Before actually going into the analysis of the actual piece itself, background information would be helpful. The composition was written by Bach, and it is part of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin. For this example, Partita II in d minor, movement I, Allemanda, will be discussed. Allemanda, sometimes spelled allemande, derives from German and simply means “dance.” While there are various tempos used, this movement is usually fast, around 120 beats per minute.
Strip all the decorations and ornaments, and there is a straight-forward analysis. The piece begins and ends in D, cadencing to tonic. There is an A halfway in between, creating a half cadence. In order words, this can be easily be called a I-V-I, just like any other piece. That is fine. Because every song essentially is I to V to I, there must be something else that differentiates this piece from everything else. What makes this piece interesting? What makes tonic to dominant back to tonic worth listening for? To put it frankly, the notes in between the beginning, the middle, and the end, is what makes anything sound different. Bach devised some interesting ways to train our ears to listen to aesthetic notes when, in reality, it is D to A to D.
Despite the key conceptualizing in d minor, many, many accidentals take place within the piece. As a result, how does someone know which notes are more important than others? Is it D because it is tonic? Is it C-sharp because it is the leading tone to tonic? Or could it possibly be the accidentals because they do not originate from the key? This may sound ambiguous, but the answer is…it depends. The reason why this is so, which is considerably more direct, is rhythm.
Some rhythms are longer in duration than others. Some ...
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...ng for the end. As the penultimate note, C-sharp, comes to a close, the chord, at least, resolves back to the key the piece began in, d minor. This movement of the second partita may rest in peace.
All in all, this piece actually is a simple piece, just like any other piece. They may look difficult at first glance, but if looked at with finer details, with a finer approach, the solution is simple. The piece begins and ends on tonic, I. Half way, the piece takes a pit stop to dominant, V. To add bits of spices, the subdominant, IV, crawls its way in the second half. The majority, if not all, of the notes are decoration. Vanilla ice cream is boring. How do we freshen that up? Add an orange. Perhaps some nuts. Or maybe a dollop of ice cream. These accessories revitalize the piece, nothing more. In order words, it is a strawberry smoothie with lots of whipped cream.
The rhythms of the suite is in 3-beat meter. It can be described as fast-slow-fast. It is slow until the piece hits the 3:30 mark. Then it speeds up until the 16 minute mark before slowing down again.
Partita by Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) was another work from the Contemporary Period, this time performed by Judith Pfeiffer, a German pianist. This work consisted of three movements, all of which had...
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most famous German composers of his time. All of his work was mostly during the baroque era. The baroque period was from 1600 to 1750 and it is known to be one of the most diverse musical periods as opposed to the other classical music eras. It was in this era that “included composer like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel, who pioneered new styles like the concerto and the sonata.”(Classic FM) Johann Sebastian was born in the midst of the Baroque era as he was born on March 31, 1685 in Thuringia, Germany. Johann came from a family of musicians, which is how he himself became one as well. It was his father who showed him how to play his first instrument, which was the violin. His father was also a well-known musician in his town as he “worked as the town musician in Eisenach.”(Johann Sebastian Bach) It is known that Johann Sebastian went to a school that taught him
Questioning Reality in Richard Bach’s Illusions. The message of Richard Bach’s Illusions is based on the concept that the things we interpret in the world as reality are actually illusions. This is made evident to one of the main characters, Richard, through his interactions with his newly found friend, Donald Shimoda. Donald Shimoda is a “messiah”, and he has gifts that he uses to help mankind.
...s and triumphs in his tones. As Buelow writes, the recitative "provides a glimpse into that still indefinable balance of musical genius, all-encompassing craft, and the indestructible faith and zeal of the German protestant" (35). Buelow has been right in turning our attention to this largely "ignored resource" in our study of Bach's sacred music; in any study of Bach's pairing of music to text, these cleverly crafted recitatives demand credit and attention.
This section represents a tranquil interval. It is a summer evening in the country and he hears two shepherds piping. The tranquil moment of the quiet summer evening alone with the pastoral duet fills his heart with an unfamiliar calm. Suddenly she appears and her appearance causes an emotional response of sorrowful loneliness. The 4th movement: March to the Scaffold.
