Reclaiming the spirit Sarah Hopkins

Characteristics
Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a sound
- Improvisation creates different sounding melodies every time its played. Uses the set scale, but players choose how to play the scale. - Harmonics in different registers - Easy, melodic key - Glissandos bend the pitch - Makes use of the drone through the piece, sounds earthy and aboriginal - Simple diatonic harmony - for a lot of the jig, she uses the pentatonic scale with a strong grounding in g major played by violin - Small ensemble using both traditional instruments and non traditional but aims to mimic the sound of an indigenous group - The way in which the instruments are played are unique and unusual - double stopping to create the sound of a didgeridoo (1) - Self invented instrument of the whirly sounds eerie and windy -Use of harmonics change the sounds of the instruments - warm and liquid tone - Homophonic texture, but violin/viola and cello is doubled -thin texture for most of the piece - move in a similar motion -Clarinet imitates the previous melody in the cello

Moving Air Nigel Westlake

Characteristics
- No pitch, minimal allowance for different notes due to percussion sounds

Unity, variety, contrast

- Repeated melody (unity) - Main melody stays in the same register - occasional glissando down adds a huge surprising element, because of the dissonance it introduces. Changes a soft, beautiful melody(contrast) - Smooth, relaxing contour

Unity, variety, contrast

- no massive contrasts between the pitch selection, all kept the same

Tone Colour Quality and colour of sound created by various combinations of instruments and vocals

- Stable, similar instruments mostly belonging to the same group. -Variety in tone colour is created by the way she utilizes the instruments in new and inventive ways

Texture Explaining the layers of music

- Layers of sound changing, foregrounds, middle grounds and backgrounds -Texture is changed by changing which instrument takes the melody -adding and subtracting layers eg, from jig (foreground, middle ground, background) to section L, mostly consisting of 1 melody with the drone and harmonies

- Complete percussion ensemble - Uses tone colour to create interesting pieces, recognisable sounds - membranophones and idiophones - sound of things being hit and struck mixed with the sound of the pop and hollow hit - Using the body and voice to create more percussion sounds ** - Whole piece filled with percussions - digital vs anaglog, use of tape recorder adds another dimension - enthusiastic, exciting and jumpy tone - interesting texture due to the fact all the instruments are percussion which lack a way of creating a melody - very monophonic, but shared between 4 different players - move in a similar motion - no layers of sound - call and response between instruments

- Unity in the use of tone colour and how it sounds - contrast in analogue and digital sounds - contrast between use of body and voice

- texture stays very similar for majority of the time, some sections stay thick, with occasional sections having random hits

Duration

- Didgeridoo bowing gives a strong pulse through the piece - different sections require different feelings. Lots of rubato and freeness in sections such as G, L and F - changing time signatures in one section- makes use of multimeter

- contrast in the sections, some sound strict due to pulse by digeridoo bowing, some are open and free due to length of notes. Lots of notes are dictated with pauses in improvised sections - changing time signatures create contrast within a single melody

Dynamics and expressive techniques

Structure

- Lots of self invented techniques which is written using graphic notations - harmonic glissando alla birdcall (2) mixing together and experimenting with harmonics and glissandos on the cello -harmonic bowing ) informs the violin/viola player to move the bow closer to the bridge, similar to sul ponticello, but moving to and away from the bridge to create a variety of sounds which becomes an extension of the classic technique. (3) - Almost a rondo, but quite through composed

- expressive techniques similar on string instruments - all instruments playing in the same dynamic together - climaxing and changing sections by using dynamics between

- all percussion, so beats are extremely important - intense rhythm and patterns of sound - keeps a strong beat and a strong underlying pulse using accented beats - uses simple time - repetitive patterns - absolutely no musical freedom due to tape recording. Must stick exactly to the music and cannot be interpreted using different durations - cross rhythms and polyrhythms combined -at most times, a steady tempo, but can sometimes seem indefinite despite tempo remaining the same throughout - use of voice and body - doesnt use voice in typical way, but uses it for sound effects to add a new element - dynamics change both by thicker textures and whats written. Also, play the tape recorder louder, and players dynamics will differ in accordance. - crescendos and decrescendos to climax -staccato due to instruments

