Transcript deane - firhousemusic


Diversity of approaches – no single style

No single tonality – atonal
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Irregular rhythms, changing metre, changing tempi
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Unusual instrumental techniques
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Use of non western instruments
 Use
of 3 note cell
 Ideas
built to be distorted and dismantled
 Binary
oppositions eg b141 – tonality in one
instrument and atonality in another
 Borrowed
use of music quotations
 In
Shakespeare’s ‘the tempest’ play, Ferdinand
the king’s son, believes his father to have died in a
shipwreck.
 The
water nymph, Ariel, tells Ferdinand that the
corpse has changed into something rich and
strange.
 This
change becomes a metaphor for Deane’s
compositional approach.
 Deane
employs this dismantling process in
Seachanges – the use of interference and
distortion, instruments abandoning their
natural sounds, numerical progression by
subtraction, addition and the use of prime
numbers.
 Order
and disorder are constantly colliding.
 ETHNIC
INSTRUMENTS
› CROTALES
› MARACAS
› RAINSTICK
› MARIMBA
› GUIRO
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Instrumental techniques
No accents
Poss – play as many notes as possible
Harmonics on cymbals
Flag. – Flagelot – any kind of harmonic
Col. Legno – strings played with wood of bow
Lv- let vibrate
Senza vibrato – without vibration
Sul pont – above the bridge
Glissando – sliding from one pitch to another
Strum – guitar like strumming of the strings
+ Indicates left hand pizzicato
Snap pizzicato (circle with a + sign)
Arco – played with the bow
Double and multi stopping – bow drawn across several strings
Con. Ped – the sustaining pedal is used
G-C creates an interval of 4th or 5th when inverted
 G-A creates interval of 2nd
 A-C creates an interval of 3rd or 6th when inverted
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Rhythm changes between
Opening section C uses inverse and retrograde inverse
of Dies Irae chant.
 The melody is played directly at times but sometimes
played in 5ths.
 Principle of permutation used in this section.

Bars 1-16
Bars 17-45
Bars 46-64
Bars 65-91
Bars 92-127
Bars 128-140
Bars 141-174
Introduction
Crotchet = 80
Section A b17-27 (Main Melody)b17-45
Section B (Totentanz)
Crotchet = 120
Section A1 (Main Melody)
Crotchet = 80
Section C (Dies Irae)
Crotchet = 120
Section A2 (Main Melody)
Crotchet = 80
Coda (Totentanz/Dies Irae)
Crotchet = 120
Intro b1-20 – changing time signatures, bars of silence,
high shrill opening represents the harsh glare and heat
of the Mexican sun.
 B1 introduction of 3 note cell G-A-C – forms the basis of
entire work.
 B15 – cello brings it to earth
 B16 – piano – descending chords based on inversion of
opening 3 notes
 B19 – violin A harmonic and an open string
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B21 – cello – 3 notes cell expanded into inversion of the main
melody
B21 – Glissando
B24 – flute prepares for marimba
B25 – marimba – fast ascending passage
B27 – violin – 1st complete statement of main melody – 6 note
phrase – subtraction used.
Cello inversion of main melody
B37 – 2nd statement of melody – inversion on piccolo – reduces
gradually – maracas begin to dominate – music becomes more
intense.
B44 – pedal marking on piano
B47 – maracas introduce section
 B49 – strings take up rhythm in parallel 5ths
 B52 – distortion of 3 note cell
 B61 – silence echoes the silence of the introduction
 B65 – main melody and inversion for 3rd time – now in
accented crotchets on piano – violin and cello
repeated 5ths
 B68 – piccolo and strings in parallel 5ths

B69 – danse macabre rhythm on the maracas and
piano plays accented chords
 B70 – violin – glissando 5ths on fingerboard
 B72 – cymbal and gong introduce next section
 B73 – cello – D acts as a drone
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B74 – Violin – main melody heard softly in minims for the
4th time and cello inversion of melody
 B77 – subtraction principal and flute lively counter
melody
 B82 – cymbals, gong and crotales add to rhythm
 B85 – piano – 9 note chord – subtraction principal
 B88 – piano – main melody and strings cello – based on
distortion of 3 note cell
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B91 – piano – repeating 2nds
B93 – marimba – canon for marimba and violin based on
inverted Dies Irae melody
B99 – Dies Irae idea in cello in 5ths
B106 – cello – Dies Irae idea in 5ths
B109 – piano joins canon but disappears after 3 bars
B113 – violin/cello – Dies Irae Idea – conveys ghostly,
skeletonic effect
B115 – piano – accented chords leads to march like Dies
Irae idea
B122 – music begins to change
Duo for flute and piano
 B128 – flute – 6 note phrase based on 3 note cell –
reduces down to a single G – piano plays surprose Eb
chord – increases from 1 note to 7 notes
 B134 – cello – anticipates Danse Macabre which is
rhythm of next section

B141 – strings C major chords – Danse Macabre rhythm
 B144 – flute – plays canon of b93 – continues freely
 B152 – music rushes towards climax
 B157 – repeat of Totentanz
 166 – all play A – exciting cross rhythms
 No finality only dissolution!
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Order and Disorder – setting something up as a norm only to
dismantle it as quickly.
Permutation – changing the order of things 1,2,3,4,5,6, becomes
1,3,5,2,4,6.
Chord construction – use of block chords on the piano – seen as
clusters. This effect becomes almost percussive like.
Numerical Progression – subtraction and addition are both used.
Prime numbers in Section C in the guiro where the number of notes
and number of rests are all primes.
Melodic Transformation
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Augmentation b128
Diminution b121
Inverse b21
Retrograde b93
Significance of C Major b141 Deane begins clearly in C
Major – 2 string parts in C but marimba and piano try to
move away to play ‘atonal’.
 First performance – a skeleton was placed in the piano
– it was taken out at the end of the piece at b163 and
was shaken at the other players. This served as a cue for
the other players to take up the maracas and play.
Deane asked that this was discontinued in future
performances.

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In 20th century music atonality is often a feature as we
hear in ‘Seachanges’. However there are a number of
places where there is a clear tonal anchoring:
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B21 anchor note G
B50 anchor note A
B55 anchor note B
B73-84 anchor note D
B88-91 anchor G
B157 anchor B
B164 anchor A
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Contemporary features – changing time signatures, use of dissonance,
atonality.
Compositional Techniques – inverse, canon, retrograde, subtraction,
addition, prime numbers and permutation.
Explain form of the work.
Different performing techniques.
Piano being used as percussion.
Approaches to dynamics.
Themes
Understanding of musical context of the piece.
Personal response to the work.
Ethnic instruments being used.