bars 47-52	Bars 53-58	Bars 59-65
C#11 (= C#, D#, B, F#)	E aug11 (= E, G#, D#, A#)	G#11 (= G#, A#, F#, C#)	C#11	E aug11	G#11

Structure

§ Doesn’t really fit any traditional notions of form, as there is no differentiation of theme or key.

§ If you consider texture you could say it was in ternary form, with the B section defined by the presence of the pulsing 4-part chords

§ Use of repetition – the opening 2-bar idea is present all the way through the top 6 parts, and in some of the live cl. However there is no process of gradual transformation, as you would have found in Reich’s Minimalist pieces from the 1970s.

Two things to watch:

1. Bar numbers – some of the barlines are missed out, especially in the sections which use the ‘repeat 2 bars’ symbol. Make sure you allow for this when giving bar numbers to examples.

2. Pitch – the piece is written for Bb clarinets, which are transposing instruments (see glossary). It might be worth putting note to say that you are referring to written pitch, rather than sounding pitch – the sounding pitch will be one tone lower than written pitch.

Glossary

Here is a list of technical vocabulary, with definitions. Make sure you also learn the definitions of the terms underlined and in bold in the notes on the Shostakovich, Cage and Reich pieces. If there are any other words marked on the score (e.g. directions for performance) that are not included on this list, make sure you know them anyway!

Stravinsky:

Solo quintet	Just the lead players of each string section
Ripieno	The whole string section
Gavotte	A dance in 2/2 time which was popular in the 18th century. Normally starts on an upbeat (but Stravinsky/Pergolesi doesn’t)
Variation	An embellished version of a melody (or theme) which preserves its underlying structure
Cantabile	With a singing tone
Ritornello form	Structure normally associated with Baroque concerto movements, going ABACAD...A, but unlike Rondo form, the A sections normally modulate to different keys
Du talon	(By stringed instruments) bowed extremely close to the bridge, to produce quite a thin, brittle tone

Webern

12-note row	A musical idea which uses each of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale once only, in a fixed order
Serialism (or 12-note composition)	A technique of composing where all the melodies and harmonies are generated by manipulating a 12-note row,
Prime form (P)	The original form of a 12-note row
Inversion (I)	A 12-note row which has been turned upside down. E.G. if the first 3 notes of the prime form were C, D, E, the first three notes of the inversion would be C, Bb, Ab
Retrograde (R)	A 12-note row played backwards
Retrograde inversion (RI)	A 12-note row played upside down AND backwards
Inversion Canon	A canon (or round) in which the canonic voice is an inversion of the first voice
Pizz.	(By stringed instruments) plucked – stands for Pizzicato
Arco	(ditto – usually found after Pizz.) bowed
mit Dämpfer	Muted (may be stringed or brass instruments)
Calando	Dying away

Shostakovich

Arch form	A symmetrical musical form, e.g. ABCBA or ABCDCBA
Pedal, or pedal note	A long sustained note in the bass
Double (or triple) pedal	Two (or three) of the above
Fugue	Contrapuntal composition starting with a subject (or opening theme) in one part, which is followed by an answer (echo of the subject, but in a different key, usually the dominant in the next voice. We get alternating subjects and answers until all the voices have started. A counter-subject (a counter-melody that fits with the subject or answer) may be passed around each part in the same way. Fugues may use a number of formal schemes (e.g. binary, rondo, etc), but the subject should be used contrapuntally all the way through the piece
Fugue subject	see Fugue
Fugal answer	see Fugue
Fugato	Where a section of a composition uses fugal technique, but not the whole piece
Attacca	Go onto the next movement without a break
Chromaticism	Use of note foreign to the key

Cage

Prepared piano	see main section on Cage
Una corda	Literally ‘one string’. So called because the left hand pedal on a grand piano, called the ‘soft pedal’ or the una corda pedal, shifts the keys and hammers slightly to the right, so that the hammers only strike one of the strings for each note – most of the notes on a grand piano have 3 strings. Indicated by Cage by a dotted bracket under the stave. Where some of the strings are prepared, then the sound may be changed radically by use of the una corda pedal (e.g. Sonata 1 bar 13)
Loco	Play at the normal pitch – not an octave higher or lower
Acciaccatura	Grace note – indicated by a small note with a diagonal line through it
Binary form	2-part form or AB, where a piece is divided in two by a double bar roughly half way through. Each half of the piece is normally repeated. In tonal music, the A section normally modulates to a different key, and the B section goes back to the tonic
Rounded binary form	Like binary form, except that the B section is longer than the A section. Distinguished from ternary form by the fact that there is no clear return of the opening theme.
Motif (or motive)	A short musical idea (typically 2 or 3 notes long) that is repeated and developed by the composer
Rasa	see main section on Cage
Nested rhythmic structure (or fractal structure)	see main section on Cage

Reich

Counterpoint	Rules and principles of combining two or more melodic lines at once. Includes such things as imitation, canon and fugue
Canon	Contrapuntal technique where one or more voices repeat the melody heard in the first voice (either exactly or modified by some technique such as transposition or inversion) a little later – entries are typically between half a bar and 2 bars apart. A round is a canon where all the voices are at the same pitch
Double canon	Where two canons are going on at the same time (e.g. voice 1 is in canon with voice 3 and voice 2 is in canon with voice 4)
Imitation	Contrapuntal technique where two or more voices start an entry with the same or a similar melodic idea (the voices may start on the same note or on different ones). Not as strict as canon, where the voices follow each other exactly throughout the piece, or for a substantial part of it – with imitation the first part of each entry is the same, but they may diverge after that
Paired imitation	Where two voices enter together, and are then echoed by a second pair of voices entering slightly later (typically a few beats later)
Multi-tracking	Use of a multi-track recording system, so that one player can record several parts of a piece and play them back all together
Lydian mode	The scale consisting of all the white notes on the piano, starting and finishing on F (see table 2, below)
Transposing instrument	An instrument where the sounding pitch is not the same as the written pitch. E.g. a B flat clarinet is a transposing instrument on which a C sounds like a B flat played at concert pitch (i.e. standard pitch).

Table 2. Modal scales

Modes are scales other than the standard major and minor scales. They were used originally in Mediaeval music, in the era before major and minor scales took everything over (the 17th century). They are also widespread in folk and jazz music, and other styles influenced by these.

There are a vast number of different modal scales, but the main ones are those made up of the white notes on a piano keyboard. Use this table for reference – don’t bother to learn them all.

Name of mode	Starting note	Character
Ionian	C	Same as major scale
Dorian	D	Like a minor scale, with sharpened 6th and flattened 7th
Phrygian	E	Minor, but with flattened 2nd
Lydian	F	Like major, but with sharpened 4th
Mixolydian	G	Like major, but with flattened seventh
Aeolian	A	Same as a descending melodic minor scale

In theory, there is another mode starting on B called the Lochrian mode, but it only exists in textbooks.

Each mode can be transposed – e.g. a scale starting on E with 2 sharps in the key signature would be a transposed Dorian mode.

Some other modes from contemporary music include: the Blues scale, the Pentatonic scale, the Whole-tone scale, the Octatonic scale (alternating semitones and tones).

Back