'Petals'- Saariaho- 1988

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  • 'Petals' Saariaho 1988
    • Harmony
      • Cannot be analysed in terms of traditional vertical harmonic progressions
      • Spectral analysis
      • Timbre is vertical, and harmony as horizontal
    • Melody
      • Micro-tones and quarter tones
        • Ben Johnson, 7th string quartet,1984
          • First western use
      • Chromatic-scale like passage
      • Sequences
        • Augmented 4th leaps
        • Trills/ Mordents
        • A general agitated character
      • Falling idea based around elaborations and repetitions of a fixed set of pitches like a mode or scale
    • Sonority
      • Contrast between 'clean' and 'noisy' sounds
      • Difference between the clearest harmonic and the rich scratching produced by the heaviest of bow pressures near the bridge
      • Optional microphones
        • Amplifictaion to bring out some of the timbral detail in the quieter sounds
        • Reverb to sustain the sound
        • Harmoniser effect is used to detune the input pitch
        • Stockhausen, Mikrophonie, 1964
          • Making inaudible sounds audible
    • Tonality
      • No formal sense of tonality
      • Some notes have more prominence than others at certain points. This makes them act at the tonic
      • repeated low C and high F# that conclude nearly every phrase becomes familiar to the ear
      • Use of dyads to create a sense of resolution
    • Structure
      • Does not follow a conventional musical structure, or try to tell a narrative story
        • Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, 1923 used a representational structure
      • Exploration between the tension of two different types of material
        • A. Fragile colouristic passages
        • B. More energetic events with clear melodic and rhythmic character
    • Texture
      • Hard to define the textures used conventionally
      • Monophonic
        • some elements are more straight-forward than others
      • Two-part texture
      • Pedal/drone texture
    • Rhythm, Meter and Tempo
      • Generally slow tempo
        • Wide use of accelerandi and ritenuto
          • Rossini Cresendo
      • Dectuplets
      • Agitated rhythms, involving syncopations within septuplets
      • Grace notes
    • Context
      • An association with paintings of water lillies by Monet
      • It is derived from a earlier composition called Nympheas

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