O Little Town of Bethlehem looks simple on the page, but it isn’t simplistic.
In this analysis of the Forest Green version, I explore how Vaughan Williams creates shape, contrast, and finality using a remarkably restrained harmonic palette, showing how small details in form, cadence, and line carry real expressive weight.
O Little Town of Bethlehem: A Musical Analysis Read More »
A complete analysis of Nocturne No. 19, looking at form, structure, harmony and melody.
Nocturne No. 19 in E-Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (Analysis) – Friederich Chopin Read More »
An analysis that looks at modality (modulation & interchange), pedal points and chord voicing in RVW’s The Lark Ascending.
A video composition lesson looking at textural variation as a device for melodic development.
How to repeat melodies without them getting boring… [Video] Read More »
An analysis of Elgar’s Romance for Violin and Piano: Salut D’amour. Harmony, melody and structure go under the microscope.
Salut D’amour – Edward Elgar (Music Composition Technique Analysis) Read More »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RYl4GcKe5Y&ab_channel=AnyOldMusic Today, I thought we’d take a look at a piece that captured my eye, because it was recently uploaded by Cmaj7 as a score video, to YouTube, and score, to IMSLP. The piece is the opening Nocturne movement from Scènes de la Fôret (Forest Scenes) by French composer, Mélanie Bonis. A composer with a
Nocturne from Scénes de la Fôret – Mélanie Bonis Read More »
In their 1976 composition, Für Alina, for solo piano, Arvo Pärt introduced the world to his algorithmic technique, tintinnabuli. At first glance, the technique’s use in Für Alina looks similar to a two-part first-species counterpoint exercise. On closer inspection, however, one can see the two voices move in similar or oblique motion. Using two types
Arvo Pärt – Für Alina (Bitesize Music Composition Analysis) Read More »
In posthumously arranging Bizet’s Farandole [L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2], Ernest Guiraud takes half of the primary theme, Le Marche de Rois, and exposes it twice in D-minor. First, the theme is heard in homophonic texture, then a two-part canon. Modulating to the parallel D-major, Guiraud introduces part of the farandole melody, gradually increasing its intensity in the
In his 1944 Ballet for Martha, also known as Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland uses the melody of the shaker song “Simple Gifts”. In the orchestral concert suite arrangement, Copland sets the melody six times. For the first two settings he places the theme against a pedal tone that oscillates between the fifth and first degrees
George Friedrich Handel’s “Overture” to the Royal Fireworks Music boasts a majestic stately opening that presents a melody and homophonic texture. Repeating this melody immediately in a similar form, Handel provides a subtle but poignant reharmonisation of the melody. Where the first statement presents more triadic harmony, the second adds more extensions or tension notes