Transcript Shostakovich 1

SHOSTAKOVICH
7
PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN A OP. 87 NO. 7
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To study the melody and rhythm of the Prelude and Fugue
by Shostkovich
HARMONY: PRELUDE 2
• 23-28:
• Inverted dominant pedal
• What are the RH chords?
• What is the chord in 263?
• Therefore what type of
cadence is it?
MELODY: PRELUDE
• As discussed under structure, two ideas:
• 1.
followed by disjunct quavers
• 2. Chorale-like chords, mostly conjunct
• Find three ways in which idea 1 is developed
• Straight scale, e.g. bar 8
• Semiquaver runs introduced after lots of quavers e.g. bar 10
• Quavers in descending triads e.g. 94
• Conjunct (chromatic!) quavers e.g. 13-14
MELODY: FUGUE
• Incredibly, almost all melodic intervals are leaps
• Find some exceptions
• Subject contains some simple rising arpeggios
• Find some examples of bars 1 and 4 being developed not
as part of a complete statement of the subject in the
second half of the fugue
• 58-61 bar 1 stated 4 times in a row! What does this suggest?
• E.g. bar 66 soprano part looks quite like bar 4
MELODY: FUGUE 2
• Shostakovich avoids leaps of more than an octave – can you
think of a reason why?
• Which melodic intervals does he use in the subject and
countersubjects? Which does he avoid?
• Shostakovich is careful to balance ascending and descending
melodic movement  (what sort of music has he stolen
this idea from?)
Don’t forget to state the obvious:
The melody of the fugue is based on a subject, which
consists entirely of the notes of an A major chord,
and two countersubjects…
RHYTHM: PRELUDE
• What is the time signature?
• Find places where Shostakovich deliberately avoids the first
beat of the bar
• What do you already know about the lengths of the
phrases?
• Do the time signature changes have a significant effect?
• Find some syncopation
RHYTHM: FUGUE
• What is the time signature?
• Describe the rhythmic characteristics of the subject and
each of the countersubjects
• What is the shortest note length in the fugue?
• There is almost continuous quaver movement throughout
starting at bar 5