The happy feeling of section one is generated by the change of key from minor, with a sad feel, to major; and the flowing melody line on the solo flute. When writing the melody I considered that “stepwise motion forms a base around which skips provide necessary variation” (P.29, Cope, D. (1997) Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, Thompson Learning), and that it should “approach a high point or climax through a series of intermediate lesser high points, interrupted by recessions.” (P.16, Schoenberg, A. (1967) Fundamentals of Modern Composition, Faber & Faber Ltd). This melody also features repetition and variation on motifs used, which “produces unity, relationship, coherence, logic, comprehensibility and fluency.” (P.8, Schoenberg, A. (1967) Fundamentals of Modern Composition, Faber & Faber Ltd), some of the most important elements of popular melody.
The accompaniment in this section is used to imply the harmony of the melody; and to create an increase in volume, width, and texture towards the point of arrival of the section. It begins with quiet strings playing middle register pitches, and then gradually increases in volume and progresses to more extreme pitches. The first violins then play a harmony to the melody, while the strings continue to build up and the brass enters the accompaniment. When the melody enters a second time, the flutes are backed up by the oboes and violins playing the same melody. The use of brass and percussion increases the range of tone colours and builds the texture up to the final cadence, passing the melody to the horn is especially effective at adding weight and brightness. At the transition point the chord changes to a B diminished as a tension building point for section two.
For section two I wished to create a sense of violence foreboding in the music. To achieve this I took inspiration form the opening bars of Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’, but used the technique at a much slower pace to create more tension. The constant use of down strokes on the accented note creates a uniform strength and progressiveness. The parallel motion of the brass melody was inspired by a section of Jerry Goldsmiths ‘Life is a Dream’ from the Star Trek film score. The melody also utilises repetition and variation on the motif as it is passed around the instruments.
The final ‘Victory Scene’ is best represented by a standard march. It begins with a trumpet fanfare, a technique that sparks instant recognition to the nature of the occasion after the first few notes. The chord sequence uses root and fifth chords, the bass drum and cymbals add intensity, and the melody uses motif repetition and variation.
Additive Form
This piece is based on, and highly influenced by ‘New York Counterpoint: Movement 2’ by Steve Reich, an American minimalist / post-minimalist composer. Reich did lots of experimental composition with phasing, firstly with tapes before “finding the technique of phasing with tape to have its limitations” (P.179, Potter, K. (2000) Four Musical Minimalists, Cambridge University Press), then with live instruments. Through his career in New York, Reich has tended slightly towards classical techniques with the incorporation of harmony and melody into his post-minimalist compositions, and often he will begin a piece with the “establishment of a musical idea with a modal pitch profile” (P.188, Potter, K. (2000) Four Musical Minimalists, Cambridge University Press).
‘New York Counterpoint: Movement 2’ is one such piece. It is written for nine clarinets, eight recorded and the ninth played live over the top; and begins with two inter-related motifs, 2 bars in length, and with a contrapuntal texture. These motifs are passed between the clarinets, overlapped and set against each other to create texture and dynamic. Later in the piece a third completely opposite motif is included to create a different texture.
My first motif (M1) is a flowing melodic line, much in the style of Reich’s motif from ‘New York Counterpoint. In contradiction my second motif (M2) brings a rhythmic element with it and has a more obvious tonal centre, but it is much simpler and far less melodic. I used a variety of classical wind instruments to enable a wide variety of tonal colours with which to enhance the piece, comprising of 2 flute, a Cor Anglais, 2 clarinets, a bass clarinet and a trumpet.
The piece begins by establishing M1. This should be done in a “characteristic… manner” (P.8, Schoenberg, A. (1967) Fundamentals of Modern Composition, Faber & Faber Ltd), in this case, on a single clarinet to achieve a very thin texture with a warm sound. M2 is similarly introduced on the trumpet for a contradicting tone colour.
Through the rest of the piece layers of instruments are built up playing the two motifs to create different textures and tone colours. At times the motifs are in unison and at others they are offset against each other. After the first few standard repetitions M2 is set back by a crotchet rest, to change the position of the natural accents caused by notes played at the same time. This technique is also used later in the piece on both motifs. Another technique used is offsetting the motif against itself on different instruments, to create a delayed effect with different instruments. This is especially effective when M1 is set against itself by a minim rest, as the quaver section is super-imposed over the melodic crotchet section. This first section of the piece is inter-dispersed with M1s in unison, but transposed to a harmony of the original, adding another layer to the music and further expanding the texture.
55 bars into the piece a third motif (M3) is established. This gradually fades in as M1 and M2 filter out and is passed between the instruments, the first diminishing as the other increases in loudness, creating a form of timbre modulation in which, “where the timbres are dynamically balanced, a new instrumental sound may occur” (P.113, Cope, D. (1997) Techniques for the Contemporary Composer, Thompson Learning). This is an impressionistic characteristic displayed by Schoenberg in ‘Farben’. This technique is applied first between single instruments and then between combinations of instruments for a thicker layer of sound. It is important for the instruments to be played very softly through this passage, as tone colours are more suitable when fewer overtones are audible.
