GCSE Music AOS1 Handel Edexcel

• Ornamented melody parts
• Establishment of major/minor key system, instead of modes
• The use of diatonic chords
• Continuous bass
• Different musical textures e.g. monophonic, homophonic and poly phonic
• The use of the baroque orchestra, based on new members of the string family with the harpsichord. Also, trumpets, horns and timpni were used. Woodwind istruments were not standard.
• Contrasting dynamics (loud and quiet)

• Composed 1741
• First performed- Dublin 1742
• Words by Charles Jennens taken from the bible (old testimant?)
• Genre- Chorus from an oratorio
• Style- Baroque
• 4 motifs and SATB choir

¾  - Simple Triple

Tempo:

• Mostly allegro- fast
• Adagio- slow at the end

Rhythm:

• Motif 1-crotchets, dotted crotchets
• Motifs 2+3- Quavers and crotchets
• Motif 4- minims, dotted minims and crotchets
• Hemiola at the end of the ritornello

Tonality

• A major- 3#s (F#,C# and G#)
• Some key modulations/changes- A to E(dominant key) to B to E to A

Harmony

·         A mixture of major/minor chords which are diatonic (belong to a key)

·         Frequent cadences:

o   Perfect- end of introduction (V-I)

o   Plagal- at the end ‘Amen’ (IV-I)

·         Handel mainly uses root positions and first inversion chords

·         SATB choir- Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Bass with male altos (sung falsetto)

·         String Orchestra (Violin I&II, Viola), Cello continuo and Bass and organ/ harpsichord (depending on the recording)  playing a figured bass (a kind of music notation used to indicate intervals and chords based around a bass note, written below)

·         Opening- Orchestra plays on its own

·         Choir is always accompanied by the orchestra (or figured bass)

·         Instruments often double the voice part in octaves (lower or higher)

·         In Ritornello form – ‘little returns’

·         Opening introduction played by the orchestra is called ritornellos, uses motifs 1 & 2

·         Shorter versions of the sections appear within the piece

·         In-between the choir sings with the orchestra

·         There are 4 main themes/motifs- each one represents a line of the text (see melody)

·         The final four bars, marked adagio, act as the ‘Amen’ (plagal cadence) for the whole chorus

Texture

·         Opening- melody and accompaniment

·         Homophonic at the end for ‘hath spoken it’

·         Unison between tenors and basses for Motif 4

·         ‘throw’ motifs around and imitate each other

·         Polyphonic mostly (all parts doing different things)

·         Contrapuntal

Dynamics

·         Handel did not write dynamics--- terraced dynamics --- how loud depends how many layers there are