Composing Phrase by Phrase 19

Ascending the Roller Coaster

Hello and welcome or welcome back to Composing Phrase by Phrase! The past couple of weeks have been spent going over the modulatory transition back to D major from B-flat major. We're getting pretty close to the end of the transition, too. Just a couple more phrases and then we're there. To refresh a little bit, last week started a big shift in tone and texture. The viola and cello took the second theme's rhythm into a new melodic arc, while the first and second violins began a harmonized "skittering" melody based on a motif from the second theme. This week will continue that development. Tally ho!

mms. 141-154

Let's start with the simpler half of the equation. The viola and cello continue the altered rhythmic motif and begin a slow ascent towards out target pitch, A. Harmonically, the first four bars are drawn from the octatonic scale, a type of scale that pops up a lot in late 19th-century and early 20th century music. Like the whole tone scale, octatonic scales have a certain sense of ambiguity to them. That ambiguity helps this phrase continue to function as a pivot from B-flat to D major. The phrase segment ends with an ascending push to A.

mms. 141-146, viola/cello

The violins remain in a harmonized line together for the next few measures. At m.141, they cadence their previous line while the viola and cello continue onwards, maintaining forward momentum. The next four measures are in two-bar segments. Measure 142 begins with a scale that continues its line from the cadential note in 141. It then ends with an arpeggio that, like the monorail or the escalator to nowhere, just sort of ends abruptly. Measure 143 is a the second measure of the segment. It's a repetition of the second and third beats from 142, but moved up a step. The line tries one more ascent and falls off the cliff again. Like Wile E. Coyote.

violins m. 142-143

Measures 144-145 take the segment up a step in the sequence. It is otherwise exactly the same as 142-143.

violins, mms. 142-145

Measure 146 ends the first part of the phrase. The violins separate from each other, with the first violin beginning a compression of the previous two-measure segment. This allows the line to fit within a single bar, plus a beat. The effect now is a big "upbeat" measure into 147.

violin 1, mms. 145-147

The arrival at 147 marks another textural change. The cello settles on a pedal point A (simply put, it is sustained while other instruments do things). The viola begins a new melody based on the previous rhythmic motif, plus a little extra. It begins an apparent sequential repetition at m. 150, but peels off in a slightly different way. The 2/4 measure at 152 marks a rhythmic shift that will help build up to a climactic moment.

viola/cello, mms. 147-152

Meanwhile, the violins continue their skittering motif, this time in a call and response style texture. The entrances of each overlap with each other somewhat, giving the sense of two instruments kind of stepping on each other's toes to get a word in edgewise.

violins, mms. 146-149

The lines are presented in sequence. When looked at as a whole, the sequence simply follows a scale. The scale is divided between the two violins, though, so each individual instrument has its line transposed up a third, instead. This would be a really cool texture to experiment with in something like a wind quintet, where the difference in timbres (between, say, a flute and clarinet) could add an additional layer of interest. With just violins, the effect is slightly stereophonic, to the extent it can be with the players sitting right next to each other.

violins, scale sequence mms. 146-149

At 150, the violins join back together in harmony again, the scale fragment moving up and stepping back in a kind of musical stutter. Rhythmically, taking the rests out of the motif entrances gives a sense of compression. This metrical compression has been going on since the beginning of the phrase. 142-145 present the idea with rests; 146-149 take the same idea, but overlap entrances between the two instruments, compressing the idea a bit; finally, 150-152 compresses the motif into a single measure without any rests to catch one's breath. All in all, a fairly common approach to building intensity, although with somewhat uncommon musical elements

violins, metrical compression, mms. 142-152

The phrase ends with one last build up. The move from triplet eighth-notes to triplet quarter-notes gives a sense of slowing, a change which is reinforced by a slight ritardando leading to the top of the musical moment. The cello grounds the whole thing with octave leaps up a scale; the viola plays leaps of sixths in counterpoint to the violins, who are more or less playing a scale straight to the top. The violins and viola are in rhythmic hemiola against the cello, just for a bit of extra rhythmic texture.

quartet, mms. 152-154

What's it all leading to? Well, youll have to wait and find out next week! I hope you found this post interesting and/or informative. If you did, consider following along on an RSS feed of your choice. If you really did, you can help support a starving artist by joining my Patreon! Either way, thanks for reading and I hope you come back for more!