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on wedlock edge wider listening - Coggle Diagram
on wedlock edge wider listening
performing forces and their handling
Benjamin Britten – Winter Words, No. 1: At Day Close in November (1953)
Both Vaughan Williams and Britten explore the expressive possibilities of voice and piano, often pushing traditional boundaries.
Intimate yet dramatic vocal writing: Like On Wenlock Edge, Britten’s setting emphasizes the emotional depth of the text, using a declamatory vocal line that shifts between speech-like delivery and lyrical phrasing.
Alternating textures in the accompaniment: Both composers contrast delicate, transparent textures with heavier, more forceful chordal writing, mirroring the dramatic shifts in the poetry.
Use of dynamics to heighten drama: Sudden crescendos and diminuendos are used to reflect emotional surges in the text, just as Vaughan Williams does in Is My Team Ploughing?.
harmony and tonality
Maurice Ravel – Histoires Naturelles (1906-07)
Both Vaughan Williams and Ravel experiment with modal harmonies and extended tonality to create atmospheric settings of poetic texts.
Influence of French Impressionism: Like Ravel, Vaughan Williams uses parallel chords, whole-tone scales, and modal inflections to create a sense of harmonic fluidity.
Frequent shifts between tonal centers: Both composers avoid strict functional harmony, instead allowing tonality to shift subtly, creating a dreamlike and sometimes ambiguous quality.
Use of unresolved chords to reflect poetic uncertainty: Just as Vaughan Williams leaves phrases hanging harmonically to heighten emotional impact, Ravel does the same in Histoires Naturelles, allowing the harmonic ambiguity to reinforce the meaning of the text.
Contrasts between diatonic and chromatic passages: Vaughan Williams juxtaposes simple folk-like harmonies with moments of heightened chromaticism, much like Ravel, who moves fluidly between modal and chromatic elements.
performance
techniques
Claude Debussy – Préludes, Book 1: La Cathédrale Engloutie (1910)
Both works emphasize delicate and atmospheric performance techniques to create evocative landscapes.
Use of pedal in the piano to create blurred harmonies: Like La Cathédrale Engloutie, Vaughan Williams employs sustaining pedal techniques to enhance the ethereal, floating quality of certain passages.
Light, rapid figuration to depict natural imagery: Vaughan Williams and Debussy both use delicate, shimmering piano figures to represent wind, water, or distant bells (especially in Bredon Hill).
Subtle changes in articulation to shape phrasing: In both works, staccato, legato, and tenuto markings are used with precision, ensuring each phrase is emotionally nuanced.
String-like sonorities in the piano writing: Vaughan Williams uses rolling arpeggios and sustained chords in a manner reminiscent of Debussy’s orchestral textures, blending piano and voice into a seamless atmospheric whole.
texture
Gustav Mahler – Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1883-85)
Both Vaughan Williams and Mahler manipulate texture to create dynamic shifts in emotional intensity.
Contrasting textures between sparse accompaniment and rich, full chords: Like Mahler, Vaughan Williams switches between delicate, almost skeletal textures and moments of thick, expressive piano writing to heighten drama.
Use of countermelodies to enrich the vocal line: Both composers allow the accompaniment to have an independent voice, sometimes doubling, opposing, or weaving around the vocal line.
Varied textural layering to reflect poetic shifts: Vaughan Williams and Mahler both thin out textures for reflective, intimate moments and thicken them for heightened emotional climaxes.
Orchestral influences in the piano writing: Vaughan Williams imitates orchestral sonorities within the piano texture, much like Mahler’s orchestral lieder, creating a sense of expansive, symphonic depth even in a smaller setting.
tempo, metre and rhythm
Richard Strauss – Vier Letzte Lieder: Frühling (1948)
Both Vaughan Williams and Strauss use flexible rhythm and meter to shape long, expressive vocal lines.
Fluid tempo changes to mirror natural speech rhythms: Like Frühling, Vaughan Williams’ vocal lines shift subtly in tempo, avoiding rigid rhythmic patterns.
Frequent rubato for expressive phrasing: Both pieces feature moments of rhythmic flexibility, with the accompaniment stretching and contracting to enhance the vocal line.
Long, arching rhythmic phrases in the melody: Vaughan Williams and Strauss both construct long, flowing phrases that allow the voice to soar expressively.
Use of syncopation and metric shifts for dramatic effect: In Is My Team Ploughing, sudden rhythmic disruptions help emphasize the unsettling nature of the text, much like Strauss’ metric fluidity adds poignancy to Frühling.
structure
Franz Schubert – Winterreise: Gute Nacht (1827)
Both Vaughan Williams and Schubert craft song structures that enhance the narrative and emotional depth of the poetry.
Through-composed form to reflect evolving emotion: Like Winterreise, Vaughan Williams avoids strict repetition, allowing the structure to unfold organically.
Subtle motivic returns to create coherence: Vaughan Williams and Schubert reuse melodic and harmonic ideas in varied forms to unify the song’s emotional journey.
melody
Gabriel Fauré – La bonne chanson (1894-95)
Both Vaughan Williams and Fauré write expansive, fluid vocal melodies that prioritize expressivity and text-setting over strict symmetry.
Long, arching melodic lines: Like La bonne chanson, Vaughan Williams’ melodies often span wide intervals and sustain long phrases, creating a sense of lyrical unfolding.
Modal inflections: Both composers incorporate modal elements—such as Mixolydian and Dorian modes—which lend a folk-like yet sophisticated character to the vocal line.
Speech-influenced contours: Vaughan Williams, much like Fauré, carefully crafts melodies to align with the natural inflection and rhythm of the text, making them feel organic and deeply expressive.
Chromatic passing tones and appoggiaturas for emotional nuance: In Is My Team Ploughing, for instance, subtle chromaticism heightens the tension and sorrow, a technique similarly found in Fauré’s delicate melodic embellishments.
Repetition with variation: Both composers return to melodic ideas in varied forms, ensuring that phrases feel familiar yet constantly evolving—mirroring the poetic progression of the text.