“The Scream” by Edvard Munch

Expressionist artist

Painted between 1893 - 1910

Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)

Serial composer

“Peripetie” was completed in 1912 as part of a set of five orchestral pieces

“A sudden change of fortune”

TASK: Listen to Schoenberg’s “Peripetie”

an write 3 words or sentences which compare the painting and the music

e.g. they both sound exciting and upliftingEXTENSION: Make notes about the music using your workbook

mind-map

Can you identify a structure?

The rules of Bounce!The rules of Bounce!1.Share your idea or answer

clearly!

2.“Bounce” by choosing the next person (Boy/Girl -new row)

3.ONE person talks at a time!

4.Always be ready and alert!

Schoenberg (1874-1951) Born in Vienna, Austria

Founded the Second Viennese School: a group of composers who wrote Expressionist music

“Artist, writers and composers wanted to express their emotions through their art form as intensely as possible.

Taught Berg & Webern. He started writing atonal music when his wife left him for his friend who was an artist.

Developed a technique known as serial

What are the features of Expressionism?

Atonal – Gives each semitone equal importanceEach piece expresses one, intense emotion.Use the full ranges of instruments, exploring the

pitches available at the extremes.Timbre is as important as melodyExtreme dynamics – Very dramatic when

played in a large ensemble.Quite short pieces – It is difficult to write

extended pieces in this style, without key relationships and recognisable themes in the traditional sense to form a structural framework.

Structure: Key Questions 1. How many different sections are there? 2. What form does the music use? 3. How are

the different sections different?

AOS2: Schoenberg: ‘Peripetie’ - Melody: Prime Order

12 pitches of a chromatic scale in a set order which Schoenberg then uses to develop individual melodies or melodic ideas (motifs).

The row may be used in it’s original form, inverted, retrograde or transposed, for example:

Schoenberg uses the prime row (original order) in a retrograde form (backwards).

Prime:

Retrograde:

TASK: Compose your own melody using the retrograde of the prime order. Remember you can match the pitches to any

rhythm you decide to use.

EXTENSION: Can you invert the prime row for a second melody?

AoS 2: Music in the 20th Century

Schoenberg: Peripetie From Five Orchestral Pieces Op16 (1909, revised 1922)

Hexachords

What is a hexachord? A hexachord is simply a set of 6 different notes

Schoenberg bases what can be described as the harmony of this movement on hexachords, and derives many of his melodic ideas from the notes contained in the chords

Structure: Key Questions 1. What do all of these hexachords have in common?

Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone -> Minor 3rd -

> Semi Tone

Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone -> Minor 3rd -

> Semi Tone

Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone -> Minor 3rd -

> Semi Tone

Schoenberg uses a scale pattern to work out which 6 notes to use

The scale starts on a note and ascends using a pattern of intervals between the notes•From the first to the second note is the interval of a semitone, like in a chromatic scale

•From the second to the third is the interval of a tone, and so on•The complete pattern is, in this case, always Semitone – Tone – Semitone – Tone + semitone – Semitone,

or S T S T+S S

Example 1

Bars 1-2; the notes of the opening phrase in clarinets 1-3, bass clarinet and bassoons 1-3

The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern

Example 2Bar 8 beat 2; horns 1-6

The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern

Example 3Bar 37; beat 3, horns 1-6

You’ll notice that it is the same as example 2 – the Db note 4 in ex3 is the same as the C# note 4 in ex2. Schoenberg uses the same hexachord with a different enharmonic spelling – Db=C#, G#=Ab etc – in many occasions in this piece.

The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern

Example 4Bar 65 (penultimate bar), beat 2, Horns 2-6, divided double basses

The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern

Homework: Due Weds 15th January

Listen to “Peripetie” by Schoenberg and make

notes in your yellow workbook structure grid.

Focus on texture & dynamics

Add any other details that you can identify

Email Mr Jose if you have any issues

StructureIn 5 sectionsBroadly in Rondo form, though the returning A sections are hardly recognisable.

The A section shows a return to particular mood or orchestral sound rather than to a theme.

