AS Music Revision Notes

Secular Vocal Music

Flow my Tears - Dowland (no.33)

• This piece is an Air or Ayre as it was spelt in this era and is a type of Madrigal. It is a form of Solo song.
• Dowland’s ayres were often called lute songs because he wrote lute parts to accompany using tablature notation.
• This piece comes from his ‘Second Booke of Songs or Ayres’ first published in 1600.
• The vocal part was often written above the tablature as the same performer was expected to play and sing. There was often a bass part to accompany and this was written at 90 degrees so that both players could sit at the same table and read their parts from the same book.
• Parts were interchangeable and could be played by viols or other singers depending on who was available
• This piece would be performed for the players’ entertainment possibly in their houses.
• The piece is divided into 3 sections clearly marked by cadences in A minor (bars 1-8 end with V-I; bars 9-16 with I-V and bars 17-24 with V-I).
• In both of the perfect cadences a tierce de Picardie is used, he also uses suspensions (in bar 7 a 4-3 suspension is used A to G#)
• Dowland uses false relations in this piece to emphasise the sadness of the words (in bar 5 G in the lute part is followed by G# in the vocal line).
• Dowland uses syncopation and a declamatory word setting style to reflect meaning. It is mostly syllabic.
• Word painting is used in the motif that occurs frequently in this piece. The falling 4^th gives the idea of falling tears and is used in many ways (bar 1 as a descending scale of a 4^th; in bar 1-2 as an interval spanning a diminished 4^th which creates greater sorrow; in bar 3 without extra notes in between and in bars 20-21 as a sequence representing the fall into hell.
• The lute in bars 12-14 in a rising 3rd motif imitates the vocal part. This is anther example of expressive writing as Dowland tries to emulate the ‘teares, and sighs, and grones’, using the rests to emphasise the gasps.

Glossary

Tablature – A form of notation used in guitar and lute writing which shows the performer where to put their fingers (stop the strings) using a grid which represents the strings and frets.

Tierce de Picardie – A device used in a minor cadence where on the last minor chord the 3^rd is raised to make it major.

False relation – A note in one part that is chromatically altered in a different part immediately following.

Syllabic – Where each syllable of each word is given its own note.

Word Painting – Where the music literally represents the meaning of the words e.g. the word falling set to a descending motif.

Sequence – A motif or musical fragment which is repeated but at a different pitch in succession.

Imitation – Where a musical phrase is echoed in another part.

Ayre – A song related to the Madrigal. Written at this time for solo voice with accompaniment.

Excerpt from Dido and Aeneas – Purcell (no.36)

• Dido and Aeneas is an opera that Henry Purcell wrote for a girls’ school in Chelsea in 1689

Thy hand, Belinda

• Recitative
• Accompanied by continuo that follows figured bass. (Bass viol for bass line and archlute for harmonic filling.
• Starts in Cm (A flat and B natural) ends on D major chord to lead into Gm key (Dominant)
• Uses suspensions 7-6 bar 8
• Expressive melody e.g. ‘darkness’ emphasized with a melisma on the first syllable, and clashing melodic notes e.g. A flat with C major chord.
• Word painting on word as melody falls towards ‘death’ from C to low D
• Dissonant intervals between bass part and voice

When I am laid in earth

· Aria

· G minor represents grief

· Ground Bass (played 11 times). 1^st playing by solo bass indicating loneliness and misery.

· Clever phrase writing in vocal part and accompaniment that vary in length therefore distracting attention from repetitive bass line.

· Bass line chromatically descending but ends using notes which imply perfect cadence in G minor

· Cadences are subtly hidden as vocal line overlaps ground bass and sometimes ends half way through e.g. bar 24

· Strings start harmony 2 bars earlier than expected and create expressive dissonance at bar31 e.g. F# against G

· Bars 16-24 are a repeat of bars 6-14 with a few added ornaments.

· The aria finishes with a ritornelle. This is used to create a dramatic moment as Dido stops singing and the instruments take over with expressive dissonances. The clashes occur at the start of every bar. This ritornelle accompanies Dido as she prepares to kill herself.

· In bars 50-55 the violins merge with the bass in its chromatic line to signify a lonely end.

Glossary

Opera – a large-scale secular vocal work that is acted out on the stage by soloists and chorus and accompanied by an orchestra.

Recitative – A solo part for voice in an opera with a very basic accompaniment, often just emphasized with the occasional chords. Used as a narrative and has no repeated melodic phrases or strophic (verse/chorus) structure.

Continuo – A bass line part and a harmony part that supports the tune in Baroque music. Played by two instruments e.g. bass viol/cello and harpsichord/ archlute.

Figured Bass – Written bass line with numbers underneath to guide performers on harmonic filling

Archlute – a large bass lute with 2 necks; one with strings which could be stopped and the other for open bass notes.

Melisma - several note sung to one syllable of a word.

Aria – means ‘song’. It has a clear melodic structure, often repetitive, that is sung by one or more principal characters in an opera. It has a fuller accompaniment.

Ground Bass – A repeated bass line that forms the foundation of a piece where the melody changes above it.

Chromatic – moves by semitones using accidentals where the notes are not in the key.

Ritornelle – or ritornello. Means a little return. The opening instrumental idea keeps returning during the piece to break up sections.

