Transcript Powerpoint

NAM 8







Performing forces and their handling
Texture
Structure
Tonality
Harmony
Word-setting and Melody
Rhythm and Metre




Small scale sacred choral piece
“Motets” – a genre of music that can be defined
as a sacred polyphonic composition with Latin
text, with or without an instrumental
accompaniment
Sources of Latin text would feature in “proper”
of the Roman Catholic liturgy
In Locus iste, Bruckner was setting the words of
the Gradual in a Mass for the Dedication of a
Church, the Gradual being the section which
preceded the reading of the Gospel.



Austrian composer
1824-1896 (Romantic Period)
This piece was first performed in 1869 after Bruckner
had moved to Vienna. First performance took place in
Linz Cathedral at a service to dedicate a chapel within
the building.

Romantic musical features =





Rich harmonic language
Polyphonic/homophonic texture (depending on the piece)
Dissonance
Unprepared modulations
Expressive dynamics

Analyse the score…
 What range of voices are singing?
 Male/female?
 Dynamics?
 SATB
 All male – the Cathedral Choir at Linz at that time
would have been all male, with boys singing soprano
and alto.
 Carefully marked, ranging from ff (bars 17-20) to pp
(bars 21-25 and 44-48)











The motet is mainly in a four-part chordal (homophonic) texture, but what do
you notice about the following:
The bass part?.....
The bass part often leads in ahead of the other voices, eg in bar 2. Where does
this happen again?
In bars 12 and 16, the bass part begins the next phrase ahead of the other voices,
leading to a loosely imitative effect in the soprano when the other three voices
enter a bar later.
What happens In the middle section (bars 21-29)?
The texture is reduced to three parts, the basses being silent.
Which part leads?
In this passage, the tenor parts leads, with soprano and alto entering a bar later.
What is similar between the tenor part and the soprano and alto part at this
point?
S and A are imitating the rhythmic pattern of the tenor part but not the melodic
line.
From bar 26, the three parts move in a more homophonic texture as they
approach the cadence in bar 29 and the recapitulation in bar 30 (will go into more
detail later)

Summarised as Ternary A B A1

Bars 1-20 Section A (consisting of two subsidiary sections)
 1-12 Locus iste a Deo factus est (This place was made by God.)
 Two closely related four-bar phrases, the second a modified repeat of the first,
followed by a further four bars (1 + 3 bars), ending with an imperfect cadence.
 What is an imperfect cadence?
 I-V
 13-20 inaestimabile sacramentum (a priceless mystery)
 Two four-bar phrases, the first ending with a Phrygian cadence in D minor,
and the second a sequential repetition of the first, finishing with a Phrygian
cadence in E minor.
 What is a Phrygian cadence?
 A type of imperfect cadence in a minor key… ivb-V

Bars 21-29 Section B: irreprehensibilis est
(It is without reproof.)
 Differentiated by absence of bass, this is initially a
series of two bar phrases in descending sequence,
started by tenor and answered by soprano and
alto.
 The final four bars lead to imperfect cadence in C,
preparing for return of Section A.

Bars 30-48 Section A (adapted)
 Words as in bars 1-12
 30-39 exactly as 1-10
 40-42 3-bar phrase, melismatic, more chromatic
setting of the word Deo
 43 silent bar
 45-48 4-bar phrase with slower-moving harmony
and final perfect cadence.


The basic tonality of the piece is C major but
there are several modulations that we need
to work out…
How do you work out modulations?

In case of a major key, find the subdominant (IV)
and dominant (V) chords, their relative minor keys
and the relative minor key of the main key:
Do this exercise starting in D, A, Eb and Db

In case of a minor key, find the subdominant (IV)
and dominant (V) chords, their relative major keys
and the relative major key of the main key:
Do this exercise for Dm, Cm, Bm and Fm









What is the key of Bars 5-6?
G major
What key does it return to at bar 7?
C, with the F natural in the bass
Key in bars 15-16?
D minor (uses a phrygian cadence to modulate)
Bars 19–20?
E minor (uses a phrygian cadence to modulate)
What is a phrygian cadence?

Bars 21-29 Rapidly changing tonal scheme with much chromatic
movement:
 E minor (bar 22)
 D minor (bar 24)
 Stabilises on dominant of C (imperfect cadence in bar 29)


Bars 34-35?
G major (as bars 5-6)

The style of harmony is basically functional, with
clearly defined perfect and imperfect cadences.
Other features include:
 The use of appoggiaturas and suspensions in a
classical manner, with appropriate resolution, e.g. the
appoggiatura at bar 4 in the soprano and the
suspension at bar 40 (beat 1) in the alto.
 The use of chromaticism – 23 (alto and tenor
descending a semitone)
 Diminished seventh chords vii7 at bar 40 (beat 4)
and bar 41 (beat 4)
An appoggiatura is a note that does not relate to the harmony (chord) but then resolves
by step to a harmony note.
Appoggiaturas
were often
written out
like this. This
has become
less and less
common.
A note that is prepared (by being part of the previous chord) which is
held over a new chord which then resolves into this new harmony.
In minor key signatures:
An interval of a diminished 7th between the root and the upper note of the chord
Easy to form a diminished 7th chord as each note is a minor 3rd higher than the
previous one
So, in the key of D minor, it would be C# E G Bb
In major key signatures:
Two minor 3rds plus a major 3rd (the 7th note you are adding is therefor a minor 7th,
not a diminished 7th)
So, in the key of D major, it would be C# E G B
This is also known as a half diminished 7th chord (as the 5th is still diminished, but
the 7th isn’t)


Syllabic setting, except for the melismatic
section bars 40-42
The melodic writing is mainly diatonic with
regular phrase construction. Notice the
following features:
 Descending step-wise line at opening
 Modified sequential repeat at bar 5, with the second
note repeated rather than continuing down the scale
 Rising sequential repetition in bars 17-20
 Descending sequential repetition in bars 21-25
The piece is in simple quadruple time throughout. The rhythmic
patterns are to a large extent dictated by the word-setting, in
which Bruckner displays great sensitivity to the natural stresses of
the Latin text. He does this by having the stronger syllables on the
stronger beats of the bar, of course, but also by using longer notes
at these points, eg the first syllables of ‘locus’ and ‘factus’.
 The two longer words in the text, ‘inaestimabile’ and
‘irreprehensibilis’, are both set to patterns of steady crotchets with
a dotted rhythm in each case to break the regularity.
 The middle section (21-29) and the final section, particularly, both
end with a phrase that has longer notes than the general
movement of the preceding bars .
 At the end of the piece, longer notes occur in the final phrase, 4548.





What is the total range of the soprano part?
The bass part?
Compare the soprano parts in bars 13-16 and
17-20. What technical device does Bruckner
use here?
To what extent is imitation used in this
motet?
Which features of this piece do you feel make
it appropriate for use as church music?