- constant change in rhythmic formation, sometimes players are together, sometimes on their own and sometimes all play completely different rhythmic patterns

- keeping all the instruments at the same dynamic

- repeats ideas through the piece, but can be by other instruments or with a different weel

- some ideas may be used again or phrases re-used, but over all, is mostly through composed

- sections must all differ, or else audience might lose attention to the piece due to the type of ensembles and the limitations

Kakadu Peter Sculthorpe

Characteristics
Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a sound
- Dissonant sounds, uses clashing chords which are uneasy to listen to - Violin in high register coming in over the heavy rhythmic motifdjililie- borrowed -figure 4 introduces a different sounding section, more higher up then the first section. Double stops on violin sound dissonant - bird calls created by violins are up in very high register and move down, but are in divisi, so all move down the strings at different speeds creating different notes - ostinato till phrase 4 and starts again in section 7 - For a lot of the piece, the viola or cello plays an accompanying ostinato, either rhythmically or in a pitch sequence

The Blue Alice Matthew Hindson

Characteristics
- The very beginning of the piece begins in dissonance. The SATB singers at random times start singing a single downwards glissando, beginning on a random note and randomly stopping and re starting. They sing a single word and when sung very randomly, sounds like one collective noise in a nonfunctional harmony - The piece is based on the interval of the third, simple strategy to make the falling; sound *bar 3 - The idea of thirds is used through the piano triads entering eventually doubled by the idiophone and piccolo and flute. *bar 33. Each chord is a major triad A, C, F, D, C (in lower octave) Consecutive simple triads references techno, pop music. The idea of the third has been used horizontally along the stave, as A is a third, A F is a descending third. The general shape moves in a descending scale. - Choir moves in a similar contrapuntal motion when singing in harmony. -Choir repeats the phrase girl is falling through the air the bottom part of each vocal part gradually descends and lands on a third on the syllable air *section C bar 40 oscillating pitch in horn part also outlines the third interval. -Very cheesy pop chords - Very large variety of instruments in quite a large orchestra. - Use of choir as the melody and solo instrument creating a lot of sections for the choir in a cappella - Gradual addition of layers in section B introduces a variety of tone colors

Unity, variety, contrast

- Complete contrast and variety in pitch, different registers to listen to within first 3 sections (up to phrase 9). Very dissonant and eerie. Sounds like storms and breaks between the storms. HOWEVER, ostinato creates a sense of unity - English horn solo stays mainly in the same register and hold onto notes. Quite a consonant and easy, stable sound until phrase 11, smooth contour - Phrase 11 is completely dissonant, mimicking the sound of bird calls, no chords or home notes, but is grounded by the percussion - Phrase 13 introduces a beautiful minor melody, where violins play in harmonies to each other, contours are smooth. Accompanying chords are almost consonant, but are not based on a chord, using second intervals. Viola ostinato

Unity, variety, contrast

- The piece has many moments of atonality through all the dissonance. The section C, notes only semi tones apart are played in a chord cluster. This is in contrast to its accompaniment which is much more consonant. - Also contrasts to section G and H where the choir works together in harmony and with the chords of the piano, eg G major chord triad in bar 79 - Big contrast in range. Again, section G is sung in high registers by female soprano and alto voices, while section G is sung by males in tenor and bass. - The entry of any new instrument in a new section adds contrast in registers, such as the tntrance of the piano at letter B (bar 33) - The use of any second intervals are used in contrast to the third intervals, which highlight the importance of the third intervals.

Tone Colour Quality and colour of sound created by various combinations of instruments and vocals

- Large ensemble with a variety of tone colours wood winds, brass, strings and percussion - instruments take turns playing solos - tone colour used to mimic the sounds of Kakadu and describe the setting - opening rhythmic ostinato sounds like didgeridoos

- contrast in who plays what part- violins start with the heavy ostinato at the beginning of the piece - strings play their melody majority of the time in harmony or with complimenting parts. Woodwinds and and brass might play their opposing part against the strings creating different sounds

- contrast between choir and piano in section A to section B. - The way in which the piano is played gives a techno, electro sound - Repetition of the techno motif repeated at section c on the strings, introducing the same material with a different sound. - The percussion idiophones stand out

Texture Explaining the layers of music

- thick and heavy texture for most of the piece- needs to describe Kakadu - horns imitating the violins playing the rhythmic ostinato create a new depth -layers of sound- instruments tend to be quite equal, and for a lot of the piece where all instruments are playing together, there is a polyphonic texture.