My mother bids me bind my hair - Haydn (no.37)

• This song was composed in the 18^th century in London for the wife of a prominent doctor. It was written to be performed by educated ladies to entertain guests after dinner.
• The song is strophic and uses the same music for both verses. This sometimes has an unfortunate effect on the word-setting, e.g ‘vill-age’ in verse 2.
• Use of descending chromatic scale in bars 22-24 to emulate weeping (compare this to Purcell’s use of the same chromatic idea in his ground bass.
• This song demonstrates the classical style ‘Galant’ by using motifs based on triads ‘my mother bids’ and scalic patterns ‘rosy hue’. It also uses periodic phrasing and ornaments such as the appoggiatura in bar 12, a slide at bar 15 beat 1 and acciaccatura/grace note at the start of ‘bodice’ in bar 15.
• The texture is light with the melody doubled by the piano for much of the song. This suggests that the song was aimed at amateur performance.
• It has clear tonal schemes with regular cadences to emphasise the structure. It begins in the tonic of A major and then modulates to the dominant key of E major with a perfect cadence at bar 15-16.
• The piano imitates the voice in bar 23 with a descending sequence punctuating the words. A similar call and response occurs again in bars 28 and 32.
• Notice the use of dynamics and pauses to emphasise the words.

Glossary

Strophic-When a song is written in a verse/chorus structure.

Word-setting-The way a composer sets the words to music.

Galant – A style of writing in the classical era where the music was simple and elegant.

Periodic phrasing – When the melody is written in balanced phrases of equal length, usually highlighted with cadences at the end.

Appoggiatura – An ornament which is similar to a suspension, but without the intial preparation. The dissonant melody note leans and then resolves onto another note that is in the chord.

Slide – A decoration that involves a scalic movement before landing on the final note.

Acciaccatura/grace note – A short note played above or below immediately before the main note.

Doubling – Where the accompaniment supports the melodic line by playing the same tune underneath it.

Apres un reve - Faure (no.39) ‘After a dream’

• This song is a French ‘melodie’.
• The vocal melody is written in long phrases that flow into each other.
• Rich, monotonous chords used in the piano accompaniment create the dreamlike mood of the song. Straight quaver rhythms of the piano part work against the triplet rhythms of the vocal part creating cross-rhythms.
• The tonality is sometimes obscured. The piece begins with the tonic chord of C minor and then introduces the note B flat in bar 2 when in C minor we would expect to see the raised 7^th note of B natural. The vocal part also uses chromaticism.
• The harmonies are rich and include 7^th chords bar 3 and 9^th chords bar 4.
• False relations are used in bar7 where the B flat in the vocal line pulls against the B natural in the piano part.
• The bass notes in the piano make a circle of fifths. Bar 3 –F, bar 4 – B flat, bar 5 – E flat, bar 6 – A flat-D, bar 7 & 8 –G, bar 9 –C.
• The opening vocal melody is repeated at bar 17, but at bar 25 changes and at 31-32 the key changes to B flat minor (not a closely related key) with a V7 –I cadence.
• The tonic key of C minor returns at bar 37 and the vocal motif of the rising 4^th at the beginning of the piece is rhythmically augmented at bar 38.
• The word radieuse is emphasized in bar 40-41 by the use of chords D major 7-E flat major.
• The piece ends with a perfect cadence in C minor with the final chord containing the tonic note of C four times.
• The instruction for the mezzo-soprano singer is to sing ‘dolce’ or sweetly. The dynamic markings in this song are more precise and dramatic and the pitch range of the vocal line is larger than the Haydn and has some tricky intervals (minor 6^th in bar 5). The rhythms of the vocal line are often against the accompaniment and the vocal line remains supported only by ambiguous chords. This indicates that the piece was written to be performed by a more experienced performer in front of a more formal audience.

Glossary

Melodie- A French song of the romantic period, the equivalent of the German ‘Lied’

Cross-rhythms – Where the rhythmic patterns of one or more parts runs against the normal division or grouping of notes in the bar.

Circle of fifths – A series of bass notes where each note begins on a pitch a 5^th lower than that of the previous note.

Summertime - Gershwin (no.41)

• This is an aria taken from the folk-opera Porgy and Bess, it is written to be acted out in front of a large audience on stage.
• It combines jazz and popular music with classical music.
• It uses blue notes – clashing E against an E # bar 14 beat 3 accompaniment.
• The vocal line is based around a pentatonic scale used in black American folk music – B D E F# A
• Also from black American music comes the sliding effect called portamento – bar 21 in the vocal line ‘don’’ written as a downwards squiggle.
• The swing quavers are taken from Jazz music, vocal line bar 9. They are written as dotted notes but are played more like a crotchet and quaver grouped in triplets.
• The use of syncopation from Jazz music is shown in bar 15 on ‘Oh’ and in the accompaniment in bars 19 and 22.
• The rich chromatic harmonies in bars20-22 and the chromatic melody in bars 14-15 of the accompaniment come from 1930’s popular music. Also from this genre come the chords with an added 6^th bars 8-11, 7ths bar 12 and 9ths bar 25.
• The vocal harmonies in bars 26 also come from a popular style of singing called crooning.
• The piano score is a reduction of the parts played by the orchestra. The orchestration features lush strings, flute and oboe from the western classical tradition.

Glossary

Blue notes – A term used in jazz to describe the lowered 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th notes of the blues scale that sound expressive when played together with untreated notes in the accompaniment.

Pentatonic Scale – A scale using only five pitches.

Portamento – This technique is created by sliding from one note to another

Swing quavers – Also known in jazz as swung quavers. This is when a rhythmic pair of quavers is played with the first quaver being held longer than the second.

Syncopation – Off-beat accents or accents on weak beats.

Sample questions

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