Schoenberg: 'Peripetie'

Peripetie was originally wrote in 1909, but the version we're studying was wrote in 1922
1. It comes from Schoenberg's 'Five orchestral Pieces'
Instrumentation
1. The work requires a large orchestra of at least 90 players.
  1. The instrumentation changes rapidly throughout.
    1. Performers are frequently required to play at the extremes of their range
Melody
1. Peripetie is made up of of many short, fragmented motifs that are combined in different ways.
  1. Melodies are disjuncted.
Rhythm, Metre & Tempo
1. The metre changes between 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4.
  1. The tempo is very quick. 'Sehr Rasch'
    1. Rhythms are complex and varied
Tonality & Harmony
1. The piece is atonal. It uses a lot of dissonant harmony.
  1. Chords and melodies are often built up of hexachords.
Textures & Dynamics
1. The texture is largely contrapuntal
  1. Complex textures are built up through the use of techniques like imitation and inversion
    1. There are frequent changes in dynamics leading to extreme contrasts.
Structure
1. The piece is in Rondo form with 5 sections.

Resource summary

	Created by aidanmjones almost 11 years ago