Section A Overview: Bars 1 - 18Begins very loud!Clarinets and flutes state 2 hexachords – Bar 1 = C#-D-E-F-

G#-A in the clarinets and A-A#-B-C-E-G# in the flutesBuilds up to ff fanfare-like horn motif marked Bassoon plays the clarinet hexachords from bar 1, the

same as the horn motif from bar 8 but transposed up 4 semitones.

Lots of hexachords are used throughout the piece. You are not expected to analyse all of these chords but you must be aware that they are used melodically and harmonically throughout and it is worth knowing a few examples.

Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18Tempo and rhythmMarked Sehr Rasch – Very quick.Crotchet = 100-108bpmMainly made up of short triplet and sextuplet

bursts.After the demisemiquaver hexachord burst, the

tempo becomes slightly slower through the quiet horn passage.

This leads to an expressive rubato clarinet line from bar 10.

Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18Instrumentation and textureTutti orchestra is used for the opening before they get to rest for a while.

Brass dominates the texture until bar 8, where the woodwind takes over (low bassoons, bass clarinet ostinato and clarinet melody)

Instruments drop in and out in quick succession with dovetailing, homophonic bursts.

Loud hexachord texture thins out to solo clarinet line.

Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18Pitch and MelodyNo sense of key – atonal and build on hexachords

Hear the full pitch range of all the instruments

Clarinet melody is expressive and gentleAngular and dissonant, with leaps of a minor 9th and major 7th – intervals usually used to accentuate dissonance and create tension.

Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18DynamicsBegins loudlyCrescendos to fff until dying away after bar5 to pp.

Trumpets and trombones play muted.Mutes are used for sound quality, rather than to effect the dynamics, for which the mute was not originally designed.

Section B Overview: Bars 18-34Tempo, Rhythm and DynamicsTempo returns to original marking.Short note durations give the illusion that the tempo has increased more than it has.

Section begins quietly with an immediate crescendo

Dynamics vary between instrumentsHaupstimme and Nebenstimme are always marked as f-fff.

Dramatic and frequent dynamic changes

Section B Overview: Bars 18-34Instrumentation and textureFull orchestra, but not all at once, except for climatic points i.e. Bars 30-34

Even here, strings leave to woodwind and percussion to provide much of the power.

Soft line written for violins and cello, which is almost inaudible but adds to the texture and timbre.

Texture = Very polyphonic and complex

Section B Overview: Bars 18-34Pitch and melodyHaupstimme snakes through most of the orchestraIn 24-28 it bounces from one brass instrument to the next,

demonstrating the klangfarbenmelodie idea.

The Nebenstimme appears in this section, for its only appearance in the whole piece.

Bar28(2) to Bar 31(1) = Trumpet 1Bar29 = flutes, piccolo and clarinet

Section A’: Bars 35-43Marked by the string section rising from nothingFollowed by a flourish in the horns then a return to the hexachord from bar 8.

Several instruments briefly disturb the horn chordSection is a brief rest from the turmoil of section BA menacing mood, rather than tranquil, giving the impression of more fireworks to come.

Section C Overview: Bars 44-58Bassoon take over the Haupstimme but immediately

pass it on to the solo cello.

Tempo = alternates between Ruhiger (calmer) and Heftig (passionate)

Texture is much more sparse, focus is on overlapping instruments – Delicate us of the orchestra until the fff in bar53

Dynamics range from pp (bar 44/45) to fff (bar 53-55), with individual instruments rising above others with individual crescendos.

Bassoon - Cello

Section A’’ Overview: Bars 59-66Pitch, Melody and Dynamics.Material from the opening used and developed in this

section.No voice is marked more important than the othersBar 64 chord (see previous slide) is a giant hexachord in all

of the orchestra except Cor Anglais and Double Basses.Basses play an unrelated tremolo chord (very high). This

sustains after the rest of the orchestra has finished to conclude the piece.

Bar 50 = pp to Bar 64 = ff, immediately dying away to nothing but tremolo basses and pp horns.