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Listening Log for Music Theory
Sarah Petrocci
November 19, 2012
The time period between 1800 and 1900 encompasses the end of the Classical Period and
the beginning of the Romantic Period. There are five categories of musical elements that can be
used to distinguish music of this period from that of earlier years and later years: tonality, pitch
vocabulary, musical texture, sonorities and time organization.
Tonality is the organization of pitches around a home base or tonic. All the other pitches
work to establish tonic. Another way to identify tonic is by cadences: half cadences or authentic
cadences. In authentic cadences, ti-do or re-do motion in the soprano is supported by so-do
motion in the bass. These and other pitches are grouped into units, such as phrases, sections, and
movements. The pitch vocabulary used by composers is based on major and minor scales.
However, chromaticism becomes a significant element of this music especially later in this
period. Chromaticism is evident in modulations and tonicizations, which, like diatonic pitches,
are used to establish tonic.
Musical texture begins to change in this period also. It is common to find four voice
writing, as that is an element of Common Practice Period music. However, voices are combined
into fewer lines, making each line more complex. This is known as polyphonic melody.
Sonorities also change during this period. In addition to the increased use of
chromaticism, dissonance is also increasingly used. Sonorities are expanded to include borrowed
chords from minor to major keys and other ways of creating dominance, substitutes for tonic and
connective areas. Harmonic patterns are used as connective areas.
The concept of time organization also expands when composers change the “normal” feel
of strong beat versus weak beat. Composers use syncopation, polyrhythms, cross rhythms,
hemiola, and triplets and duplets to vary the placement of the strong beats and weak beats in the
measure.
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Piano Concerto No. 1
Allegro con brio
Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sara Davis Buechner, piano and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key of this movement is C major. The form is rounded binary. There is a
modulation to the borrowed lowered mediant key, Eb major.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
The majority of the pitches come from the C major scale. The solo makes great use of
chromatic pitches because there are so many notes in the part that Beethoven used these
chromatics to make the line melodically interesting.
III.
Musical texture
The texture is dense because the piano solo often accompanies itself. The right hand or
left hand will play the melody and the other hand accompanies. The orchestra also accompanies
the solo, so there are many lines, which create a dense texture. The strings use spiccato as well as
on-the-string staccato and slurs.
IV.
Sonorities
Beethoven uses sequences of descending fifths. There are examples of leading tone fully
diminished tonicizations of the dominant.
V.
Time Organization
The meter is quadruple simple. A characteristic rhythm of this movement is eighth note
and sixteenth note grace notes, which are usually attached to a quarter note. Beethoven also
contrasts duplets and triplets.
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Piano Concerto No. 1
Largo
Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sara Davis Buechner, piano and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key of the largo is Ab major. It modulates to the dominant key of Eb major.
The first phrase is 8 measures and ends with an authentic cadence.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
The majority of the pitches come from the Ab major scale. Chromiaticism is often used in
passing motion within a voice. It is also used in tonicizations.
III.
Musical texture
The piano solo plays most of the melody. The piano solo also plays accompaniment.
When there are rests in the piano solo the first violins or oboe play the melody. Some of the
scale-like runs make the piano sound like a harp, adding to the rich texture.
IV.
Sonorities
The dissonance of the leading tone fully diminished seven chord is used several times in
this movement. Most of the sonorities are complete because there are so many lines that can
cover all the pitches.
V.
Time Organization
The meter is quadruple simple. The tempo is slow. A characteristic rhythm is the double-
dotted eighth note thirty-second note rhythm, which is used at the ends of some phrases. Like the
first movement of the piano concerto, rhythmic contrast comes from juxtaposition of triplets and
duplets. The piano solo plays duplets in the right hand and triples in the left hand at one point in
the movement.
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Nacht und Träume
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Andrea Chenoweth Wells, soprano and John Benjamin, piano
Saturday, September 22, 2012
I.
Tonality
Franz Schubert composed Nacht und Träume in B Major. The first phrase is 4 measures,
ending on a half cadence. The third phrase modulates to G major which is a modulation to a
distant key. There is a coda at the end of the song.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
The majority of the pitches come from the major scale. However, there are instances of
chromaticism as passing motion in the alto, tenor and bass lines.
