Oblique motion: occurs when one voice remains on a single pitch while the other ascends or descendsĬanon: (meaning rule) one melody is strictly imitated by a second part after a delay in the entrance of the Parallel motion: two or more parts moving in the same direction and same intervals, as in parallel fifthsĬontrary motion: two or more parts moving in the opposite direction Triads: three notes that can be arranged into superimposed thirdsĮxtended chords: thirds added above the triad, usually as a 9th, 11th or 13thĬonsonance: a harmonic combination that is stable, usually in thirdsĭissonance: a harmonic combination that is unstable, often including seconds or sevenths Mensurations: used in music from 1300-1600, the ratios of rhythmic durationsĬhords: three or more pitches sounding simultaneously
Simple meters: beats subdivided into two parts (2/4, 3/4, 4/4)Ĭompound meters: beats subdivided into three parts (6/8, 9/8, 12/8)Īsymmetrical meters: meters with an uneven number of subdivisions (7/4, 5/8)
Schumann indicates that the strophes containing the word free#
Non-metric, unmetrical: free rhythm, no discernable time Meter: groups of beats in a recurring pattern with accentuation on strong beats Measures or bars: a metrical unit separated by lines in musical notation Phrase: a musical unit with a terminal point, or cadence. Motive: a short pattern of 3-5 notes (melodic, rhythmic, harmonic or any combination of these) that is repetitive Range: the distance between the lowest and highest pitches, usually referred to as narrow Click on Music Reference, then Oxford Music Online.Ĭontour: the shape of the melody as rising or fallingĬonjunct: stepwise melodic motion, moving mostly by step in intervals of a 2ndĭisjunct: melodic motion in intervals larger than a 2nd, often with a large number of wide skips Many of the pieces have long sections for solo piano, and in Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai, the melody for this piece is actually traded between the voices.Explanations and musical examples can be found through the Oxford Music Online, accessed through the Potsdam Library page at. This cycle is a wonderful example of how involved the pianist is with the music, and how crucial it is that the singer and pianist have good (and constant) communication.
This creates a very appealing paradox for the listener, which is sometimes left unresolved until the next song in the cycle. For some of these pieces the music sounds very happy, but when you really read the text you find an underlying bitter and sarcastic meaning. It then falls sharply into a long period of depression, before finally ending with a bitter outlook on everything that’s happened throughout the cycle. The pounding bass notes in the accompaniment strongly suggest emotional turmoil, while the text declares, “You broke my heart, but now that I see who you really are, I bear no grudge,” or as he so tactfully put it, “I saw the snake that feeds upon your heart.”This is yet another example of the romantic style of using nature based metaphor. The cycle stays in that happy/peppy/love-drunk mood for quite a while, then very suddenly, the 7 th song (Ich Grolle Nicht – I bear no grudge) floods the listener with anger and sarcasm. With very little repetition of text and minimal vocal embellishments, he very tidily captures the feeling of the poetry in an almost declamatory setting. “in the wonderfully beautiful month of May.” It’s strophic, and like many of the songs in the cycle, it’s short, containing only 2 stanzas.
The first song of the cycle, Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai (in the wonderfully beautiful month of May) speaks elegantly about a new love “bursting” into bloom like a flower…. The cycle is called Dichterliebe, (The Poet’s Love) and is arranged so that it resembles the various stages of a relationship, and in this case, not a very successful one. In Schumann’s year of song (1840) he organized 16 of the German poet Heine’s poems into a song cycle.
0 kommentar(er)
