Composing Phrase by Phrase 16

Prepping the Modulation

Hello and welcome or welcome back to Composing Phrase by Phrase! I've been working through a string quartet movement. Last week, I went over an extension of the second main section of the composition. The phrase geared up for a change from G major back into B-flat major. Today, I'll go over the next step in the modulation. Here's the phrase we'll be looking at:

mms. 102-115

The first big thing is the return of the "interruption phrase," the rhythmically and harmonically jarring measures which first arrived way back in the second phrase of the composition. This has been used previously as part of a consequent to an antecedent-consequent phrase pair, one which provided both a contrast and a means of preparing a cadential phrase. It was also used to help modulate the end of the first section from D major to B-flat major and it is being used in a similar fashion here.

There's a recurring motif that happens during these interruption moments, a minor second. Previous interruption phrases alternated between harmonically static rhythms and this motif, as such:

mms. 17-21

The interruption moment from mms. 102-106 condenses the alternation. I simply placed the minor second motif in the cello, alternating with big octave leaps.

mms. 102-106

I decided to condense this moment because we've already heard it a couple of times already. Giving a full reiteration of the interruption phrase felt like it would be too much of a muchness. Thinking about it now, I suppose it might also have been possible to give an extension of the interruption phrase, introducing harmonic movement and/or giving the rhythmic element to three instruments while the fourth plays a melody above it. That would be pretty cool, but I don't feel like the form supports that kind of development at the moment.

Speaking of harmony, the chords here are a conglomeration of sevenths. They were built around the vague idea of an F7 chord in first inversion - the cello plays the A, the viola plays the F and the E-flat. There's also a touch of a B-flat major chord sneaking in there between the cello's B-flat and the first violin's D and C-sharp. The second violin makes a mess of it with a G and F-sharp, a hold over from the G-major section prior.

Would an ear actually distinguish these three layered elements? No, I would think not. It simply perceives a sharp, cacophonous sound. However, different types of clusters do have different types of sounds. If I had used another stack of sevenths using pitches unrelated to the two key areas I'm trying to connect (G-major and B-flat major), it would have a similar but tangibly different harmonic feel to it.

All of that mess resolves to an A-major chord. The chord is presented using the cadential rhythmic motif, a dotted-eighth plus sixteenth-note plus eighth-note rhythm over sixteenths into and eighth. The viola sustains its cadential note, playing on while the rest of the instruments abruptly cut off.

While the viola continues on, the minor-second motif makes a return. The cello plays a rhythmic bass on A and the second violin performs the minor-second. Its relation to the sustained and rhythmic A's is a third, alternating between major and minor through the motif. After alternating with the cello in a hocket-like moment, the viola and cello lead into the next part of the phrase with scales playing in contrary motion. Their goal is an E-flat, a tritone away from the A.

mms. 108-110

At the next segment, the second violin picks up the sustained tone and everything repeats in the new harmonic area. The difference is register. The viola plays what the cello played prior while the first violin plays what the second violin played previously. The contrary motion scales also land in a slightly different way, on an A and a C instead of octaves.

mms. 111-115

There's still a little bit more before the modulation back to B-flat is completed, but I think I'll leave that for next week. The main take away here is how the phrase creates a moment of high tension that acts as the pay off for the build-up before it, then suddenly breaks away. Even though it creates space, the fact that the rhythmic and harmonic elements are yet unsettled continues to hold suspense. The listener doesn't quite get a breather at this moment. I'd rather the release of tension happen at the return of the B-flat major melody. This is all a pacing issue - if I release tension too soon, the melody's comeback won't be quite as impactful. In this case, that's because the melody we're repeating is, itself, fairly relaxed compared to the rest of the composition. Letting the tension go slack before its return doesn't give us much else to let go of for dramatic effect.

Alright, I think that's all for today! I hope you learned a thing or two for your own composing. If you enjoyed the post, consider subscribing to an RSS feed of your choice. If you really enjoyed it, maybe join my Patreon! I post score videos for the phrases I write about in the blog as well as other scores and project as they come up. Either way, thanks for reading!