Project 6: Analysing a Solo Composition

PROJECT 6 - Analysing a Solo Composition

Gordon Jacobs – Seven Bagatelles parts I-VIII (1969)

I found this piece to be an extremely interesting demonstration of the full range and character of the oboe.  The seven parts of the composition each carry their own mood and display a new characteristic of this versatile instrument.

Part I: March shows the bright and rhythmic nature of the oboe with its use of high tones, mimicking some of the characteristics of the military style of music.  Throughout the piece I heard interesting rhythmic motifs repeating, using quavers and semiquavers in short jumping movements that varied in pitch, almost like the sound of marching troops.   These ‘marching’ sections also seem to give the impression of the troops moving towards their goal and finally, at the end of the piece, reaching it.  In my opinion it is the use of quickly varying dynamics and increasing complexity of the rhythm that helps to maintain this feeling.  These ‘marching’ sections seem to be interspersed with sections that are reminiscent of a fanfare.  These sections make heavy use of staccato notes in a monotone pattern which increases in pitch as the troops ‘reach their goal’. 

Part II: Elegy once again reflects this section’s title with the use of lower and more solemn tones.  There is a definite melancholic feeling throughout the piece due to the wave-like contours in the melody.  There are also interesting ‘flicks’ of high notes at the end of some of the motifs, which seem to contrast and balance the low mood of the piece.  The piano dynamic of the piece, with gently pulsing volume, works well with the large slurred sections to maintain a solemn feel.  The part I found most interesting in this piece was the pendulum between the 3/4 time signature, mainly using quaver and smaller, and the 4/4 sections which mainly used longer notes.  I think it may be these ‘gaps’ of silence between these longer notes that remind the listener of the sad nature of this composition.   Towards the end of the piece there is a direction of mezzo forte and capriccioso lasting two bars.  This short section really contrasts the rest of the piece with light and lively notes accented with grace notes to create a skipping motion.  To me, these lighter and contrasting bars represent the hope in the piece and give the listener a burst of light in an otherwise solemn composition.

Part III: Waltz carries a more dramatic feel to its melodic contours, yet maintains the graceful and light rhythm of the Waltz, with slurred motifs representing each movement of the dancer.   The piece begins exploring the upper range of the treble staff and repeats rhythmic patterns that vary slightly in pitch.  Around the middle section we see a change to higher tones, gently decreasing in pitch to give this section an overall arc in the melody.  The use of dynamics also helps to give the piece the feeling of the dance movement associated with the Waltz.  At times the oboe’s highest tones could easily be confused with an instrument from the string family. 

Part IV: Slow Air has a gentle and flowing feel despite disjunct sections of the piece.  The melody flows in deep and shallow waves, almost giving the feel of a descending arpeggiated run, exploring the comfortable range of the oboe.   The use of mainly crotchets throughout helps to give this piece a simplistic flow and, as with the last two sections, this piece relies heavily on the use of slurs to maintain a steady and smooth rhythm.  The dynamics of Slow Air move between piano and mezzo forte using crescendos and decrescendos to highlight the interesting motifs in this section. 

Part V: Limerick I found to be the most interesting of all sections in this composition.  There is a light and comical feel throughout with the infamous rhythm of a limerick running throughout, telling the joke as the piece moves.  There is a repeating melodic movement used to achieve this effect, beginning with a descending movement moving down an octave, followed by an ascending movement mirroring the last contour, finished by two bars of semiquavers, pitched with staccatos to imitate the varying intonation of speech.   The movement continues throughout the piece, changing slightly each time to explore the range of the oboe, before the last six bars which give a ‘punch line’ feel to the piece.  The final bars use a conjunct motion to neatly return the melody to its starting pitch, giving the feeling of completing the joke. 

Part VI: Chinese Tune, despite its title, seemed to me to carry more of a Celtic than Oriental feel.  The gentle tempo and smooth and flowing notes consist mainly of semi quavers, interspersed with the occasional longer note to create a break and even a group of hemidemisemiquavers before a decrescendo.  The use of these notes appears to echo the simplistic feel of the Celtic pipes and the grace notes used in the middle of this section reveal yet another characteristic, almost mimicking the flute.  The dynamics remain low and fairly minimal throughout this section, probably to maintain the calm and airy nature of the melodic movement.  In the final two bars I did get a hint of China, with visions of the sun rising over the rice fields.

