GCSE Edexcel Music 9-1 - AoS2 Purcell

Questions on Henry Purcell's 'Music For A While' from AoS 2 for GCSE Edexcel Music 2018. (including background, dynamics, rhythm, texture, structure, melody, instruments, tonality and harmony.)

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  • Created by: Spikettee
  • Created on: 30-05-18 18:09
When was 'Music For A While' composed, and by whom?
1692 (Baroque Period), by Henry Purcell
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What type of music is this?
inceidental music - an aria for a play, in the style of a lament
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What play is it from?
John Dryden's 'Oedipus', about a Greek myth
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What happens in the play during this song?
an attempt to raise King Laius' ghost, and the Fury, Alecto, is being calmed (she taunts Oedipus for killing his father)
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What did Purcell compose and sing?
theatre music, sacred and secular, court odes, 40 plays, 6 operas (often for countertenor)
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DYNAMICS
no markings; left to performers
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TEMPO
none specified but nature of lyrics suggests a slow tempo
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METRE
4/4 simple quadruple
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RHYTHM
synocpation, tied notes & dotted rythms, vocals follow natural rhythm of words
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TEXTURE
melody-dominated homophony with short sections of imitation, sometimes counterpoint
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STRUCTURE - general
ABA' ternary form, or rounded binary. A='music...bands'(1-21), B='drop'(22-28), A='music'...end(38)
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STRUCTURE - ground bass
3 bars of asc chromatic sequences based on rising 5ths and falling 6ths, from A-E in a perfect cadence
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How does the ground bass create contrast?
It changes in 14 then resumes in 29. It forms contrast with the desc vocal line (contrary motion)
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What note values make up the ground bass?
quavers - an example of a walking bass line in Baroque
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MELODY
mostly syllabic, passing notes, rests, over an octave range, bass & vocals don't always end together
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MELODY - ornaments
mordent (11), appoggiatura (5), slide (6), trill (13), arpeggiation (38)
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MELODY - word painting
'wond'ring' (11), 'pains...eas'd' (12,13), 'eternal' (20), 'drop' (23-25), 'dead' (17-28)
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INSTURMENTS
solo soprano; bass viol (D,G,C,E,A,D); harpsichord - LH=ground bass, RH=elaborate realisation
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TONALITY
transposed from Cm to Am, but sometimes ambiguous; moduations confirmed by perfect cadences (eg: 'bands')
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TONALITY - modulations
to related keys: Em, G, C, A, Am
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HARMONY - chromatic variation
accidentals, false relations (eg: F and F# bar4), augmented & diminshed chords, passing notes and suspension in vocals (eg:'Alecto')
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HARMONY - general
mainly root position triads and 1st inversions, Tierce de Picardie (bar23) - changes from E to A major, not Am
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What type of music is this?

Back

inceidental music - an aria for a play, in the style of a lament

Card 3

Front

What play is it from?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What happens in the play during this song?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did Purcell compose and sing?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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