Concerto for Double String Orchestra - Tippett

• Characteristic work of Tippett's early period

• Origins relflect his social concerns

• First performed by the South London Orchestraat Morely College (Tippett was a musical director there)

• Reflects Tippett's interest in English madrigals (freely combing rhythmic patterns) and Neoclassicism, a movement associated with Stravinsky 

• Notated in 8/8, with occaisional changes to 6/8 and 4/8

-Use of quavers permits additive rhythms

• Syncopation is frequent, with dynamics patterns extending over the barline

• Bar 95 the music sets into a "regular" crotchet pulse

 - Rhythmic augmentation i.e. the motif opening with crotchets in violin 1, orchestra 1 is doubled in length at barr 99 (cellos, orchestra 1) and doubled again at bar 103 (viola ad Cellos of orchestra 2, where the initial pitch plus rests takes up a whole bar 

• Regular appearance of the opening motif is reminiscent of the ritornello of the Baroque concerto grosso
• Overall structure - Sonata Form
• Two clearly defined subjects - (bar 1 and 39) linked by a trasition (bar 21)
• The Development (bar 68) passes through more remote tonal areas
• The opening material reappears in a recapitualtion (bar 129) with the second subject in the home tonality of A as opposed to the original G
• There is an extended coda (bar 194)

• Exposition (bars 1-67) - first subject (bars 1-20). Tonal Centre A. Transition (bars 21-32). Aeolian on A and Lydian on C leading to - Second subject (bars 33-67). Tonal centre G
• Development (bars 68-128). Unrelated tonal centres such as A (bars 68-75). C# major (bars 80-89) and Ab major (bars 107-112)
• Recapitulation (bars 129-193). First Subject (bars 129-146) tonal centre A. Transition (bars-147-158) modified to maintain A as the cheif tonal Centre. Second subject (bars 159-193) tonal centre A
• Coda (bars 194-232) more unrelated tonal centres but ending with a cadence that features the two chief tonal centres: G (now lydian in bars 228-231) and A (with a bare-5th chord in the last bar)

• Opening motif characterised by repeated step movement before broadening out by leaps of 4th and 3rd

• Melody extended by sequence(bar 8)
• Melody here is also inverted in lower parts

• Transition material marked by a more cantabile approach, with longer note-lengths and appearance of trills
• Prominent broken-chord motif in bass at bar 112

• Non-functional
• Harmonic progressions are difficult to discern due to lean contrapuntal textures
• Counterpoint leads to dissonant collisions
• The more obvious harmonic events include:

- Phrygian cadence at bars 20-21

- Common chord progression at bar s 39-40

- Ambigious progression from bar 119with augmented/whole-tone structures heard in passing

- Final mode cadence of G to A, or tonic proceded by flattened seventh

• On A
• Non-functional, with modal elements
• Bars 1-4 of melody use pentatonic scale, but accidentals in otehr parts make it difficult to be certain of which mode predominates
• Tippett shifts the music to various tonal areas:

- G (bars 39-67)

- E (bar 68)

- C# (bar 86)

- Ab (bar 107)

- A (bar 129)

•  The movement closes with an open 5th chord
• 

• Concerto plays two equal forces off agains each other, rather than a single soloist or group of soloists against larger accompanying group

• Tippett frequently uses two-part counterpoint, as in the main theme, but each part is doubled at three octaves
• he also uses occaisional homophony and monophony, as well as antiphony
• In the more lyrical sections, the accompaniment sometimes takes the form of broken chords

• There are no conventional playing techniques, but - "sul tasto" (bow over fretboard) at bar 107