Peripetie- Arnold Schoenberg

Peripetie- Arnold Schoenberg

Structure

Melody

• The piece is in free rondo form, with 5 sections (ABACA).
• It is called free rondo as it is very different from traditional rondo form found in the classical period

Context

Rhythm, Metre & Tempo

Texture and Dynamics

• The piece is made up of short, fragmented motifs that are combined in different ways.
• Melodic lines are disjunct and angular- octave displacement meant that some notes move to a different octave unexpectedly.
• There are points where motifs are inverted and rhythms are augmented (become twice as long).
• Hauptstimme means principle voice.
• Nebenstimme means secondary voice.

• The texture is polyphonic/contrapuntal with occasional monophonic and homophonic sections.
• There are frequent sudden changes of dynamics, leading to ppp and fff.

• The metre changes between 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4.
• The tempo is sehr rasch (very quick).
• Rhythms are complex and change very quickly. These rhythms are often layered to create a contrapuntal texture.

• Expressionism is a term used to describe a movement in the arts in the early 20th century.
• Often sounds uncomfortable and difficult to listen to.
• Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, and he took the idea that a key was not essential, and decided that the instruments sound was just as important as melody, hence the term "klangfarbenmelodie" (tone colour melody).
• Characteristics of Expressionist music include: disjunct melodies, atonal, no clear cadence points, extremes of dynamics, dissonance, unusual combinations of instruments playing their full range, movement from simple to complicated textures.
• Peripetie is the fourth of "Five Orchestral Pieces". These were written in 1909 and Schoenberg found

it difficult to get them performed due to

their atonal nature and need for

a large orchestra.

Instrumentation

Key terms

Harmony and Tonality

• Expressionism: music expressing feelings/emotions.
• Klangfarbenmelodie: Tone colour melody.
• Atonal: no set key.
• Chromaticism: using notes outside of a key.
• Dissonant: clashing notes.
• Disjunct: melodic line with lots of leaps/ big intervals.
• Hexachords: 6 note chords.
• Compliment: A 6 note chord using the remaining 6 notes of the 12 note scale.
• Sextuplet: 6 notes of equal value played in the time of 4.
• Polyphonic: A texture where lots of different musical lines are heard together.

• The piece is atonal and has lot's of dissonant harmonies.
• Chords and melodies are built from hexachords (6 note chords).
• Playing these notes one after another also builds motifs.
• The compliment of the hexachord is made by taking the other 6 notes of the chromatic scale not played in the original hexachord.

• The orchestra required for this piece is huge- at least 90 players.
• Wind- 3 flutes, piccolo, 3 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contra bassoon.
• Brass- 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba.
• Strings- violins, violas, cellos and double basses.
• Percussion- timpani, cymbals (played with cello bow at bar 62), xylophone and tam tam.
• The instrumentation changes rapidly throughout, creating contrasts in timbre.
• Schoenberg was more concerned about the instruments sound than melodies- klangfarbenmelodie.
• Players are required to play at extremes

of their ranges.