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music revision - Coggle Diagram
music revision
music for a while
background and context
Alecto’s role in the story is to taunt and persecute Oedipus for killing his father.
The soloist sings to one of the Furies, Alecto to calm her.
The first 3 bars are played when the priests are trying to raise the King from the dead.
At this point in the play,Tiresias (a blind seer) and two priests summon the ghost of King Laius to discover the identity of his murderer.
‘Music for a While’ comes from Act 1, Scene 3 of Oedipus.
performance forces and their handling
written for voice and continuo
usually written for tenor
the edition which i am learning is scored/meant for soprano,harpsichord and bass viol
originally in c minor but has been transposed to A minor
The left hand harpsichord part and bass viol play the ground bass.
text setting and word-painting
the vocal line is syllabic
paired slurs(bar 5 on the words 'for' and 'a')
some melismatic moments(bar 10 on the word 'wond'ring)
Extended melisma on the word 'eternal' in bar 20
repetition on the the word 'drop' in bar 23
Word-painting is another common feature of baroque music
This is when the music reflects the literal meaning of a song
For Example
'pains' in bar 12 features dissonance.
'pains were eas'd' in bar 13 features a descending sequence where the dissonance is resolved
melody-ornamentation
mainly conjunct or stepwise
note big jumps,the biggest interval is a perfect 4th(bar 7'A->D')
rests are used to to break up phrases
descending sequences (bar 20)
extensive use of ornamentation, both in the soprano and harpsichord parts:
trills(bar 13)
appoggiatura(bar 35)
grace notes(bar 6)
upper mordents (bar 22)
lower mordent (bar 1)
structure
Ground bass structure
This is a short,repeating bass line which holds the music together while the other other parts change above
features of the ground bass in 'music for a while':
3 bars long
only uses quaver rhythms
based on an arpeggio.
semitone intervals(F# -> G,G#-> A for example).
Rises from an 'A' before falling at the end.
tonality
A minor
tierce de picardie in bar 23 C major (a major third in the final chord of a piece in a minor key).
the tonality is sometimes unclear because the ground bass uses chromatic notes.
Key changes to related keys happen frequently.
The key changes happen in the following bars:
Bar 14 - E minor
Bar 16 - G major
Bar 21 - C major
Bar 23 - A minor
Bar 27 - E minor
The music returns to A minor from bar 28
harmony
The chords are functional and diatonic
perfect cadences
Use of dissonances, for example bar 12 on the word 'pains'(example of word painting)
occasional suspension(bar 3 beat 4).
False relations (bar 1,F# and F♮)
texture
homophonic(melody and accompaniment)
melody dominated homophony(fancy word for homophonic)
the right hand harpsichord part provides some counterpoint with the vocal line
tempo,metre and rhythm
no tempo indicated, but the tempo is slow
4/4 metre (time signature)
mainly quaver and semiquaver rhythms
some dotted rhythms(e.g bar 10)
some syncopation (e.g. Bar 20)
off-beat rhythms(e.g bar 24)
the ground bass uses entirely quavers
killer queen
structure
verse1,chorus 1,instrumental,verse 2, chorus 2, guitar solo,
verse 3, chorus 3, outro
harmony
most chords are root chords.
some dissonance
seventh chords
altered and extended chords
circle of fifths
pedal
performing Forces & their handling
Freddie mercury is the lead singer who is a tenor
killer queen uses: Lead vocals, Backing vocals, Piano, overdubbed honky tonk piano, four electric guitars,bass guitar and a drum kit.
the guitars use 4 techniques: slides,bends,pull offs or hammer ons and vibrato
Killer queen also uses a lot of recording techniques. such as:Multi tracking,EQ,Flanger, distortion,reverb,Wah-Wah,panning and overdubbing.
melody
mainly syllabic
backing vocals use vocalisation
starts mainly conjunct, small leaps of a 3rd or a 4th
descending sequence
Verse and chorus combine conjunct and angular leaps
tonality
Eb major 3 flats
opening in C minor and closing on Eb major chord
Tonality is ambiguous at times
there are passing modulations through different keys
texture
Homophonic
imitation
layering
Three-part texture during guitar solo
use of panning antiphonal
Tempo,Metre and Rhythm
moderato tempo
112 bpm
swung feel
occasional 6/8 bar
anacrusis at the start of every verse and chorus.
frequent syncopation
triplets
red is melody
blue is performing Forces and their handling
black is structure
yellow is harmony
green is tonality
orange is texture
grey is tempo,metre and rhythm