ENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DOWLAND'S AYRES
- Created by: A.E. GILLIAN
- Created on: 23-02-14 16:17
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- General Characteristics of Dowland's AYRES
- simplicity and purity of melody
- regular clear cut rhythms .eg.'Fine knacks for Ladies'
- simple harmonies eg 'Fine knacks for Ladies' in which the opening 2 bars are both based over the tonic chord of F major and the ayre uses predominantly root position chords
- An intensity of expression. eg 'I saw my lady weep' with its opening phrase which rises and falls by semitones and the use of tierce de picardies at cadence points.
- PICTORIAL writing. eg 'Sorrow stay' in which the words 'but down, down, down, down I fall' is set as a descending stepwise line spanning a 6th.
- 'Flw my Teares' where the higher register is used for the setting at 'from the highest sphere of contentment' and 'happy, happy they.'
- Innovative chromatic treatment of harmony. eg 'In this trembling Shadow' is sombre in mood and contains languid suspensions in the opening bars and bass line and frequent use of diminished and augmented triads.
- homophonic texture, treble dominated, mostly syllabic writing.
- Limited imitative writing. eg the vocal line at 'my weary days' is imitated in the accompaniment a beat later.
- Strophic in form, with a few exceptions in some of his later works. eg 'in darkness let me dwell ' which is through-composed
- Dowland's ayres were published and republished from 1597 onwards.
- Little verbal repetition which had been an essential feature of the madrigal.
- An intensity of expression. eg 'I saw my lady weep' with its opening phrase which rises and falls by semitones and the use of tierce de picardies at cadence points.
- simple harmonies eg 'Fine knacks for Ladies' in which the opening 2 bars are both based over the tonic chord of F major and the ayre uses predominantly root position chords
- regular clear cut rhythms .eg.'Fine knacks for Ladies'
- simplicity and purity of melody
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