Western Classical Music

W estern Classical Music 1 Western Classical Music Baroque Dance Suites Musical Features Melody • Highly ornamented • Long and continuous melody Rhythm/Tempo • Driving rhythms • One Affekt (feeling) Harmony • Tonic-Dominant • Modulation via Circle of Fifths • Figured Bass Form • All dances are in binary form Texture • Contrapuntal/Polyphonic Instrumentation• Solo Instruments: Flute, Violin, Cello, Harpsichord Dynamics • Terraced Dynamics Movements 1. Allemande • Moderate tempo • 4/4 • Begins with short unaccented note in an anacrusis • Maintains a flowing style 2. Corrente (Italian)• Quick and lively • 3/4 or 3/8 • Thin Texture • Contains Running Passages 2. Courante (French) • Slower than Corrente • 3/2, rhythmic variety sometimes lapses briefly into 6/4 • Starts with upbeat of a (group of) quaver(s) • [Hemiola] making triple sound duple, vice versa 3. Sarabande • Slow and dignified • 3/2 or 3/4 • Strong accentuation on 2nd beat 4. Gigue • Rapid • Compound meter derivatives, featuring triplet figuration • Treated fugally • B section is inversed theme Optional Dances between Sarabande and Gigue Minuet (French)• Triple • Starts on first beat Gavotte (French)• 4/4 • Lively character • Starts on third beat Bourree (French)• Quick duple time • Starts on last beat Piano VS Harpsichord Sound Production Piano: Struck with hammer Harpsichord: Plucked with plectrum Capabilities Piano: Gradation Dynamics, Sustaining Sound Harpsichord: Clarity individual lines within polyphonic texture

W estern Classical Music 2 Classical Period Musical Features Melody • Organised in regular, symmetrical phrases • Tuneful, singable melodies Rhythm/Tempo • Common performance directions Harmony • Simple harmony, centered around diatonic chords • Prominent tonic-dominant relationship • Modulations to closely related keys Form • Sonata-Allegro Form • Minuet and Trio • (Sonata) Rondo • Theme and Variations Texture • Clear melody, accompaniment texture • Mostly homophonic Instrumentation• Solo Instruments: Flute, Violin, Cello, Piano, Clarinet Dynamics/Articulation• Increased range of dynamics and dynamic gradations • Greater variety of articulation marks in score Romanticism Describing music: Dr Smith Dynamic, Rhythm, Structure, Melody, Texture, Harmony German Lied Form: Through Composed: New music for each stanza (Modified) Strophic: Theme keeps repeating (with variation) Word painting: Writing music which reflects the literal meaning of the song Character pieces Short composition invoking mood, scene, emotion or literary reference Impressionism Stress on tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity Musical Features Harmony • Frequent use of extended chords in parallel motion • Use of unusual scales: Pentatonic & Whole tone Scale • Coloristic use of chords Form and StructureAvoiding clear cut forms Instrumental techniques• Piano: Damper & una corda pedal • Woodwinds: Unusual register • Strings/basses:: muted (con sord Melody • Unclear melodic lines • Homophony rarely used Eg. Debussy