Week 19 The 20th Century Poulenc

Week 19 The 20th Century Poulenc

Revision of set work

Aims and Objectives

Aim: To start revising the Poulenc Trio

Objectives:

1 To look again at the types of question you will be asked about the 20th century set works

2 To Identify the key features

3 To discuss how you should revise this set work

The types of questions

Lets look at the questions from the 2019 exam paper. If we do them as quiz questions, we can see how much you already know.

Multiple Choice

The extract begins at bar 23. State the key of the music at the start of the extract.

• B minor

• B major

• D minor

• D major

Multiple Select

State how this key relates to the key at the opening of the movement.

• Neapolitan

• Flattened Supertonic

• 1 semitone higher

• Dominant

Multiple Select

Give one feature of the music in the extract that is typical of the Neoclassical style.

• Harmony is tonal but with increased dissonance

• Unusual chord progressions

• Piano reminiscent of classical style

• Melodic material also reminiscent of classical era

• Use of octatonic scale

The rest of the questions explained

Briefly describe how the extract fits into the form of the movement. (2 marks)

• Could be considered the (opening of) B section / of an ABA structure

• could also be considered as the continuation of opening A section /

  as part of a tripartite structure in which each section is 22 bars long

  (bars 1, 23, 45) / each a semitone higher (Bb→Bm→C)

Describe two features of the harmony in bars "37-45". (2 mark question)

• Series of sequential [1] chromatic 6/3 chords [1] (38-45)

• chords on D and D# forming an augmented chord (42, 44)

• Bars 41-44 increase/double the harmonic rhythm of previous three bars

• “wrong note” harmony (41)

Further questions and answers

Give the bar number of one example of octatonic writing in the extract.

Bar - 30 / 34 (1 mark)

Give the bar number where melodic material from bars 1–2 first appears in the

extract.

Bar – 41 (oboe) (1 mark)

Describe one interesting feature in the use of the movement’s opening material at

this later point. (You need not restrict your answers to the melodic material.) (1 mark )

• Repeated sequentially (semitone higher) in bars 43-44

• first time Bb major has been recalled since opening of movement {only instance of tonic harmony other than at opening}

• tonic chord is in first inversion / so does not feel like a genuine reprise of the opening material

• quaver movement in piano LH more wide-ranging

• and includes new dissonant notes in piano accompaniment (E, Eb, E#, E)

• new bassoon “countermelody” (arpeggio figure) added also repeated sequentially

• material moves to wind

Describe the use of instruments in bars 23–40. You must give bar numbers in your answer. (5 marks)

Bars 23-30

Piano ascending bass line / in diminution (28-30) Oboe and bassoon present melodic material / with overlapping/antiphonal 1-bar melodic fragments (23-26 ) followed by parallel movement in 6ths (26 -28) oboe takes over melodic line for cadence (29-30)  

while bassoon fulfills function of bass part (doubling piano LH – 29 30) piano supplies harmonic support throughout music consists of three discrete elements / e.g., semiquaver arpeggio figuration plays an octatonic “fill” in bar 30

Bars 31-38

Similar treatment of wind instruments to above but with initial “antiphonal” order of instruments changed previous passage in parallel 6ths replaced by parallel 8ves (35-38 ) 

instrumentation of cadential “separation” (34-35 ) similarly reversed (bassoon has melodic material while oboe has “chordal filling”)  

piano contributes most to thickened texture at movement’s climactic moment (35-37) with 6-part chords {thickened texture} / and expanded range and assumes greater importance as oboe drops out (38-40) being responsible for both harmonic accompaniment and secondary melodic line (at top of RH)

Allow any other correct responses with bar numbers: refer to score. 

Do not credit purely visual features without mention of how they are used. 

How to go forward

The next slide is my introduction to the piece identifying the main key centres and features of each section. Please watch it and use it and the other resources on Teams to both annotate your score as well as revise for a quiz later in the week.

Thanks

Andrew