Part VII: Galop seems to tell the story of a horse race, using various techniques to build in the feeling of tension, speed and chasing.   The tempo direction of Presto starts the piece with a fast paced and bright feel, which continues throughout the final section of this piece.  Unlike the other sections of Seven Bagatelles, my initial thoughts on the piece was the sparse use of slurs and therefore, the oboe’s more frantic and jumpy quality.  This is backed up with the heavy use of staccato notes to give the impression of a horse’s movement.    The first section of Galop uses short, slurred patterns followed by rests to give the impression of the horses on the straights of the racetrack.  This is interwoven with section of staccato quavers, which aid in raising the tension of the piece, and gave me the impression of the horses battling on the curves of the track.  There is a key change as the piece moves into its middle section, which to me suggested a clear leader of race, dashing in front of the other riders.  This is represented by the few large slurred sections of Galop, in a wavelike melodic contours and give the piece the feeling of leaping.  The piece then returns to its original light and jumpy feel before using heavy dynamics to build in the final moments of the race.  There is an interesting disjunct motif, which is repeated at the end to give the impression of the final finish line. 

Although it is hard to describe the overall structure of a piece written in parts, each individual section or part, seems to follow its own structure to create a final balanced piece.  The majority of the seven pieces seem to follow a simple ABA structure, each varying in melodic contours and overall movement of the melody.  However, I found Part I: March to be interesting as it seemed to use an ABABAB structure, differentiating between the fanfare and marching, seemingly mimicking the regular rhythm of the march.  Part V: Limerick seemed to follow the ABA structure once again, but this time seemed to add a (C) section at the end of the piece as the punch line. 

I found this piece to be extremely enlightening, revealing the huge range and characteristics of the oboe.  The instrument’s wide tonal range and versatile ability was really evident throughout this selection of pieces, each portraying different moods and feelings.

Debussy Syrinx (1913) - FLUTE

Despite the title making reference to Greek mythology, when listening to this piece I repeatedly pictured a woodland scene, with the different parts of the melody portraying different animals and situations. 

I saw the first section of the piece as the dawning of a new day.  The mf dynamic set a bright an airy mood to the piece, complemented by a moderate tempo and conjunct motion to the melody.  The varied use of quavers, semiquavers and demisemiquavers show off the flute’s ability to flow between notes.  These short and airy notes, teamed with the high-range, gave me the impression of birds singing their morning call, gently waking the sleeping woodland.  The piece continues with simple motifs and large slurred sections, which brought to mind images of other animals waking and coming out of hiding. 

Around the middle of the piece the mood seems to change, beginning with the use of repeated triplets using decrescendos, which give a feeling of emerging tension to the piece.  The directions for the flautist to slow down and maintain a Rubato feel give the piece a slight feeling of imbalance and unease.  The use of triplets and rapidly varying dynamics continue to give the piece a darker and heavier feel, exploring the use of the lower tones, moving down to middle C of the flute’s wide range.   Although this section maintains a stepwise movement in the melody, the rapid movement in the contour of the melody shapes the overall change in mood. 

In contrast to the darker feel of the previous section, the final section of Syrinx is reminiscent of the first section of the piece, introduced by the use of trilled notes and grace notes which are a stark contrast to the fast demisemiquavers used in the previous bar.  I believe that it is this section that balances the smooth contrast between the subsidiary section of this composition.  Following this introduction, the melody continues smoothly, using slurs to tie together adjacent motifs.  The final bars of the piece change to a 2/4 time signature as the flute demonstrates its range in a number of descending melodic motions before returning to its original time signature of 3/4.  The final two bars of the piece continue with the melody line following the lower range, making using of both triplets and quintuplets.  The slurred notes and dynamics help to return the piece to the gentle and smooth melody which was evident at the beginning.  This whole section gave me the impression of the sun setting and the woodland returning to sleep. 

One of my favourite things about this piece is that it seems to complete a ‘full circle’ as it uses a very simple ABA structure. It remains in the same key throughout which I believe adds to its simplicity, but demonstrates the flute’s agility with the use of fast flowing notes and varying dynamics.