Morphemics

Piano Trio in g minor

This piano trio is in two movements: a canon and a rondo. The principle theme is 20 measures in length, not including a rest after the eighth. With the exception of the final few measures, this theme is played completely through each time it is introduced. The violin immediately opens with it. From there, it reappears at the following measures: 14-piano treble clef, 27-cello, 40-piano bass clef, 48-piano treble clef, 50-violin. At measure 70 an eight measure piano solo is introduced. This is repeated three more times. During the first, a cello solo is layered on top of it. When the cello repeats its part along with piano, the violin joins in with the principle theme of the canon. This time there is no rest after the eighth measure. As the violin continues with the theme, there is a four measure change in the piano-cello accompaniment. The piece ends as the violin finishes out the main theme with the final reiteration of the piano-cello eight measure duet.

The A theme of the rondo (which is the one that rondos keep returning to) is 24 measures long and is actually one or both of two melodies played in counterpoint. The first of these melodies begins in the violin after an eight measure introduction by the cello. The B theme, beginning at measure 33, is a four part fugue based on the first four measures of the cello introduction. This section proved to be the most challenging of the entire piece. I began with the four measure phrase in the cello. In a fugue, each voice comes in either a fifth above or a fourth below the previous voice. Other than this change in pitch, I wanted all four voices to be identical. The second voice is given to the left hand of on the piano. The first four measures are fairly easy: simply transpose the cello part up a fifth. The continuation of the first voice part just needs to harmonize with the second. This harmonization is then added on to the second voice in the appropriate transposition. So long as they're left to themselves, these two voices can follow this pattern and go anywhere they want to. The introduction of the third and fourth voices, given to the right hand of the piano and to the violin, changes this. Since these restate the first two voices, their opening measures are merely more transposition of what's already been written. Now the options for the first two voices are suddenly very limited. While maintaining their own internal relationship, they must now fit in with the third and fourth voices, which are, themselves, locked in to what the first two voices have already done.

The B theme continues on through measure 68 and is followed by an eight measure interlude in the piano. The A theme returns in measure 77 with the cello and violin giving an exact restatement. This time, the piano joins in with a running bass line and the counter melody in the treble clef. The cello drops out for the C theme, which is given to the violin. The piano accompanies it with arpeggios. When the A theme returns at measure 118, it is somewhat disguised. A variation of the cello part is given to a single line on the piano. The cello plays the counter melody and the violin is silent. The cello and piano continue with the D section at measure 142. They are joined by the violin at measure 150. When the A theme returns at measure 190, the cello part and the running bass of the piano are the same as when it appeared the second time. This time, however, the main melody is given to the treble cleff in the piano and the violin takes the counter melody. This is followed by a variation on the C theme. The rondo concludes with the violin and cello restating the opening A theme as the piano provides a march like accompaniment.

Allegro2007TrioICanon.pdf Allegro2007TrioIIRondo.pdf TrioICanon.mp3 TrioIIRondo.mp3

Mazurka in e minor

The mazurka began life no later than the 16th century as a lively Polish folk dance. Although he did have some predecessors, Chopin (1810-1849) is largely responsible for transforming the mazurka into art music. He wrote approximately 58 for solo piano. Unlike previous incarnations of the form, the primary intent was no longer to accompany dancing or singing. Instead, the music itself was the main point. The mazurka differs from the waltz, which is also in triple meter, in that the accent usually falls on the second or third beat. This is usually the natural result of the melody’s rhythmic structure. Other devices can be used, though, such as placing a rest in the first beat of the accompaniment or just adding accent marks above the appropriate beats.
This mazurka is written with an abcda structure. The b section could have been called a’ since it is actually a variation of a. The d section is more or less a recitative with no left hand accompaniment. Each section is 8 measures in length for a total of 40.

Allegro2007mazurka.pdf mazurka.mp3

Stevenson Requiem

The idea for this piece came after thumbing through a book of poetry and reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s (1850-1894) Requiem. He took his title from the opening word of the Requiem Mass, that is, the Missa pro defunctis, or, “Mass for the Dead.” The words to his poem are these:

Under the wide and starry sky,/Dig the grave and let me lie./Glad did I live and gladly die,/And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:/Here he lies where he long’d to be;/Home is the sailor, home from the sea,/And the hunter home from the hill.

I decided to combine these with the opening words of the Requiem Mass, which are as follows:

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine:/ et lux perpetua luceat eis./Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,/et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem:/exaudi orationem meam,/ ad te omnis caro veniet.

This is usually followed by the opening words of the standard mass, which are in Greek:

Kyrie eleison:/Christe eleison:/Kyrie eleison.

Each verse of the Stevenson poem is repeated twice. The first verse is sung in conjunction with the Latin text from “Requiem” to “luceat eis.” This section is in d minor with a march-like triple meter. After this, the meter changes to quadruple and the key modulates to e minor. A short fugue begins in the base section and works its way up the sections of the choir. The words are the Latin text from “Te decet” to “orationem meum.” Meanwhile, any section that hasn’t started or has finished the fugue section is singing the second verse of the Stevenson poem in relatively drawn out chords. This is followed by three repetitions of the last line of the Stevenson poem being sung with “ad te omnis caro veniet.” Sopranos and tenors first, then altos and bases, and then all four sections together. The second verse of the Stevenson poem is now repeated. The first two lines go with the Kyrie. The Christe is song by itself. The sopranos start and are followed in order by altos, tenors, and bases. Next, the bases continue with the final to lines of the English text. This time, the parts build on each other in reverse: bases, tenors, altos, and sopranos. As each part completes the English lines, they sing “Kyrie eleison” until the end.

Hopefully, this will provide some idea of the what choir is supposed to be saying. Since I don’t actually have a choir of my own, I’ve had to settle for a computer generated sound file. Currently, my laptop’s singing vocabulary is limited to “ah.”

Allegro2007StevensonRequiem.pdf StevensonRequiem.mp3