ASSIGNMENT THREE

Ms Suncica Lazic, Student ID: Suncica516098 Assignment Three

ASSIGNMENT THREE

ASSIGNMENT THREE: Composition brief and chords.

500 WORD COMMENTARY ON ASSIGNMENT THREE BAROQUE SONATA COMPOSITION BELOW

My composition was modelled on J. S Bach’s sonatas, BWV 1014–1019. I approached the brief by writing the melodic outline using 1st Species counterpoint (with slight deviations) between the violin melody and the harpsichord bass, sketching it out semibreve against semibreve, choosing downbeat notes, melodic contour and climax point. Then I added arpeggiated textures to the harpsichord. For greater variety I decided to depart from J.S Bach’s writing style and divided up the sections into smaller phrase-based subsections with 2 bar long rhythmical patterns. Consequently, my changes in texture are more frequent than Bach’s. Once my accompaniment was complete, I went over the violin melody and filled it out with ‘short note’ figures. Harmonically speaking, I was pretty much bound by the chords given in the exercise and did not incorporate any substantial key changes. I employed several of Bach’s other compositional techniques, for example: in bars 17-18 the same melody repeats over a different chord and is essentially re-harmonised, there is sequencing throughout (for example bars 9 -11) and imitations between voices (for example bar 22). There are also a few instances of syncopation (bars 9-15). There is precedent for using syncopation in the Baroque era, for example: Bach used syncopation in Brandenburg Concerto no.4 (Boyd, 2008:53) and Handel used it in his Waterworks Hornpipe movement. (Hogwood, 2005:37)

Fig. 3. C.P.E Bach’s ornamentation symbols. Appoggiatura on right. (1949)

I read a few books on Baroque ornamentation techniques such as Bali Janos’ ‘A Baroque ornamentation tutor for the recorder’ and C.P.E Bach’s book ‘Essay on the TRUE ART OF PLAYING KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS’ largely basing my choices on the latter. My ornamentations are used sparingly and placed at the end of phrases, on repeated figures, at cadences and at final cadence (bar 29) in the form of a suspended appoggiatura in the violin (Bach, 1949: p89). On occasion the ornaments form part of the rhythm, where a very short inverted mordent is inserted between repeated notes, functioning as a fast trill or ‘snap’ (bars 17-18). In sections where I was after greater pathos, I used unornamented longer notes in the violin (bars 5,13, 25-33). Quoting C.P.E Bach;

‘It is understood, for example, that the portrayal of simplicity or sadness suffers fewer ornaments than other emotions.’ (Bach, 1949: p81)

The challenges I struggled to overcome were the result of my dislike of an overly repetitive texture in the harpsichord. Rather than sticking to Bach’s  instrumentation I should have chosen an accompaniment I prefer, such as the lute. Attempting to alleviate the sonic monotony led to writing a polyrhythm in the harpsichord using triplets in the right hand playing against tuplets in the left. I suspected that this might not be appropriate for the style of the Baroque era. After consulting with my tutor, I decided to rewrite the triplet sections to include right-hand triplets but played over a simple left-hand pattern marking downbeats. I am particularly pleased with this section, where I think I successfully managed to find a rhythm to replace the polyrhythm without straying from the Baroque style.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. Sunny, L. (2020) Assignment Three Brief from Stylistic Techniques. [Scan] From: OCA’s  Stylistic Techniques (2017) written by Gavin Wayte. Barnsley: OCA:2017. In: possession of: The author: London.

Figure 2. Sunny, L. (2020) Chords given in Stylistic Technique course for Assignment Three. [Scan] From: OCA’s  Stylistic Techniques (2017) written by Gavin Wayte. Barnsley: OCA:2017. In: possession of: The author: London.

Figure 3. Bach, C.P.E. (1949) “C.P.E Bach’s ornamentation symbols. Appoggiatura on right.” [Illustration] In: Bach, C.P.E. (1949) Essay on the TRUE ART OF PLAYING KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Figure 4. Sunny, L. (2020) “Photo of title page from C.P.E Bach’s book ‘Essay on the TRUE ART OF PLAYING KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS”. [photograph] Of: Bach, C.P.E. (1949) Essay on the TRUE ART OF PLAYING KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1014: Violin Sonata in B Minor (Scrolling) [With score]. [Video Score]. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTtSLg3HzRo&t=609s (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1015: Violin Sonata in A Major (Scrolling) [With score]. [Video Score]. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0D5aF0yxnk (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1016: Violin Sonata in E Major (Scrolling) [With score]. [Video Score]. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZncccdqTfA (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1017: Violin Sonata in C Minor (Scrolling) [With score]. [Video Score]. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhtcUKjNAGs (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1018: Violin Sonata in F Minor (Scrolling) [Video Score]. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVemQvcLy64 (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) BWV 1019: Violin Sonata in G Major (Scrolling) [Video Score]. At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C93Tg81zAx0 (Accessed on 01 February 2020)

Bach, C.P.E. (1949) Essay on the TRUE ART OF PLAYING KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Bach, J.S. (1707-1783) 6 Violin Sonatas, BWV 1014-1019. [Music Score Download] Public Domain. Available Online At: (http://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/5/55/IMSLP478594-PMLP05971-E2242_etc-Bach_-_BGA_-_BWV_1014.pdf (Accessed on 8 Jan 2020)

Bach, C.P.E. (1721) No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049. [Music Score Download] Public Domain. Available Online At: https://imslp.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Concerto_No.4_in_G_major%2C_BWV_1049_(Bach%2C_Johann_Sebastian) (Accessed on 8 Jan 2020)

Bali, J. (2005) A Baroque ornamentation tutor for the recorder. (Editio Musica Budapest) Budapest: Universal Music Publishing Editio Musica Budapest Ltd.

Boyd, M. (1993) Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hogwood, C. (2005) Handel: Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.

Hughes, B. and Moseley, B. and Shaffer, K. (2013) A brief history of basso continuo keyboard-style voice-leading. In: Open Music Theory. Hybrid Pedagogy Publishing. [online] At: http://openmusictheory.com/bassoContinuo-history.html (Accessed on 12 Dec 2019)

Randel, D. M (2003) ‘Schneller’ definition. In: The Harvard Dictionary of Music. (Fourth Edition) Cambridge Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Taruskin, R. and Gibbs, C. (2013) The Oxford History of Western music. (College Edition) New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Taylor, E. (1991) The AB Guide to Music Theory, PART I. (1997 Edition) London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (Publishing) Ltd.

ASSIGNMENT THREE: Short Baroque violin and harpsichord composition.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. Sunny, L. (2020) ‘Assignment Three Composition page 1. sheet music’. [Illustration] In: possession of: The author: London.

Figure 2. Sunny, L. (2020) ‘Assignment Three Composition page 2. sheet music.‘ [Illustration] In: possession of: The author: London.

Figure 3. Sunny, L. (2020) Assignment Three Composition page 2. sheet music. [Illustration] In: possession of: The author: London.