Tavener-The Lamb

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  • Created by: Bethan
  • Created on: 26-05-15 17:55

Basics

  • Best known for sacred choral music in the Orthodox church
  • Set from 'Songs of Inocence' by William Blake
  • It is an anthem
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Performing forces and their handling

  • For 4-part choir-SATB
  • Unaccompanied
  • Ranges of upper parts are narrow:
  • S=augmented 5th
  • A=major 6th
  • T=major 7th
  • Bass mostly moves within major 9th, but has low Es at end of each verse
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Structure

  • Strophic
  • Musical structure same as poetic structure, but differs slightly
  • Poetic structure= A(couplet 1), B (couplet 2,3 and 4), Av (couplet 5)
  • Musical= A(couplet 1), B (couplet 2 and 3), Av (couplet 4 and 5)
  • Eachline of the poem=1 bar in the score
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Texture

  • 4-part writting=homophonic and homorhythmic
  • 2-part writting=homorhythmic and contrapuntel
  • Verse 1=mainly swaps between monophonic and  2-part texture, from bar 7-10=4-part
  • Verse 2= swaps between 8ve writting in all parts and doubled parts at the 8ve
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Tonality

  • G major in 1st bar of both verses
  • Mainly bitonal between G major and Eb major
  • Use of Aeolian mode in last 4 bars shown by use of E natural instead of D#
  • No key signature
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Harmony

  • 2-part=harmonic intervals from working melody against its inversion
  • Use of dissonance, eg bar 2-Ab and F# also double false realtion
  • 4-part writting is more conventional
  • Use of modal harmony
  • And consectutive 5ths
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Melody

  • Bars 1-2 are the basis of everything until bar 6, then all of soprano part that follows
  • Aquaintance with serialism clear from use of retrograde and inversion
  • Middle section of each verse avoids pitch repetition
  • Mainly conjunct
  • Mainly syllabic
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Rhythm and Metre

  • No time signature
  • Bar lines reflect poetic structure
  • Much slow movement
  • Longer notes emphaise end of each bar/line
  • 7 syllable lines= 6 c=quavers and 1 crotchet and reflect feeling of iambic metre in the poem
  • 3 of the 6 syllable lines=6 quavers, 1 dotted crotchet and 1 crotchet-emphasis on penultimate syllable
  • Last bar of each verse=rythmic augmentation
  • Last 4 bars of the piece=more rythmic augementation, so feels like a closing end to piece
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