Music as a Discourse [1.2 Bolero] PDF

Preview

Summary

Analysis of Bolero. For Stan Link's class...

Description

Neo Winter Scott 08/30/2020 1

Map the basic structure of the entire piece in two hierarchical levels. At a low level, Bolero is Intro AABB AABB AABB AABB AABB AB Conclusion. At a higher level, Bolero’s structure is Intro A A A A A A’ Conclusion. With reference to the concept of periodicity, compare Ravel's Bolero to "Hell you talmbout." What are the similarities? With those in mind, what are some of the differences that might account for a difference in the overall effect? Both works have the same periodicity at almost every level. At the highest level, they both are the same thing repeating over and over again. At a level lower, they are both in a repeated binary form. On a tertiary, lower level, they finally differ slightly with “Hell you talmbout” having a AABBB instead of AABB. While Bolero has temporal symmetry at this level (2 and 2), “Hell you talmbout” has an inherent asymmetry which causes an auditory effect distinct from Bolero; it places additional emphasis on the names section. Even further, “Hell you talmbout” is broken into even smaller repetitive chunks that Bolero isn’t. Those smaller chunks are much shorter compared to Bolero’s phrases. We discussed why Janelle Monae's piece doesn't really come to an end. But Ravel's Bolero does. How and why? “Hell you talmbout” doesn’t come to an end because, beyond the structure, the only thing that changes is the name being said, and there are (sadly) a nearly endless list of names that fit the topic at hand, and it seems like there will be many more to come (ugh). Bolero has an extra parameter that the piece is about though: it gets bigger. Each time the themes play, the orchestra is bigger and louder. Because the orchestra can only reach a finite “size,” at some point the piece is forced structurally to end so that it doesn’t contradict itself. How is the structure of Bolero expressive, or at least reinforce its expressivity? The expression in Bolero is found through its orchestration. The melodic and harmonic material remains a constant so the artistic expression is shown through the creative variation in the orchestration. Particularly, it is expressive in how it gradually raises the level of the orchestration; it feels continuous. Consider the role of signification in this piece. Read the Wiki link provided. Be sure to look at the pictures. There are at least five distinct significations at work. See if you can identify at least three of them. Understanding signification requires that you be specific. You aren't going for lame things like "this has a really intense feel to it." 1. The repetition when the first horn and both piccolos are playing the melody signifies an organ registration orchestration. The first piccolo is in E major and

Neo Winter Scott 08/30/2020 2

the second piccolo is in G major (both pianissimo) while the horn is in the home key of C major. The three instruments together operate as if an organ player was playing the melody on a single manual with the Nazard and Tierce stops out. The sound of the organ also potentially signifies the practice of various denominations of Christianity or the church or spirituality in general. 2. The snare drum signifies castanets which, according to the image on the Bolero wikipedia page, seem to be held by the performer whilst they dance (specifically the Spanish Bolero). The snare drum could also signify the military, but considering the other context, my mind first wanders to the sound of castanets. 3. The rhythmic layer that the snare drum and other instruments play signifies the Spanish Bolero dance. This is not just from the time signature of ¾ but also because of the specific rhythm involved. It also partially signifies the Fandango dance from Portugal and Spain, but the rhythm in that dance has a simple substructure (thirty-secondth notes) while the Spanish Bolero (and Ravel’s) has a complex substructure (tripleted sixteenth notes)....