SCHOENBERG: 'Peripetie'

MELODY
1. A
  1. Piece is built using hexachords - e.g. in bars 1& 3 played by clarinets & flutes
  2. Full pitch range of instruments are used - tessitura
  3. b.10 clarinet solo is expressive, angular and lyrical
    1. uses leaps of minor 9th, major 7th and dim. octave
      1. causes dissonance and creates tension
2. B
  1. principal voice snakes through much of the orchestra
    1. e.g. from b.24 it bounces rapidly from one brass instrument to another
  2. secondary voice appears during this section for its only appearance in the piece
    1. b.28 beat 2 to b.31 beat 1 in tpt 1
    2. b. 29 in the flutes, piccolo and clarinet
3. A'
  1. strings enter at start of section with principal voice
  2. in b. 37, a fast arpeggiac flourish is played by the horns
  3. in the 2nd half of this section, it isn't entirely clear which instrument has the melody
4. A''
  1. no voice is marked as being more important than any other
  2. violin 2 plays an arpeggiated motif, starting in b.60
RHYTHM/TEMPO
1. A
  1. Sehr Rasch = very quick
    1. 100-108bpm
  2. Triplet quavers and sextuplet semi-quavers
  3. Bar 7 tempo slows slightly
    1. etwas ruhiger
  4. rubato in clarinet melody at b.10 makes tempo seem slower than it really is
2. B
  1. tempo returns to original sehr sasch (after etwas ruhiger)
  2. short note values such as semiquavers make music seem faster than it really is
3. A'
  1. longer, sustained note values are used, with occasional accented quaver interjections
    1. e.g. beat 3 of b.40 in double bass
4. C
  1. Tempo marking alternates between ruhiger (calmer) and heftig (passionate)
    1. contrasting moods
  2. metre changes to 4/4 for one bar at b.49
5. A''
  1. Some of the rhythmic motifs from the opening bars return in this section
    1. e.g. trumpets bars 61-63 = b.5 beat 3 to b.6 beat 2 repeated in quick succession
    2. clarinets bars 59-61 = bar 1
    3. flutes bars 62-63 = bar 3
  2. returns to original tempo
DYNAMICS
1. A
  1. forte to begin with
  2. dynamics get louder as melodic ideas are played by instrumental groups together
  3. in b.5, dynamics reach fff before dying away to pp
    1. use of extreme dynamics to create impact
2. B
  1. section begins quite quietly, but there is an immediate crescendo
  2. dynamics are very varied from instrument to instrument with the principal and secondary voice parts always f – fff but the other parts ranging from p to ff
  3. The dynamics change dramatically and frequently in this section in a very restless fashion
  4. from b.32, there is a large cresc. to the climax marking the start of the next section
3. A'
  1. sudden dynamic change in bar 37 - forte cresc. to fpp
  2. from b.38, all instruments are pp
    1. create a menacing mood, full of anticipation
4. C
  1. dynamics of this section range from pp (bars 44/45), with individual instruments rising above the others with individual crescendos, to
  2. orchestra enters fff (bars 53-55) before dropping down to almost nothing in bar 58
5. A''
  1. Crescendos quite quickly from pp at the beginning of bar 59 to fff in bar 64
    1. immediately dies away to nothing with the tremolo double bass chord (accompanied by pp horns)
HARMONY/TONALITY
1. A
  1. atonal - no sense of key
  2. harmony created through combinations of different hexachords/complements
    1. e.g. in b.8, horns play a layered hexachord which is the same as the b.1 hexachord but transposed down 4 semitones
2. A'
  1. the hexachord heard in .38 is the same as the b.8 hexachord
3. A''
  1. the climactic chord of bar 64 is a gigantic hexachord (C, D, Eb, F#, G, G#) in most of the orchestra
TEXTURE
1. A
  1. in bars 1-7, brass dominate texture
  2. trombones take over principal voice in bars 5-6 before it returns to horns
  3. in bars 8-10, the bassoons and bass clarinet have an ostinato
  4. from b.10, the soft clarinet melody becomes the principal voice, and the texture thins from here
  5. instrumental groups play in quick succession with some overlaps of homophonic bursts, to create impact
2. B
  1. while all the busyness and volume is going on in the wind and percussion, first violins and cellos have a soft line
    1. although they're inaudible, but they do add to the effect and texture, and show Schoenberg's attention to detail
  2. very polyphonic and complex throughout this section
3. A'
  1. texture becomes more homophonic/chordal
    1. brief rest from section B
      1. menacing mood suggests more to come
4. C
  1. for the first part of this section the texture is much more sparse
    1. Schoenberg focuses on overlapping combinations of solo instruments
5. A''
  1. Starting with just the clarinets and strings, the instruments are introduced one by one in quick succession (layering the repeated rhythmic motifs) until the full orchestra comes together for the final climactic chord of bar 64.
STRUCTURE
1. A
  1. Clarinets & flutes state 2 hexachords in bars 1&3
    1. At end of b.3, the principal voice horn plays a fanfare-like motif
      1. In b.6, the strings and trumpets have a short demisemquaver outburst, before a short bass cl/bsn ostinato is heard
        In b.10, the clarinet takes over as the principal voice and plays an expressive solo
2. B
  1. in b.18, cello takes over role as principal voice from clarinet
    1. in b.20, trumpet take principal voice
      1. from b.20-34, the PV passes between 7 different instruments
        in b.28, trumpet enters with secondary voice
        in b.29, flutes and clarinet join in as secondary voices
        from b.32, the full orchestra is used to create a climax
3. A'
  1. this is the shortest of all the sections, being just 9 bars
4. C
  1. begins with bassoon taking PV before passing to cello
    1. within the section, there are 2 alternating contrasting moods
      1. at b.53, the mood changes back to heftig and a sudden contrast is created
        the section ends with quiet, sparsely textured sustained notes
5. A''
  1. beginning with clarinets, gradually each instrument is added in until the climax of the piece
INSTRUMENTATION
1. A
  1. each instrument in orchestra plays in section A
  2. timbre of instruments is considered just as important as melody - klangfarbenmelodie
    1. trumpets are marked as muted, but playing with extreme dynamics to create interesting timbre
2. B
  1. the full orchestra is used, but not all at once except for climactic points like bars 30-34
    1. even here, not all the instruments are used for the full five bars with the wind and percussion supplying most of the power
3. A'
  1. an A extremely low in trombone's register is played 'as loud as possible' - this will create an interesting timbre
    1. using full limits of instruments
4. C
  1. in b.49, the violins/viola are played pizzicato, before returning to arco at the end of b.53
  2. There is the impression of "handling the orchestra like a delicate crystal before hitting it with the full orchestral hammer in bar 53 and standing back to admire the handiwork in bars 56-58."
5. A''
  1. on the cymbal, a tremolo is played using a cello bow
  2. to finish, the double basses play a tremolo chord very high in their register

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SCHOENBERG: 'Peripetie'

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	Created by Alex C about 8 years ago