October (Whitacre)
Encyclopedia
October is a contemporary piece for concert band
that was written by Eric Whitacre
in 2000. Based on the guidelines as established by the authors of Teaching Music through Performance in Band, October is a Grade 4 piece.
composed October with the intention of evoking a peaceful musical representation of the month he has called his favorite, and the feelings this month evokes for him. Whitacre has said,
October was commissioned on May 14, 2000, by the Nebraska Wind Consortium, a band made up of students from thirty different high school bands from Nebraska. This consortium was organized by Brian Anderson, to whom Whitacre dedicated the work in recognition of Anderson's work to bring the students together.
(4/4) is the primary meter, many sections stay in the same meter for as little as one measure
. This switching between meters is less difficult than it might be, because the division of the beat
remains the same. Switching between time signatures may be difficult for students at first, but it benefits them by forcing them to watch the conductor constantly and concentrate on their counting.
Most of the rhythmic patterns used in October are manageable for high school students. Its rhythmic problems stem mainly from the challenge of remembering the meter of each measure and playing the right number of beats. For the mostpart, the piece uses simple divisions of duple rhythms, ranging from whole notes to eighth notes. The last of these, the eighth note, dominates the first half of the piece, occurring in at least one instrument in every measure. In the second half of the piece, quarter and half notes dominate, and there is a quarter-note triplet
in one measure. One particularly difficult measure toward the end of the piece has a beat incorporating a complex cross-rhythm: the low brass
and low woodwinds play an eighth-note triplet with sixteenth notes on the last beat; the 3rd B clarinets play four sixteenth notes; the 2nd B clarinets play five sixteenth notes; the oboes play six sixteenth notes; and the 1st B clarinets, the E clarinet and the flutes play seven sixteenth notes. Students will need to be taught how to place the notes, requiring much presentation and practice.
parts, the three clarinet
parts and the saxophone and trumpet parts. The oboe
, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet
, bassoon
, horn
, trombone
, euphonium
and tuba
parts will probably each be played by just one performer. The band should be about sixty-five members strong or a little more. This is a practical number for a high school band
, although it will depend on the school district. With sixty-five players, some of them will be the only performer of their particular part. According to Jack and Robert Biehler, this, with an understanding of the importance of the part, will motivate students to practice and perform to the best of their ability. Two of the instruments that Whitacre used, the E♭ clarinet and the bass trombone, are high school instruments, not middle school. October could serve as a suitable transition piece for players new to these instruments, because it is more lyrically difficult than technically difficult. This would also be motivation for the students to practice and succeed on these new or less familiar instruments.
s, giving students practice in blending with other instruments and in matching the timbre
across the ensemble
. Most of the instruments play both melody
and accompaniment
at some point during the piece. In many traditional band compositions, the flutes will have the melody and the tubas will provide an uninteresting accompaniment. In October, however, the moving lines are distributed throughout the ensemble, keeping the players engaged throughout their work on the piece. October switches frequently between thin and thick textures
. The most usual pattern is for a small group of woodwinds to play, then the whole ensemble, and then a small group of woodwinds once more. This progression will create the serene and expressive mood that Whitacre aims for and will allow individuals, as well as the ensemble, to play with emotion.
. Within these main key signatures, he modulates extensively, so that balance and especially intonation
are significant issues during rehearsal. A further learning opportunity comes from the presence of enharmonic
note spellings for some instruments. For example, the euphonium, trombone and bassoon use F♭, which has the same pitch as E♮, while the flute and tuba use B, pitched the same as A♮. Furthermore, the rapid switching of time signatures give rise to a high degree of rubato, requiring concentration from the students.
, four main themes, a short interlude
and a final coda
. A new theme is heard in measures 19–30: the woodwinds continue to play, and the texture builds up progressively as the brass instruments enter. After the second theme, the first theme returns briefly, this time in tutti. The clarinets and horns play an alternating rhythm, and the bassoon and the trombone create a hocket
as they play the transition to the next section. The third theme, in A♭ major, is heard in measures 40–65, beginning with a passage for solo euphonium accompanied by clarinets playing tremolo
, muted trumpets and stopped horns. The section grows as more instruments enter, and the phrase reaches its climax with a metric modulation. Theme three is followed by a four-bar interlude in which the oboe solo that began the piece is heard once more, but this time in B♭ major. Measures 72–89 present the fourth and final theme in the key of G major, again with the upper woodwinds playing first and then growing until all the instruments have entered. The first theme returns in measures 73–97, played by the entire ensemble. The piece concludes with a coda from measure 98 to the end (m. 113). A six-measure melodic hocket is played by the horn, trombone, euphonium and trumpets, ending with a climax in G major. October concludes with the low brass and woodwinds playing a long diminuendo into silence.
