Harold in Italy: Movement III

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  • Created by: LewDrag
  • Created on: 09-05-17 13:00

Instrumentation

  • Symphony Orchestra
  • Viola Solo written for Paganini - quite easy so refused to play it
  • Horns are usually in F but in E and C in this piece
  • Piccolo and Oboe combined to give the effect of a Pifferi (Italian folk instrument, emphasising story of the piece)
  • Bar 166 - Strings play with mutes
  • Bar 167 - Harp plays with harmonics
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Texture

  • Mostly uses melody-dominated homophony
  • Opening starts with a C&G Drone, Tonic Pedal remains throughout by Bassoon
  • Main melodic material played by Oboe and Piccolo in Octaves
  • Strings play homophonic accompaniment in B Section
  • Bars 79-80 Call and response between cor anglais/oboe & clarinet/flute/piccolo/bassoons
  • Bars 202-206 Monophonic statement of the Idee Fixee 
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Structure

  • Ternary Form (A B A CODA)
  • Section A (Allegro Assai) Characterised by
    • Drone
    • Saltarello Rhythms
    • Harold Theme 
  • Section B (Serenade) Characterised by
    • Introduction of the Serenade by Cor Anglais
    • Irregular Phrase Lengths
    • Modulates to D Minor Bar 100
    • Back to C Major Bar 120
  • Section A Return (Exact Repetition)
  • Coda
    • Viola Solo plays Serenade
    • Rest of Viola's play Saltarello Rhythms
    • Flute and harp plays Idee Fixee 
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Tonality

  • Overall tonality is C Major
  • Cadences are clearly defined
  • Modulation is limited (Characteristic of folk)
  • Section A defined by C pedal bassoon
  • Modal Inflections (Bb implies Mixolydian mode)
  • Section B is in C
  • One modulation to D Minor (Relative Sub-Dominant Minor) in Bar 100
  • Returns to C Bar 120
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Harmony

  • Harmonic Language is Diatonic
  • Some chromaticism through diminished chords (Bar 41)
  • Section A harmony built on the pedal in C
    • Bar 19 G7
    • Bar 14 F
  • Bar 39-40 Imperfect Cadence in A minor 
  • Bar 51 more chromaticism (use of semitones)
  • Bar 71 Chromatic Upper Auxiliaries in Cello
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Melody

  • Based off 3 melodic ideas
    • Idee Fixee
    • Saltarello (Harold Theme)
    • Serenade
  • Section A
    • Oboe and Piccolo very conjunct
    • Oboe and Piccolo range of a 9th
    • Inversions of basic material eg bars 10 and 13
  • Section B
    • Melody by Cor Anglais
    • Opens with arpegiac figure
    • Viola Plays idee fixee in long notes bar 65
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Rhythm & Metre

  • 6/8
  • Allegro Assai (A) is twice as fast as Allegretto (B)
  • Beat 2 accented in pifferi melody
  • Bar 77 triplet semiquavers
  • Bar 132 use of semiquavers as ornamentation
  • Bar 192 Rhythmic Augmentation (Length of notes doubled)
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