Music for a While 2 (already have a mind map on it, this one is from nearpod)
Performing forces
String-dominated melody
Harpsichord acts as conductor
Bass viol and left hand harpsichord part plays the ground bass.
Vocal made for a tenor but in this extract it is a soprano
Transposed from C minor to A minor
Right-hand harpsichord plays realisation- ornamentation and highly decorated.
Melody
Use of word-painting- a common baroque feature- e.g "drop" is a descending melody and "eternal" makes use of melissma
Contrapuntal
Comes from a play
Texture
Homophonic
Right-hand harpsichord provides counterpoint melody
Tonality
A minor transposed from C minor
Frequent key changes
Structure
Ground bass structure- short repeating bass line which holds the music together when other parts change
Context
Composed by Henry Purcell
Composed for a play
From the Baroque era.
Terraced dynamics
Ornamentation in vocal and harpsichord- trills, appogiatura,grace notes, upper and lower mordents
Basso continuo instruments include harpsichord and bass viol.
Right hand part of harpsichord has dotted rhythms
Text setting
Word painting (see melody branch)
Vocal line is syllabic
Some melisma (e.g bar 10, 'wond'ring".
Repetition on the 'drop' at bar 23
Minor key reflects sad mood of song
Biggest interval is a perfect 4th (bar 7- A-D)
Rests are used to break up phrases
Descending sequences (bar 20)
3 bars long
Only uses quaver rythms
Based on an arpeggio
Semitone intervals (e.g F# to G)
Rises from an 'A' before falling at the end
Tierce de Picardie in bar 23 (C major)
Ground bass uses chromatic chords so tonality sometimes unclear
Key changes to related keys frequently
Music returns to A minor in bar 28
False relation- when two notes clash near eachother
Harmony
Chords are functional and diatonic
Perfect cadences
Uses of dissonance
Occasional suspensions
False relation
Melody dominated homophony
Tempo, metre and rythm
No tempo but is indicated to be slow
4/4 time signature
Quaver and semi-quaver ryrhms