Transcript Symphony of Psalms

SYMPHONY OF
PSALMS 2
Igor Stravinsky
Learning Objectives
■ To be able to identify the Neoclassical features of the music
■ To analyse the music in detail
Musical influences
Neoclassical
Russian Orthodox
■ Tonality – frequent return
to C major chord, V-I
movement bars 3-7
■ Often slow, static
■ Broken chords bar 150,
plus canon between
voices
■ Some chant-like writing
■ 163-end!
20th Century influences
■ Strong dissonance e.g. 48-49 (what is the chord? what is the
bass note?)
■ What is the key at the start for the orchestra? What about the
choir? What is this called?
■ Instrumentation, notably piano
■ Ostinato – find an example
– 14-19
– 163-204
■ Syncopation – find an example
INSTRUMENTATION
Find some instrumental effects
Psalm 148
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
alleluia laudate Dominum de caelis laudate eum in excelsis
laudate eum omnes angeli eius laudate eum omnes virtutes eius
laudate eum sol et luna laudate eum omnes stellae et lumen
laudate eum caeli caelorum et aqua quae super caelum est
laudent nomen Domini quia ipse dixit et facta sunt ipse mandavit et creata sunt
statuit ea in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi praeceptum posuit et non praeteribit
laudate Dominum de terra dracones et omnes abyssi
ignis grando nix glacies spiritus procellarum quae faciunt verbum eius
montes et omnes colles ligna fructifera et omnes cedri
bestiae et universa pecora serpentes et volucres pinnatae
reges terrae et omnes populi principes et omnes iudices terrae
iuvenes et virgines senes cum iunioribus laudent nomen Domini
quia exaltatum est nomen eius solius
confessio eius super caelum et terram et exaltabit cornu populi sui hymnus omnibus sanctis
eius filiis Israhel populo adpropinquanti sibi
Text Setting
■ How does Stravinsky set the word Alleluia? How is this different
to what you might expect?
■ Places he avoids word-painting:
– 87-94 trumpet
– 150-153 drums
– 153-163 organ
– 165 cymbals
– 187 everything (p dynamic?!)
■ “In setting the words of this final hymn [from bar 163] I cared
only for the sounds of the syllables and I have indulged to the
limit my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way”
Text Setting 2
■ Syllabic? Melismatic? Something else?
■ Accents on some syllables? Are they to express the meaning
or for some other reason?
Texture
■ Beginning?
■ Bar 4?
■ Bar 7? Compare other instances of this word
■ Bar 55 voices
■ 150-160 describe what is happening
■ Ostinato
■ What do you notice about the spacing of the final chord?
[bars 40-47] was inspired by a vision of Elijah’s
chariot climbing the heavens… never before had
I written anything quite so literal as the triplets…
to suggest the horses and chariots.
STRUCTURE
Describe the sections
Structure
■ What happens to the 6note horn motif at 24
when it is repeated at 32,
37 and 40?
■ Where does the Laudate
Dominum in 65 come
from? How is it different?
Does this idea appear
again?
Structure
Bars
Section
Description
1-3
Alleluia
Slow
4-23
Laudate
C major chord for DOMINUM
24-51
Instrumental
6 repeated notes figure. Triplets=Horses and chariots
52-98
Laudate
65 6-note figure out by a quaver
99-103
Alleluia
104-146
Laudate
Builds to main climax
146-149
Link
Slower
150-162
Imitative
163-204
Chant
205-end
Alleluia
Tonality
■ What is the principal tonal centre?
■ Bar 2-6, 9-20 what key are the voice parts in? What about the
orchestra? Two possibilities for analysing this!
– Bitonal (Eb and C)
– C Aeolian
■ What’s up with the big chords at 48?
■ 150-156 What is suggested by the BTrb/Dbsn? What are the
chords above them?
■ 199 What key are the oboes in? What about everyone else?
Harmony
■ Dissonance – e.g. bar 3 G/Ab, 48, 144
■ V-I bass at start (do we get this again?)
■ Find an example of where a chord changes over an ostinato
■ Find some nice consonant chords
■ How does Stravinsky resolve the tonal tension at the end?
Melody
■ Development of motifs e.g. bar 24 repeated notes idea
■ Find examples of this idea:
■ Can you see how Stravinsky has constructed the melody of 411 using this motif?
■ Comment on the soprano part in 53-64 and 163-174
■ Find a conjunct melody and a disjunct melody for voices
Melody 2
■ 150 disjunct – broken chords. Are these easy to sing?
■ 161 sopranos!! Intervals?
■ Bar 157 sopranos – what is this type of scale?
■ Find a chromatic scale
– 72 oboes
Rhythm
■ Sometimes static, slow minim movement (influence of
Orthodox chant)
■ Contrast this with bar 24
■ Syncopation
■ Triplets for chariots and horses
■ Time signature changes
■ 163 How long is the ostinato pattern? What is the time
signature? What effect does this have?
2014 TEST 10S