III.
Musical texture
The piano accompaniment consists of the alto, tenor and bass lines. The majority of the
melody line is sung by the soprano. All voices exhibited legato lines. The piano accompaniment
plays the same rhythm throughout the song, providing constant motion to support the melody.
IV.
Sonorities
The first phrase is an example of dissonance because there is a chain of suspension in the
soprano and alto lines. The 7-6 suspension in the fourth measure of the first phrase prolongs the
arrival of the dominant in first inversion, which is the cadence of the phrase. There is an example
of appoggiatura in the soprano line in the first measure of the second phrase.
V.
Time Organization
Nacht und Träume is slow in tempo. The meter is quadruple simple. However, the song
feels like it is in eight because the tempo is so slow and the piano accompaniment subdivides the
beat with sixteenth notes in the bass and tenor.
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Duetto buffo di due gatti
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Andrea Chenoweth Wells and Minnita Daniel-Cox, sopranos and David Sievers, piano
Friday, August 31, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key of this song is D minor. The song has three distinct sections indicated by
tempo markings. The song modulates to F major in the third section.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
Most of the pitches come from the D melodic minor scale, using lowered and raised scale
degrees six and seven. In the second phrase there is an example of a tonicization of the
dominant, using a chromatic G-sharp.
III.
Musical texture
The texture is light with a melody line divided between two soloists. The accompaniment
is played by the piano. The light texture is consistent with the playful, joking nature of the song,
which is also evident in the title “Cat duet.”
IV.
Sonorities
In the first phrase of the piece a Neapolitan triad is used as a connection to the cadence of
the phrase. The triad is in second inversion and is used as a passing chord.
V.
Time Organization
The meter is begins as quadruple simple, changes to duple compound and changes back
to quadruple simple. The tempo is slow in the first section and becomes faster in the next two
sections. Dotted eighth note, sixteenth notes rhythms are used in the third section.
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Elijah No. 28, No.
“Lift Thine Eyes” and “He Watching Over Israel”
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Bach Society of Dayton
Sunday, October 21, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key of “Lift Thine Eyes” and “He Watching Over Israel” is D major. The first
phrase is eight measures and ends with an authentic cadence. The authentic cadence is “superperfect” because it uses a cadential 6-4 to dominant to tonic motion.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
The majority of the pitches come from the D major scale. However, chromaticism is used
in tonicizations of the dominant. In the second phrase of “Lift Mine Eyes” there is a minor
dominant triad, which uses the chromatic pitch C-natural. There is more use of chromaticism in
“He Watching Over Israel.”
III.
Musical texture
“Lift Thine Eyes” is written for three voices, which is a contrast to the four-voice and
accompaniment writing of “He Watching Over Israel.” “He Watching Over Israel” contains a
fugue-like middle section where the following lyrics are introduced: “Shouldst thou, walking in
grief, languish, He will quicken thee.” The texture of this section is polyphonic because each
voice moves independently yet works together with the other voices.
IV.
Sonorities
Because “Lift Thine Eyes” is written for three voices, sonorities are not always complete.
The cadential 6-4 of the first cadence puts the 4-3 suspension in the first soprano line, making
this dissonance very pronounced.
V.
Time Organization
The meter of “Lift Thine Eyes” is duple simple. The meter of “He Watching Over Israel”
is quadruple simple.
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Don Juan, op. 20
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key is E major. The form is rondo because the piece focuses on a theme/
section, leaves the theme several times, and returns to the theme. The theme is the A section and
is more melodically significant than the “in-between” section. The theme returns after the b
section it is in G minor, the key of the borrowed lowered mediant.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
This piece is diverse in pitch vocabulary as it modulates to many keys. The pitch
vocabulary is thus constantly changing depending on where the tonal center is found. A motive
that Strauss composed in Don Juan is ascending chromatic scales. In general, this piece used
chromatic pitches as passing tones within lines.
III.
Musical texture
There is great contrast between the theme and the sections between the theme. Some of
the “in-between” sections are lyrical and passionate, using slurs and legato passages, while
others use pizzicato to show a playful humorous tone. The theme is loud and accented, so the
strings play a marcato stroke.
