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Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge (Dynamics ('Is My Team…
Vaughan Williams:
On Wenlock Edge
Dynamics
'On Wenlock Edge'
wide dynamic range
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
f bar 11, 29
pp bar 1, 23,58
p bar 18, 35, 53
f bar 9, 39
ff bar 50
'Bredon Hill'
pppp - ff
Rhythm and Duration
'On Wenlock Edge'
2/2 bar 1-9
triplets and sextuplets heard from beginning
four against three cross rhythms
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
4/4 bar 1, 9, 29, 49, 55
2/4 bar 44
3/4 bar 8, 26, 45, 50
'Bredon Hill'
changes between 2/2, 4/4, 3/2
Tempo
'On Wenlock Edge'
Allegro moderato
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
Andante sostenuto ma non troppo lento
'Bredon Hill'
Moderato tranquillo
many changes throughout (52-67, 100-127)
Structure
'On Wenlock Edge'
There are five verses in Housman’s text. AABBA/B,
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
The structure of the
song is modified strophic
AB
AB
A1B1
'Bredon Hill'
Intro-A-A-B-B1-C-D-A1-postlude
Melody
'On Wenlock Edge'
vocal melody largely syllabic.
limited, 'modal' melody, initially tracing a pentatonic scale
chromatic descent after climax
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
Dorian in character
Dorian mode is D to D with a distinctive flat third and seventh.
The beginning of the song is mainly conjunct, but later there are larger leaps (bars 14-15)
'Bredon Hill'
Instrumentation
'On Wenlock Edge'
String Quartet, piano, tenor
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
String Quartet, piano, tenor
'Bredon Hill'
String Quartet, piano, tenor
Texture
'On Wenlock Edge'
homophonic Considerable variety(bar 6-10)
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
homophonic
stanzas 2 and 4 the piano has repeated - note triplet chords. The cello has a countermelody, the bass or the piano's right-hand melody.
stanzas 1 and 3 a single chord sustained by the upper string provides
'Bredon Hill'
homophonic
Timbre
'On Wenlock Edge'
Violin 2
Violin1
Viola
Violoncello
Piano
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
Voice tenor
Violins
Cello
Violas
Piano
involves muted strings
'Bredon Hill'
block chords on piano represent church bells
pizz and arco strings to suggest bells
pp, double-stopped, con sord. strings at beginning
Harmony
'On Wenlock Edge'
7th chords heard at start all in root position. 11th chords, typical of impressionism
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
consonant
Dorian harmony is heard at the beginning
placing the D minor and G major chords one
after the other
'Bredon Hill'
Context
'On Wenlock Edge'
resonated strongly with audiences on the eve of the First World War and one of the first of Vaughan William's pieces
a song cycle written in 1909,
Tonality
'On Wenlock Edge'
E minor，distinctly modal，Change of key sig at bar 52 (no sharps or flats) two flats at bar 100
'Is My Team Ploughing?'
stanzas 1 and 3
in the Dorian mode or in D minor
with Dorian 'inflection'
Stanzas 2 and 4 are not modal
Dorian-mode is re-used for the interlude before stanza 5
stanza 6 suggests a blurred and inconclusive E major
'Bredon Hill'