Unknown impressionism
Download 3.96 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Danse Langoureuse”
SCOTTCyril Scott (1879–1970) has left sufficiently a large heritage for the future generations. In most cases the attitude to his works was critical and unfortunately continues to remain the similar, balancing between a stamp “the English Debussy” and a sort of the phrases “his impressionistic pieces uninformed by any genuine impressionist sensibility”9, “despite many original effects their emotional range rarely exceeds that of the Lyric Pieces and songs by Grieg” or “as a harmonist he was original, but he failed to establish that extra elusive emotional dimension whereby Debussy was enabled to call into play whole areas of feeling which transcended the mere moment”10. Yet there are no modern special monographs dedicated to Scott and to detailed investigation of his music where would be appreciated his place in a history of the British music in it`s true value. So, analyzing some pieces by Scott I`d like to give a little trait to a music portrait of this composer-modernist. A piano piece “Carillon” from the early period of the works by Scott is composed in a variation form on soprano ostinato. Its static character is conditioned by immutability of the monophonic theme which inside is immutable saved from the contrasts: it`s built by three times repetition of equal quavers tune without semitone gravity, the conclusive element based on the semiquavers stops on the V degree. In the first variation the theme is made thicker by perfect fifths and fourths, by a major triad. Here at the first time the bass appears in a kind of the perfect fifths series. In the second variation the melody is transported on the octave upper and represented by sixth and fourth chords. The bass voice is ground on the perfect fifths and fourth chords too. In the third variation we can observe a clear tonal situation – dominant to key F major: the melody is similar to previous one11 but with added sound b, the bass layer moves by C major and a minor triads, widely disposed. (Ex.13) Ex. 13 Cyril Scott, Carillon, the 2, 3 variations 
In the 4th variation the melody has been transfered from upper layer to the bass where its first element is repeated four times and during the last one in upper layer there is a superposition of the second element. The 5th variation is similar to previous one but differs from it by only less massive upper layer (the perfect fifths and fourths with added tones). The 6th variation possesses more tense saturated character: the melody is made thicker and represented by the sixth and the fourth chords, returns in upper layer, containing chromaticism es–e; the bass voice becomes more complicate by the seventh chords and their inversion (in the 7th variation). The following variations, the 8th and 9th bring a very interesting phonic effect: a change of distant keys C major to G flat major (tritone correlation). The 10th and 11th variations return the main key C major. “Danse Langoureuse” op. 74 № 3. First of all here there is an interesting interpretation of a structure. The features of a simple ternary form are veiled by presence of two elements, based on the same thematic idea but contrasted in a mood. The first of them is a mystic, rather stranger in a character: on the ostinato figure background with d flat (Mixolydian mode) in upper layer, the tune is in the middle layer and in bass there is the tonic triad (E flat major) which at once changes to E. The second one is an ecstatic: the tune by octaves and accented on a thesis d flat carries out in upper layer, accompanied by the figurations of a clear functional property (a traditional romantic texture). (Ex.14a, 14b) Ex. 14a Cyril Scott, Danse Langoureuse, the 1st tune 
Ex. 14b Cyril Scott, Danse Langoureuse, the 2nd tune 
The second section of the form does not bring a principal (thematic) contrast but only a tonal change (G major) of both tunes. Thus the author reaches an effect of renovation both in a structure (in the middle section) and in a tune. “ Download 3.96 Mb. Share with your friends:
|