Reich - New York Counterpoint : movement II
- Created by: Francisca
- Created on: 04-04-13 21:45
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- Reich - New York Counterpoint : movement II
- Background
- A minimalist work
- Composed in 1985
- Second movement of the three movement work
- 1 of a series of pieces by Reich which a soloist performs with a previously recorded accompaniment
- Rhythm and metre
- Notated in 3/4...
- ...but the pulse is hard to discern
- As more strands enter, a more constant flow of semiquavers is heard
- A mixture of crotchets and semiquavers, some offbeat
- Melody
- Diatonic
- Notated in B major but sounds like A
- Melodic material uses hexatonic scale
- B-C#-E-F#-G#-A#
- Melodic cell descending figure, spanning a 6th
- As it proceeds, individual lines gradually become more active
- Soloist weaves resultant melodies from the lines of the other parts from b.25
- Harmony and tonality
- Harmony is non-functional
- No drive of cadence despite use of primary chords
- No modulation
- Harmony revolves around overlapping alternations of E major and F# major chords
- Dissonances are not harsh because of the instrumental timbre
- Added note chords in the lower parts - B maj. + C# - F# maj. + G# - E maj.7 + A#
- Structure
- 1-26; build up stage, instruments enter in pairs
- 27-65; contrasting stage, four-note chords in lower parts added
- 66-72; Short fade-out stage for top parts only
- Instruments and texture
- Single timbre family
- Opens with two part homorhythms
- Followed by phasing,results in contrapuntal texture
- Here parts enter/overlap at intervals of a quaver
- Homorhythm ic/homophonic pulsing in lower instruments from b.27 also fading in and out
- Background
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