Vaughan Williams

context

wanted to break away from German romanticism

influences

English folk song

Vaughan Williams travelled around the countryside writing down the words and
notation of these songs, so that they could be preserved for posterity

tudor church music

modality influenced his own musical style

Thomas Tallis and William Byrd

modal

french impressionism

studied with ravel beofre writing the set work

The bell effects in ‘Bredon Hill’ are
reminiscent of Debussy’s piano piece The Submerged Cathedra

tremolo strings and parallel harmonies

song cycle

based on a Shropshire lad by Houssman

main themes are rural life and loss of innocence

On Wenlock edge

Piano style

instrumentation and vocal style

piano quintet

used by Schumann and Brahms also

solo voice and piano quintet is, extremely rare

alternative part for solo piano that
could be used in the absence of a string quartet

main solo piano part contains most of the harmonies used in the string quartet music and the left-hand part frequently doubles the cello

paralell chords

ostinato accompaniments

rapid arpeggios

trills

string style

Tremolo strings

pizzicato cello

triple stopped pizzicato

Sul ponticello technique

The technique is a word painting technique to illustrate the gale in the
text

creates textural interest

experimental

vocal style

music for tenor soloist is not particularly virtuosic

mainly syllabic

standard tenor range, amatuers and proffessionals can perform

folk song influence

shows poem inspiration

melodic style

restricted note range

based on pentatonic sequences

repeated notes

shows power of the gale

chromatic decent

unpredictability of the storm

conjunct with larger leaps

diatonic

singable, easy to follow, folk influence

rhythm and metre

Triplets and sextuplets

cross rhythm

rippling hemidemisemiquavers

frequent time signature changes

natural rhythms of speech

experimental

appreciates natural sounds existed

storytelling- folk influence

texture

parallel first inversions

piano doubles the upper string parts here, while the pizzicato cello plays occasional
notes doubling the second violin down an octave

reduced texture towards the end of the song

Block chords accompany cello and voice

fortissimo tutti

plays with texture throughout, shows varying landscapes

tonality and harmony

consonant harmony

parallel chords- impressionist feature

modal influence

dissonance on the word gale

chromatic chordal movement

extended chords

sweetness of rural life

sense of dread, loss of innocence

‘the submerged cathedral’

Tippet ‘concerto for double string orchestra’

. ‘Habanera’ by Ravel

Is my team ploughing

piano style

ostinato accompaniments

string style

instrumentation is reduced to a solo cello and piano from bar 9

Con sordino (muted

vocal style

ocassional high notes- on the word dead

recitative style

chilling

death

tension

experimental

melodic style

rhythm and metre

long held notes

so that the singer can sing in free time

texture

parts move homorhythmically

eerie atmosphere

sense of unity- ww1

tonality and harmony

dorian harmony

Simple diatonic
chords are given their mysterious quality

Structure

modified strophic

poem influence

Bredon Hill

string style

pianissimo
muted effect

combination of pizzicato and arco

suggest the sound of bells

Open harmonics are used for the string chords

bell effect

delicate

reduced instrumentation - loneliness

Vocal style

occasional melisma's

frequent use of an anacrusis

accentuation of the syllables

fit the iambic nature of much of the poetry

singer instructed to sing in a totally free tempo at the end

feels more free

freeness of rural life

melodic style

untransposed Mixolydian in G

The middle of the song is again more chromatic

folk inspired

Tippet concerto for double string orchestra - fluid metre inspired by secular music

Tippet- uses lydian mode, folk influenced

Rhythm and metre

sustained bell chords with tied semibreves

word painting

transports the listener

Debussy- submerged cathedral, uses bell effect with open fifths, lots of word painting, when cathedral emerges modulates to Bb maj

Texture

simple melody-dominated homophony

solemn sustained chords imitating the sound of the tolling of bells

bells ring out more rapidly from bar 52 with a new triplet ostinato, creating a three layered texture

Tonality and harmony

Seventh chords dominate

Extended chords

occasional second inversion seventh chords