. The next melody, played by all the upper woodwinds, the tenor saxophone
and the horns (II), uses a variety of intervals
– fourths, fifths
, sevenths and an octave – making it somewhat angular. The melody of theme two, played by the upper woodwinds, also uses eighth and quarter notes (III). The motion of this melody is more stepwise than the previous one. The next new melody, for solo euphonium, mixes many leaps with stepwise motion and repeated notes (IV). The melody of the interlude is a restatement of the opening melody in a different key. The final theme presents a new melody played by the flutes, clarinets and alto saxophones; it is rhythmically simpler than previous material (V). The melody in the coda is distributed among the saxophones, trombones, euphonium, and trumpet (VI).
. The effect depends not so much on the notes as on the contrast between the sonority of the trills and the euphonium solo. The music modulates to B♭ major, and the bassoons, euphoniums and tubas play harmonic ostinatos. All of the brass play the harmony during the fourth theme, now in G Major. In the coda, all the woodwinds play trills above the melodic brass. The piece concludes with the brass quietly playing a final G major chord
.
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
that was written by Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...
in 2000. Based on the guidelines as established by the authors of Teaching Music through Performance in Band, October is a Grade 4 piece.
Background
Eric WhitacreEric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...
composed October with the intention of evoking a peaceful musical representation of the month he has called his favorite, and the feelings this month evokes for him. Whitacre has said,
October was commissioned on May 14, 2000, by the Nebraska Wind Consortium, a band made up of students from thirty different high school bands from Nebraska. This consortium was organized by Brian Anderson, to whom Whitacre dedicated the work in recognition of Anderson's work to bring the students together.
Rhythm and metric complexity
October is metrically complex, switching frequently between 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 times. While common timeCommon Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
(4/4) is the primary meter, many sections stay in the same meter for as little as one measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
. This switching between meters is less difficult than it might be, because the division of the beat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
remains the same. Switching between time signatures may be difficult for students at first, but it benefits them by forcing them to watch the conductor constantly and concentrate on their counting.
Most of the rhythmic patterns used in October are manageable for high school students. Its rhythmic problems stem mainly from the challenge of remembering the meter of each measure and playing the right number of beats. For the mostpart, the piece uses simple divisions of duple rhythms, ranging from whole notes to eighth notes. The last of these, the eighth note, dominates the first half of the piece, occurring in at least one instrument in every measure. In the second half of the piece, quarter and half notes dominate, and there is a quarter-note triplet
Tuplet
In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the...
in one measure. One particularly difficult measure toward the end of the piece has a beat incorporating a complex cross-rhythm: the low brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and low woodwinds play an eighth-note triplet with sixteenth notes on the last beat; the 3rd B clarinets play four sixteenth notes; the 2nd B clarinets play five sixteenth notes; the oboes play six sixteenth notes; and the 1st B clarinets, the E clarinet and the flutes play seven sixteenth notes. Students will need to be taught how to place the notes, requiring much presentation and practice.
Instrumentation
The instrumentation of October is standard for most high school concert bands. There are thirty-three different parts. Players can double up for the two fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
parts, the three clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
parts and the saxophone and trumpet parts. The oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, euphonium
Euphonium
The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
parts will probably each be played by just one performer. The band should be about sixty-five members strong or a little more. This is a practical number for a high school band
School band
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors...
, although it will depend on the school district. With sixty-five players, some of them will be the only performer of their particular part. According to Jack and Robert Biehler, this, with an understanding of the importance of the part, will motivate students to practice and perform to the best of their ability. Two of the instruments that Whitacre used, the E♭ clarinet and the bass trombone, are high school instruments, not middle school. October could serve as a suitable transition piece for players new to these instruments, because it is more lyrically difficult than technically difficult. This would also be motivation for the students to practice and succeed on these new or less familiar instruments.