IV.
Sonorities
The first sonority of the piece is a borrowed lowered submediant. In the b section there
are several tonicizations of the dominant.
V.
Time Organization
The theme of the piece is characterized by dotted rhythms and triplet runs. The time
organization is mostly in quadruple simple. However, there are some measures in triple simple.
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Morceau de Concert, op. 94
Allegro moderato and Adagio
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Ryan Betts, horn and
Friday, September 14, 2012
I.
Tonality
The global key of this piece is F minor. The first two phrases are almost identical and can
be labeled a(8) and a’(8). This piece was composed with a theme and variations process. The
theme is made up of four phrases, which can be diagramed as aaba, ballad form. The adagio
movement modulates to the mediant key of Ab major.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
Most of the pitches come from the F melodic minor scale, which uses lowered and raised
scale degrees six and seven. The second phrase employs raised scale degree three as a chromatic
pitch and seemingly changes the tonality.
III.
Musical texture
There are a variety of articulations used to contrast parts of each phrase. In the first
phrase accents mark most of the notes. When the theme is repeated in the second phrase the first
four bars uses accents, then the next two measures are slurred and the accents return in the final
two measures of the phrase.
IV.
Sonorities
The first phrase ends with a tonicization, dominant of the dominant, of the half cadence.
V.
Time Organization
The piece is organized into triple simple meter. The theme of the piece is repeated three
times using different rhythms each time. The first time it is introduced with a dotted eighth notesixteenth note rhythm. The first variation is done using triplets and second variation is written in
a sixteenth note rhythm.
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“Chère nuit”
Alfred Bachelet (1864-1944)
Adrea Chenoweth Wells, soprano and John Benjamin, piano
Saturday, September 22, 2012
I.
Tonality
Albert Bachelet composed “Chère nuit” in Db major. Tonality is established with the first
chord of the song in the piano accompaniment. Then, the accompaniment proceeds to move
away from tonic. The first phrase is eleven measures and tapers at an authentic cadence, the tonic
of which is also the beginning of the second phrase.
II.
Pitch vocabulary
The majority of the pitches come from the Db major scale. In the third phrase the melody
sings part of an ascending scale from scale degree three to scale degree one with raise scale
degree five passing between scale degrees five and six as a chromatic passing tone. There is
another example of chromaticism in the second phrase as a tonicization.
III.
Musical texture
The piano accompaniment creates a thick texture with arpeggios throughout the song.
The lyrics of the second phrase describe how the singer waits for the night, and the third phrase
sings of the arrival of the night. The texture mirrors the story of the lyrics because the texture
thickens in the third phrase.
IV.
Sonorities
At the entrance of the soprano the harmonic pattern moves from a connection to
dominant to tonic. This is the cadence of the first phrase. The alto line walks down from scale
degree four to scale degree one at the entrance of the soprano. Scale degree three is an accented
passing tone, which resolves to scale degree two, which is a chord tone in the dominant
harmony.
V.
Time Organization
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The meter is quadruple compound. The tempo is slow. The beat is subdivided into three
parts. Thus, a triplet feel characterizes the rhythm wherein the eighth note gets the subdivision.
Rhythmic unity comes from the repeated use of a quarter note followed by an eighth note.
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Conclusion
Each entry in this log had elements that related to each of the five categories.
Chromaticism played a major role in Piano Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven and Don Juan by
Richard Strauss. I was most aware of these composers uses of chromaticism in these two pieces
because it was used many times. However, the movements of Elijah by Mendelssohn used less
chromaticism. Don Juan and the Piano Concerto No. 1 were rhythmically innovative. Both
pieces contrasted triplets and duplets.
Rather than pushing the boundaries of music as Beethoven and Strauss seemed to being
doing, Mendelssohn harkened back to earlier common practice period techniques of four-part
fugue writing.
I was surprised that mostly the sonorities used were tonic and dominant. I expected to
hear more use of the special chords that MUS 211 spent most of the semester learning about.
Those sonorities are just not as common as I thought. I observed that cadences are the best way
to determine the key and most significant melodically for establishing tonic. Overall, the music
conformed to what was expected for music of this time period.