- The horn solo which is absolutely loose and empty compared to the beginning where the texture is absolutely full, filled with all sorts of instruments and layers all playing together

- The orchestra is quite full, and throughout the piece, generally changes through texture densities. - A capella to begin with, creates a thicker texture with a variety of voices - The thickening of texture at section B builds up to introduce the thick texture at section c. -> - Usually quite a clear foreground and back ground of choir and instruments, however, other instruments also take small solos - occasionally can be polyphonic, with the techno motif running through - randomness of texture and notes in section K, where all the intruments randomly play and tumble around with falling notes but choir are singing in a simple harmonic texture. - almost fugal, polyphonic section E, different choir members sing completely different parts - Syncopation of the piano triad chords add to the techno feeling, sound jumpy and exciting - Rhythm of the marimba is constructed in a repeated 7-crotchet beat pattern. This polyrhythm has been included to slightly break the sense of two-bar 4/4 patterns played by the other instruments. In this way it makes the piece a little less predictable - Abundance of glissandos in the voice - scattered glissando voice starts where ever on the scale and all moves down pitch wise randomly - decrescendos into new sections - quick changes between dynamics on violins in section I *114, very difficult to play on strings - Singers in falsetto sound light and airymallizna - acciacaturas in singers

- Sudden texture of the single, short bass drum solo leads into the polyphonic section where you hear the clear contrast between choir, strings, percussion and wind and horn instrument.s - section c thick and full, and then contrasted to a drop of only two lines of the male voices and the marimba - towards the second half of the piece, texture becomes increasingly polyphonic. - imitation is used through the piece * bar 60, cello plays semi quavers, then viola, then violin 2 then violin 1 - a variety of changes between the density of texture. Constantly changes from thick to thin eg bar 66-67 (whole ensemble to percussion, right hand piano and choir, only singing men/female at one time)

Duration

Dynamics and expressive techniques

- extremely syncopated both by the ostinato at the beggingng of the piece and at phrase two when violins play melody over- quite polyrhythmic between the brass/woodwinds parts and strings part -rhythmi - viola and cello tend to keep a steady rhythm and play on beat - percussion keeps the pulse - graphic notation in phrase 11: glissando moving down the string, but makes slight movements up on the way down to produce bird call sounds - double stops on violins keep fullness - viola playing harmonics eg phrase 5 -

- makes use of multimeter- every single bar of the piece has a different feel eg phrase 12 = 4/4 to 2/4 to 12/8 to 6/8 within a short space of time - free time in phrase 11 - when all players are together, they must adhere strictly to the rhythm do to the polyrhythms and syncopation. English horn solo allows for rubato

- Fugal form at section E gives out a variety of different melodies to listen to. It also contrasts the harmonic structure of the parts - Time signature changes the pulse and changes the syncopation pattern (multimeter) - whole piece remains in the same tempo

- extensive use of dynamics to signal a new section or a new idea -Phrase 11 begins in piano, then will crescendo up to a fortissiomo, then a decrescendo back into piano, - dramatic dynamics. Forte fortissimo is played with the full ensemble playing all together. Huge, dramatic dynamic compared to much of the piece

- mix of terraced dynamics and gradual dynamics - whole piece is kept very staccato, notes are generaly very short, and succinct which ties the piece and the instruments together, except on glissandos where the notes are long and tumble down - occasional pizzicato adds to the sharpness

- speaking the words ** bar 100 - Staccato, tenuto, accents

Structure

- Written in three parts. The outer sections are dance like and energetic and share similar musical ideas. The second section is introspective. -3 main sections divided into smaller sections with different musical ideas which might be moved around, eg phrase 3 and 6 are very similar

- 1 and last section still have different taste. The motif is still there, however, the rhythm is different. Only off beats are played and syncopated

st

- Piece is divided into small sections, characterized by different note combinations, different textures and different tone colours -intro to the piece is very unusual and distinct, a second intro by instruments builds up in texture to introduce the whole piece - different lyrics also introduce a different section

- different sections kept together by continuing the triad motif