AS Music: Berlioz: Harold In Italy Movement III

Revision cards for edexcel AS music set work - Berlioz: Harold in Italy movement III

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  • Created by: Bethan
  • Created on: 22-04-12 12:07

Features of the Romantic Period

  • Programme music (to go with a story/piece of music/artwork - this was written for a poem by Lord Byron
  • Using a recurring idee fixe reminiscent of Wagner's light motif.
  • Influences from folk music (imitation of pifferi and Italian saltarello rhythms)
  • Expanded orchestra size
  • Use of chromaticism
  • Predominantly for solo viola/solo cor anglais - almost like a concerto -, which would not have been used as solo instruments in the Classical period
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Performing Forces and Their Handling

  • Unusual combination of instruments - piccolo, cor anglais solo, harp, viola solo, 4 horns, no trumpets/trombones/percussion
  • Piccolo and oboe at the opening represent Italian pifferi (rustic oboes)
  • Violins + cellos play pizzicato and use double stopping during the serenade, mimicking guitar
  • Strings play arco again (with the bow) (bar 53)
  • Strings play con sordini (with mutes) (final section)
  • Clarinet uses low chalumeaux register with broken chords (48)
  • Harp plays harmonics (the circle signs above the notes) in the finanl section
  • Solo viola part is not technically difficult - octave passages at 99 are the most demanding feature
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Tonality

  • Tonality of allegro assai is defined by pedal C in bassoon
  • Modal inflections (B flat)
  • Serenade theme is in C
  • Only strong modulation is in the return of the serenade theme at 100 in D minor
  • Music remains in C major from return of saltarello theme (136 to the end)
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Rhythm and Metre

  • Compound duple time (6/* - don't write it as a fraction in the exam)
  • Tempo of allegro assai is double that of the opening allegrett
  • Melodic ideas of the piccolo and oboe have marked accents on the 2nd beat of the bar
  • Serenade explores the possibilities of mixing 3/4 and 6/8 (e.g. 3rd bar of serenade melody)
  • melodic idea is ornamented with semiquavers at 132 and in the clarinet accompaniment at 48
  • Triplet semiquavers (77)
  • Hint of rhythmic augmentation in 192 as final motif is turned from semiquavers to quavers to complete the phraseC
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Comments

Bethan

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Sorry, GetRevising decided to die on me while I was writing this. Can't seem to edit it or get it finished.

Tom

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Not good enough

Bethan

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Sorry, what?

Bethan

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And if you're the same Tom who swore on my other resource, you're possibly the rudest person I've ever encountered.

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