Instrument ranges
In the table, pitches are the written ones, not the actual ones.| Flute Flute The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... |
Oboe Oboe The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca... |
Clarinet | Bassoon Bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature... |
Saxophone | Horn Horn (instrument) The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player .... |
Trumpet | Trombone Trombone The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... |
Euphonium Euphonium The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"... |
Tuba Tuba The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) D♭4 – A♭6 | (1) D4 – D6 | (Eb) B♭3 – E6 | (1) C♯2 – E4 | (Alto 1) B3 – B♭5 | (1) A3 – F5 | (1) D4 – B5 | (1) C3 – E4 | (1) G2 – E4 | (1) G♭1 – D3 |
| (2) C4 – A♭6 | (2) D♭4 – D6 | (1) A♭3 – E6 | (2) C2 – D4 | (Alto 2) B3 – G5 | (2) A3 – F5 | (2) B♭3 – G5 | (2) B♭2 – B♭3 | (2) G2 – E4 | (2) G♭1 – D3 |
| (2) G♭3 – B5 | (Tenor) E4 – C6 | (3) A3 – F5 | (3) B♭3 – E5 | (Bass) F2 – E3 | |||||
| (3) E3 – B5 | (Bari) E4 – B5 | (4) A3 – F5 |
Scoring and texture
October requires a substantial amount of playing from each section of the band and has many tuttiTutti
Tutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together and is used as a musical term, for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist...
s, giving students practice in blending with other instruments and in matching the timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
across the ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. Most of the instruments play both melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
at some point during the piece. In many traditional band compositions, the flutes will have the melody and the tubas will provide an uninteresting accompaniment. In October, however, the moving lines are distributed throughout the ensemble, keeping the players engaged throughout their work on the piece. October switches frequently between thin and thick textures
Texture (music)
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece...
. The most usual pattern is for a small group of woodwinds to play, then the whole ensemble, and then a small group of woodwinds once more. This progression will create the serene and expressive mood that Whitacre aims for and will allow individuals, as well as the ensemble, to play with emotion.
Technical facility
The technical problems presented by October are not so much those of rhythm and speed as those that arise from the different keys, the key relationships, and the pianistic melodic line. Whitacre uses four main key signatures: D-flat major, A-flat major, B-flat major and G majorG major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
. Within these main key signatures, he modulates extensively, so that balance and especially intonation
Intonation (music)
Intonation, in music, is a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument. Intonation may be flat, sharp, or both, successively or simultaneously.-Interval, melody, and harmony:...
are significant issues during rehearsal. A further learning opportunity comes from the presence of enharmonic
Enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently...
note spellings for some instruments. For example, the euphonium, trombone and bassoon use F♭, which has the same pitch as E♮, while the flute and tuba use B, pitched the same as A♮. Furthermore, the rapid switching of time signatures give rise to a high degree of rubato, requiring concentration from the students.
Form and structure
October has an introductionIntroduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, four main themes, a short interlude
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
and a final coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
. A new theme is heard in measures 19–30: the woodwinds continue to play, and the texture builds up progressively as the brass instruments enter. After the second theme, the first theme returns briefly, this time in tutti. The clarinets and horns play an alternating rhythm, and the bassoon and the trombone create a hocket
Hocket
In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal...
as they play the transition to the next section. The third theme, in A♭ major, is heard in measures 40–65, beginning with a passage for solo euphonium accompanied by clarinets playing tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
, muted trumpets and stopped horns. The section grows as more instruments enter, and the phrase reaches its climax with a metric modulation. Theme three is followed by a four-bar interlude in which the oboe solo that began the piece is heard once more, but this time in B♭ major. Measures 72–89 present the fourth and final theme in the key of G major, again with the upper woodwinds playing first and then growing until all the instruments have entered. The first theme returns in measures 73–97, played by the entire ensemble. The piece concludes with a coda from measure 98 to the end (m. 113). A six-measure melodic hocket is played by the horn, trombone, euphonium and trumpets, ending with a climax in G major. October concludes with the low brass and woodwinds playing a long diminuendo into silence.
Melodic material
October begins with the solo oboe playing an introductory melody (I) in D♭ major, consisting of eighth and quarter notes embellished by grace notesGrace Notes
Grace Notes is a novel by Bernard MacLaverty, first published in 1997.-Plot summary:The book centers around the postpartum depression of its female protagonist, Catherine McKenna, a Northern Irish music teacher and composer living in Scotland...
. The next melody, played by all the upper woodwinds, the tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and the horns (II), uses a variety of intervals
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
– fourths, fifths
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
, sevenths and an octave – making it somewhat angular. The melody of theme two, played by the upper woodwinds, also uses eighth and quarter notes (III). The motion of this melody is more stepwise than the previous one. The next new melody, for solo euphonium, mixes many leaps with stepwise motion and repeated notes (IV). The melody of the interlude is a restatement of the opening melody in a different key. The final theme presents a new melody played by the flutes, clarinets and alto saxophones; it is rhythmically simpler than previous material (V). The melody in the coda is distributed among the saxophones, trombones, euphonium, and trumpet (VI).