An invention in this context is really a short two- little bit of music, customarily instrumental, which shows off the composer's inventiveness in inditing polyphonic (multiple independent voice) music. Bach's inventions are the absolute most often played pieces in this genre. His two-part inventions were composed in Cothen around 1720. They certainly were intended not just as pieces for edifying "unsullied" playing of two (or three) part polyphony, but withal as types of composition. Bach engendered a complete of 15, 2- part inventions. Of those 15, I'd the ability of heedfully aurally perceiving number 6 in E Major. The musical composition is played on which I postulate to be the harpsichord or even a guitar. In the beginning impression, the musical composition seems just increase and down the scales. Starting slow and eventually expediting and then ultimately visiting a screeching halt similar to the life span of an elevator. I came across the melody might be broken into 3 sections: Measures 1- 20, 21- 42, and 43- 62. I verbalize this because each section appears to have its story to tell. Measures 1- 20 and 43- 62 seem to behave as an introduction and outro, with 21- 42 playing the human body of the musical composition and possessing the capability to be broken down further. Measures 9 through 13 of the initial section are intriguing to optically canvass due to the fascinating pattern. Optically canvassing measures 9, 11, and 13 you are able to visually perceive a consecutive dip in chord progression. Put simply, the chord in 9 is equipollent to 11, but 1 degree lower. The exact same rule pertains to 11 to 13 and the exact same relationship is available between measures 10 and 12. The cessation of the initial the m...
There are two main rhythmic ideas that are present in this piece. The first is the regular rhythmic pulse in the pianos and mallet instruments
...ers and the audience. The dramatic nature of this piece alone is something to be reckoned with as it is extremely passionate. The symphony is presented in 4 movements as is common and begins with a Poco Sostenuto- Vivace, followed by a Allegretto movement, Presto movement, and finally ends on an Allegro con brio movement. the central theme of this piece is introduced in the first movement by a flute playing in tripple meter continuously ascending up the scales rising in dynamic contrast, continuing to grow into a louder and more stark contrast between it’s highs and lows. Consistently dance like, the piece is celebratory of its roots buried in historical Austrian music that has been present in the culture for years. The accomplishments of the soldiers for which the piece was composed for are easily told of simply by the energy and power present throughout the piece.
Overall time helped demonstrated the masses’ movement unity as they moved with the time and the individual’s struggle as she moved contrary to the group’s time. The dance began with a lively Bach movement, which created a feeling of excitement as the mass of dancers moved with increasing speed. The short duration needed to complete movements, regularity of the music, and repetition of dance patterns of the group established their synchronization with time. In contrast, this allegro tempo created a nervous, rushed feeling for the individual woman, which established her contradiction to the groups perception of time. The sharp, sudden adagio tempo change in Part 2 created an uneasy mood, while establishing distrust and tension between the individual woman and the masses. The stillness of the mass dancers in response to the woman in Part 2 exemplified this segregation. As the tempo slowed in Part 4, an element of sadness and isolation was apparent in the individual woman’s movement. In contrast, this tempo change for the group created an intimacy between the individual heterosexual couples. This intimacy further isolated the individual women and demonstrated her movement against groups perception of time. The changes in tempo of music and dance movement complimented the third element of dance, dynamics or
...re was very interesting transitions between the variation, for example, string section plays the variation from low to high, when they reach the highest note, the brass family takes over and continue with the scale and make it more higher. Tremolo style was used in this piece, which is a quick ups and downs stroke mode. The music were very soothing and attracted the audience. Lastly, they end the piece with the same variations that was played at the beginning.
- I am trying to show how the piece is structured and what kind of effect the composer's rhythmic writing has on the piece as a whole.
This climax created a melody counterpoint that ended with yet another coda, this time it was extravagant and
J.S. Bach’s motets stand out from all the rest, even this one. Having performed the work, I can attest that While some of his motets are more popular and more commonly performed in the present day, Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt stands out above the rest as a good work to analyze particularly because of the peculiarities in the history of the work and the use of text painting and melodic and rhythmic imitation
...chestral introduction with an imperfect cadence. A strong rhythmic ¾ allegro passage, with sequences and descending scales is played by the orchestra, with timpani and cymbals. The music modulates, and a short, quiet woodwind passage is then alternated with an orchestral passage with dotted rhythms, creating a `terraced dynamics' effect. Part B begins with a major clarinet melody accompanied by pizzicato strings. A minor flute sequence follows, and is followed by a repetition of the oboe melody. A string sequence is then played, imitated by the oboe. There is a crescendo, then the rhythmic orchestral melody returns, alternated with a short flute passage. There are suspensions, descending scales and a crescendo, followed by a strong rhythmic passage with the timpani playing on the beat. Imperfect cadences are played, before the piece finishes with a perfect cadence.