Seachanges
with Danse Macabre
Raymond Deane
This is an excerpt from
Seachanges
What can you hear?

Instruments are added in this order:
Maracas, piano, violin, guiro, cello, piccolo

The following instrumental techniques are heard: Violin
– sul ponticello, double stopping, glissando. Cello –
strumming

The following compositional techniques are heard:
repetition and variation of danse macabre, chord clusters
An instrumental technique is associated with
how an instrument is actually played.
Examples include: pizzicato, glissando, col
legno, sul ponticello
A compositional technique describes how a
piece of music is composed. What devices
are used in the music? Examples include:
Subtraction, note cell, pedal point, arpeggio
Listen to the
following extract
from Seachanges
and note some
examples of the
compositional and
instrumental
techniques used.
Compositional
Techniques
Instrumental
Techniques
Cell based melody
Tremolando
Chromaticism
Glissando
Pedal points
Cello strumming
What do you notice about the meter (number of beats in bars) of the
piece in this section?
What is important about the three notes or tones heard repeatedly in this
section of the music?
Comment briefly on the range of musical pitches used in this section.
Name and describe THREE instrumental techniques used in this
section of the work:
Name and describe any ONE compositional technique used in this
section of the music:
Comment on how the piano part contrasts with most of the other
instrumental parts in this section of the music:
What do you notice about the meter (number of beats in bars) of the piece
in this section? It changes until settling on 7 beats in a bar by bar 11
What is important about the three notes or tones heard repeatedly in this
section of the music? They will become the basis of much of the musical
exploration in the piece – they occur in various guises throughout the piece
Comment briefly on the range of musical pitches used in this section.
There are extremes of range used in the opening from cello (bass clef) to
piccolo (extremely high range in piccolo)
Name and describe THREE instrumental techniques used in this section
of the work: Sustain Pedal in piano, harmonics in violin and cello, pizzicato
in cello
Name and describe any ONE compositional technique used in this
section of the music: Addition principle with notes of cell added one at a
time
Comment on how the piano part contrasts with most of the other
instrumental parts in this section of the music: The piano has a descending
arpeggio figure based on short note values compared to long sustained
notes in other instruments.
Sample Question




Read the instructions at the start carefully. Make sure
you know how many times you will hear the excerpts
Identify with highlighter pen or pencil the bars to which
specific questions refer (e.g. B – (i) and (ii))
Think about the kind of vocabulary which you will need to
use to describe the texture, the piano music, the
changes and the instrumental and compositional
techniques (remind yourself of the points made today)
Prepare yourself for any dictation by thinking about likely
dictation excerpts (look at the practice examples 1,2 and
3 on the last page of the Deane section of these notes)
Marking Scheme – 25 Marks
Section A
(i)
Section 4/ Dies Irae Melody – (2 Marks)
(ii)
1, 3, 2 – (3 x 1 Marks)
(iii)
The texture is thin but based on a melody and countermelody –
polyphonic (word and explanation required) – (1 + 2 Marks)
Section B
(i)
Flutter tonguing – (2 Marks)
(ii)
It is based on series of descending chord clusters – (2 Marks)
(iii)
4 quavers and 4 semiquavers – (8 x .5 Marks)
(iv)
It becomes more fragmented, The dynamics become quieter
(2 Marks)
Section C
(i)
Subtraction Principle (3 marks)
(ii)
Sustain pedal in piano, Across bridge in cello (2 + 2 Marks)