Harmonic material
The piece begins in D♭ major with a single held note in the 1st clarinets and gentle wind chimes underneath. The remaining clarinets join the chimes to support the oboe melody. Proceeding to the first theme, the texture becomes thicker, and the bass clarinet, bassoons, euphoniums and tubas now play the accompaniment. In theme two, the whole brass section accompanies the melody of the upper woodwinds. In the transition to theme three, the bassoons play a harmony that sets up a modulation to A♭ major. In this new key and new theme, the accompaniment returns to the clarinets, which play trillsTrill (music)
The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill....
. The effect depends not so much on the notes as on the contrast between the sonority of the trills and the euphonium solo. The music modulates to B♭ major, and the bassoons, euphoniums and tubas play harmonic ostinatos. All of the brass play the harmony during the fourth theme, now in G Major. In the coda, all the woodwinds play trills above the melodic brass. The piece concludes with the brass quietly playing a final G major chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
.
Form and structure chart
| Introduction | Theme 1 | Theme 2 | Theme 3 | Interlude | Theme 4 | Coda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form Musical form The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections... |
Homophony Homophony In music, homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic... |
Homophony | Polyphony Polyphony In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords .... |
Homophony- Polyphony |
Monophony Monophony In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave . If the entire melody is sung by two voices or a choir with an interval between the notes or in... |
Polyphony | Homophony |
| Measure Bar (music) In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a... Groupings |
m. 1–9 | m. 10–18; 31–39; 90–97 |
m. 19–30 | m. 40–65 | m. 66–71 | m. 72–89 | m. 98–113 |
| Tonalities | D♭ Major / B♭ Minor | D♭ Major / B♭ Minor | D♭ Major / B♭ Minor | A♭ Major / F Minor | B♭ Major / G Minor | G Major / E Minor | G Major / E Minor |
| Melodic Materials | Oboe solo | Upper woodwinds, tenor sax, horns |
Upper woodwinds | Solo euphonium; upper woodwinds and horns |
Solo oboe | All woodwinds | Saxes, horns, trombones, euphoniums |
| Harmonic Harmonic A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental... Materials |
Clarinets | Bass clarinet, euphonium, tuba |
Brass | Clarinets; trumpets and low brass |
Clarinets and brass |
Brass | Woodwinds |
| Rhythmic Material | Whole, half, quarter, eighth, ties, and grace notes |
Dotted half, half, quarter, and eighth notes |
Whole, dotted half, half, quarter, and eighth notes |
Whole, dotted half, half, quarter, and eighth notes |
Whole, quarter, and eighth notes |
Mostly whole, half, and quarter notes. A few eighth notes. One quarter note triplet |
Whole, dotted half, half, and quarter notes. A few eighth notes. |
| Texture Texture (music) In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece... |
1st clarinets start alone, solo oboe with all clarinets accompaniment – thin |
Thicker texture – almost all instruments playing. Most playing melody, only few on harmony. |
Starts thin with just upper woodwinds, becomes thick with tutti Tutti Tutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together and is used as a musical term, for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist... , thins out again now with brass playing |
Very thin in begin. With solo and only clarinet tremolo accompaniment. Instruments begin to enter and by m. 52, everyone is playing. |
Extremely thin spot with only two sections playing, yet still moves along | Thick texture with most instruments playing whole time. Longer, legato Legato In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence... phrases |
Fairly thin texture though woodwind whole notes will provide support. Melody switches btw groups of brass instruments = hocket Hocket In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal... |
| Dynamics Dynamics (music) In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics... |
Begins pianissimo Pianissimo Pianissimo is an Italian word, meaning "very soft". It can mean:*Pianissimo, refers to the volume of a soft sound or soft note.*Pianissimo Peche, a brand of Japanese cigarettes made by Japan Tobacco.... ; hairpins in every measure; crescendo Crescendo -In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions... to next section |
Mezzo forte Dynamics (music) In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics... ; hairpins in m. 11; small cresc. in m. 13 to forte Dynamics (music) In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics... ; m. 18 decres. to mezzo piano |
Mp; brass enter m. 22 at mf; cresc in m. 24 to f; hairpins thru-out to f |
Mf solo, mp accomp.; entrances at mf; two bar cresc. to f at m. 53 |
Mp solo, piano and pp accompaniment | Mp; two bar cresc. to mf in m. 78 followed by a slight decres. Hairpins thru-out m. 79–84; f in m. 85; huge cresc. to fortissimo in m. 89 |
Forte piano; melody at mf; accompaniment two-bar cresc. to f in m. 102; all cresc. to ff in m. 104; decres. To ending pp |
Further reading
- Chosky, Lois. The Kodály Method: Comprehensive Music Education, 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.
- Brookhart, Susan M. Grading, 2nd ed. New York: Merrill, 2009.