An Analytical Study of the Sonata in C for Cello and Piano by Benjamin Britten PDF Download

Author: Charles August Baker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Musical analysis
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
" ... true analysis works through and for the ear. The greatest analysts (like Schenker at his best) are those with the keenest ears; their insights reveal how a piece of music should be heard, which in turn implies how it should be played. An analysis is a direction for a performance." In this era of the twentieth century, an age in which technical proficiency is frequently considered the ultimate achievement of the performer, the lack of attention given to the content of the music itself is often evident. The tenor of the ensuing study was provoked by the author's reluctance to accept the performance of music on a purely technical and emotional basis. for it is the conviction of the author that a truly artistic performance is based not only on technical ability and emotion, but also on a sound understanding of the music as well. Such an understanding may begin with a knowledge of the constituent elements of style and a concept of their subsequent meaning and application to performance. The following outline, based on the premise that the chief elements of style are melody and rhythm, undertakes to show a relationship between style and performance. I. Elements of Style. A. Melody. 1. formal organization (form); 2. Tonal organization (tonality); 3. textural arrangement: (a). homophony (harmony); (b). polyphony (counterpoint). B. Rhythm--the setting of melody. 1. metric basis (meter). II. Application of the elements of melody to performance. A. Formal organization. 1. phrasing (intelligibility); 2. contour (sense of movement both towards and away from points of climax). B. Tonal organization. 1. color (varied between bright and dark by modality, polytonality, and polymodality). Ill. The control of melody in performance . A. Tempo (faster or slower). B. Dynamics (louder or softer). 1. balance of dynamics (to achieve a proper relationship of the melody with the texture). It is the desire of the author that the following study, based on the above approach to performance, may contribute to a better understanding of the Benjamin Britten Sonata in C for cello and piano.