NAM 6 – CONCERTO FOR DOUBLE STRING ORCHESTRA, 1ST MOVEMENT BY
TIPPETT
Orchestration
Consider the orchestral resources used here. How typical is this of twentieth century large scale
works?
Influences
1. Neoclassicism
This is the name given to a 20th century musical movement where composers revolted against the
lush, emotional, chromatic romanticism of the 19th century. Aspects of neo-classical music include
an emphasis on clarity of texture, lightness of orchestration, coolness of approach, and a back-tothe-18th- century respect for counterpoint (especially like Bach) and close-knit classical musical
forms. The most famous neo-classical composer was perhaps Stravinsky e.g. in his work ‘Pulcinella’.
(Hear – p.139).
The style is often associated with Tippett’s pre-war compositions.
It can be seen in this movement through a fusion of the contrapuntal textures and ritornello
structures of the baroque (Bach – NAM 1), and the classical sonata form, (NAM 2). This shows
traditional ideas being used and combined in new and surprising ways.
Q) Why would a ritornello structure be harder to hear in the Tippett than in the Bach? What are
the 2 opposing ‘forces’ used in both pieces?
Ritornello ‘connection’:
The 2-note oscillating figure heard in the 1st orchestra at the start, along with the motif played in
the 2nd orchestra (hear, so that you can recognise), help us to recognise a sort of ritornello that
recurs in whole, or in part. It runs at the start from bar 1-20. Where else can you trace it?
Sonata Form ‘connection’:
These ‘ritornellos’ actually signal the starting points for the sections of what seem like sonata
form!
1-20 = 1st subject
33-67 = 2nd subject
68 – 128 = development (using motifs from the first part)
129-194 = recapitulation where 129-146 = 1st subject (compare to the beginning 1-18), 159 – 193 =
2nd subject (a transposed and modified repeat of 33 – 67)
194+ = coda (including the lyrical cello melody 202-208). After loads of contrapuntal movement,
the movement then ends on the note it began!
Rhythm
The major difference between the work of Bach and Haydn, and Tippett is rhythm! In Bach (and
indeed in the Stravinsky you listened to), despite motor rhythms and syncopated rhythms, there is
still a strong underlying metre. In the Tippett there is definitely not!
Tippett’s rhythms have been partially influenced by jazz. (Indeed, the American composer Aaron
Copland told Tippett he thought the double concerto was a piece of American music when he first
heard it!) This is heard mainly through what type of rhythms?
However, in jazz music there is usually still a strong underlying regular pulse! (Not here!)
Tippett’s rhythms have been most influenced, however, by those of Elizabethan polyphony, (this
means contrapuntal, polyphonic music from the Elizabethan and late Renaissance periods). This
influence can be seen in the following rhythmic features and examples:
1) Metrical changes / hemiolas occur quite obviously in the Tippett bars 38 – 51. What are these,
and what are the time signatures involved?
2) Displaced metre. See the example in the Weelkes madrigal.
See p. 350 – ‘whilst we..’. The ‘we’ is accented by the leap to a higher, longer note. It becomes
displaced from the strong first beat of the bar in each part. Trace which beat it occurs on in the
following parts:
Basses (25) ‘we’ = beat
2nd sop (26) ‘we’ = beat
alto (27) ‘we’ = beat
tenor (27) ‘we’ = beat
basses ‘we’ = beat
The triple time is therefore disrupted by the displacement. Patterns of 2 or 4 do allow the parts
to come back together again 30-31. If the parts were written out in the time signatures suggested
by the accents, and word stresses, it would look as follows:
The same sort of thing happens, but on a much bigger scale, in the Tippett. (See the re-barred
version of bars 10-16 below). He is therefore taking much rhythmic influence from the late
Renaissance period.
Additive Rhythms
To explain the rhythmic complexity of the Tippett more clearly, we need to consider additive
rhythms. These were used by other 20th century composers such as Stravinsky and Bartok. When
these occur, there is a constant unit of time, but it is too fast to be heard or felt as a regular
pulse. (The unit used in the Tippett is a quaver.) They are then heard in irregular units that deny a
regular pulse. E.g.
The simplest way to see this in the movement is where we get 3 + 3 + 2 quaver rhythms, e.g. bar
15, and everywhere there is a ‘beat 3’ bar. (This means to group the 8 quavers 3 + 3 + 2). (This
rhythm is often heard in Latin American dances!) Try playing this rhythm!
It becomes more complex however, when these additive rhythms cross the barline e.g. the melody
of the second orchestra 1-4:
It becomes even more complex still, when different additive rhythms occur in contrasting
contrapuntal parts ! We can see this immediately bars 1-4, which is essentially 2-part counterpoint.
(Why?)
Tippett himself said that the effect of this was to:
‘propel the music forward by differing accents, which tend to thrust each other forward.’
So, the accents falling on different quaver beats (due to marked stresses, or groupings of notes –
into twos and threes etc.) help to push the music forward. It actually happens in a much more
complex way at the end of the movement.
To conclude then, it is this combination of two rhythmically independent parts that give the
movement its excitement – the conflict and agreement of the rhythms makes for exciting music!
Questions
1. Motifs – On a small scale, in the first four bars we hear a number of motives from which
most of the rest of the movement is taken. The first is a 2-note alternating, syncopated
figure (the first 4 notes).
What happens to this material in 8-10 when heard on the violins?
What then happens to it on the violas in 10-11?
What happens to it 21 – 30?
How is the material in the violins 95-96 related?
How does this relate to the cellos 93-94?
What has happened to it in the cellos 99-102?
2. What scale is the melody of the first 4 bars based upon?
3. Explain the title ‘concerto’ here.
4. Why does Tippett use 8/8 and not 4/4 as the time signature?
5. Compare the music played by the 3 lowest parts of the first orchestra in bars 5-6 with the
music in bars 1-2.
6. What is the significance of the instruction ‘Beat 3’ in bar 15?
7. Briefly mention some of the variety of string textures that Tippett uses in this work.