For the finale of the piece M2 is re-established first on the trumpet; then on the clarinet, transposed down four semitones and set back a quaver rest; then on the flute, transposed down six semitones and set back a crotchet and a half. This causes different layers of instrument and random accented beats to occur. The texture and rhythm return to their original form as the clarinet and flute drop out and the piece ends with a final solo repetition of the motif on the trumpet.
Jazz Piece
My jazz piece was based on a number of classic jazz standards in the style of early jazz ballads such as ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘Polkadots and Moonbeams’, the basis of which is a good chord progression with a simple effective melody. I also included a walking bass line, a harmony to the melody, and strings with chords and a counter melody. The form of the piece, in accordance with many other standards, is A A’ B A’’.
The chord sequence begins with C major, the key of the piece, and moves through a 1, 6, 2, 5 progression, then to E7, a secondary dominant, for a 3, 6, 2 progression. There is then a tritone substitution for a Bm7(b5), a step down to Bb7(b5), a perfect cadence to E7 setting up another perfect cadence to Am7, the first chord in A’. The section begins with a 1, 6, 4, 2 with modulates key to a 2, 5, 1 for the C. There is then a 7, 6, 5, 4 (borrowed chord) run down to F#7 for a 5, 1 to Bm7. The B section begins with Bm7, does a 1, 4 to an E7 dominant substitute, then a 5, 1 to Amaj7, then to Dmaj7, then a major to minor substitution to Dm7, then a 2, 5, 1 to C, followed by a run down to Am7. The A’’ section begins with a 1, 3 to C7, followed by a 5, 1 to Fmaj7, a major to minor substation to Fm, a step down to Em, then a 3, 6, 2, 5, 1 frustrated modulation turnaround and a 1, 5 turnaround in the repeat bar.
Techniques used in Jazz chord progressions have inspired ranges of artists from The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, with their happy to sad key changes in ‘Yesterday’ and ‘You Are the Sunshine of my Life’ respectively; to Oasis, with their 5, 1 build up in the bridge of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. Use of tritone, secondary dominant, and major to minor substitutions creates more effective chord and key changes.
The walking bass line uses some standard appropriate jazz techniques. The first and third beats of the bar are usually root or 5th notes of the scales; the second beat is a 3rd, extension note or other note from the chord or scale; and the fourth beat is a passing note, one which is a semitone above or below the first note of the next bar, and gives the bass line its jazzy sound.
The first 4 bars of the soprano saxophone melody determine the primary motif, a simple melody where the downward, conjunct movement is balanced by upwards interval jumps. Bars 4-8 use the same motif, but transposed up a 3rd and with variety at the end. Bars 9-12 use rhythmic elements from the original motif, and incorporate off beat and on beat accents. At bar 16 the melody returns to the original motif, but instead of dropping, rises in pitch to a more distinct point of arrival. At bar 17, the beginning of the B section, a new 2 bar motif is established; then repeated three times, a step down each time until the third repetition, which has different melodic motion. Bars 25-28 use a variant on the 2nd motif, repeated identically three times, over different chords. The piece finishes with a melodic frustrated cadence to the root note.
The alto saxophone plays a direct harmony to the melody. The pitch of the harmony part is kept below that of the melody, to keep the two lines distinctly separate, and to avoid any semitone clashes. The 1st violin plays counter melodies over the long notes in the melody, and with the 2nd violin and viola, creates long flowing chords over the rest of the piece.
Examples of phrase transition (bars 4-8) can be seen in ‘Polkadots and Moonbeams’, ‘Like Someone in Love’ and ‘Fly Me to the Moon; examples of single bar transpositions can be seen in ‘All the things You Are’ and ‘The way you Look Tonight’; an example of a 2 bar motif repetition over modulating chords can be seen in ‘My Funny Valentine’.
Bibliography
Davis, R. (1999) Complete Guide to Film Scoring, Berklee Press
Schoenberg, A. (1967) Fundamentals of Modern Composition, Faber & Faber Ltd
Cope, D. (1997) Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, Thompson Learning
Potter, K. (2000) Four Musical Minimalists, Cambridge University Press
Appendix
You Are the Sunshine of My Life – Stevie Wonder
Yesterday – Lennon/McCartney
All The Things You Are – Hammersmith/Kern
Polkadots and Moonbeams – Van Heusen/Burke
My Funny Valentine – Hart/Rodgers
Like Someone in Love – Van Heusen/Burke
Fly Me to the Moon – Howard
The Way You Look Tonight
The Rite of Spring – Stravinsky
Farben - Schoenberg
New York Counterpoint: Movement 2 - Reich