The part which analysie is the opening and the first verse
The score was found online at http://www.gangqinpu.com/
Basically for this song,I would think that it's in the key of C major.
Though there are sharp and flats appearing, it's not consistent and only last for at most 1 bar.
The analyse score is at the bottom of the blog.
Basically the first 4 bars in the opening repeated again before the first verse came in.
For the opening:
The opening started off with a I6 arpeggio and move on to the IV7 chord. I would think that the arpeggio actually lead us to the IV7 chord. Looking at the notes in the chords: I6=EGCE while IV7=FACE. The G in the I6 chord may be acting as a passing note so as to lead to the A int the IV7 chord. The pattern actually continue in the next few chords, where at least one of the note in the chord act as a passing note to the other note/notes in the next chord. This helps to expand the pre-dominant section.
For the "repeated" opening, the notes remain the same with some exceptionals. The are harmonise notes for the opening tonic chord and for the left hand part, the chords actually started their first note one octave lower. I personally think that this help to enhance the melody line as audience would not be hearing the same stuff exactly again. And with a one octave lowered note, it helps to emphase the chord that is being played. On top of that, in this repeat, the dominant section is being expanded. Basically from a V7 to V6. The ending I chord also has a F#G# in it. I would treat it as accidentals to enhance the melody rather than leading to modulation. This is because the sharps are back to nature and the next I chord.
For the opening verse, the pre-dominant section followed the trend in the beginning. Hence, we can clearly see that the composer actually compose the melody in a stepwise motion. The pre-dominant parts are actually kept about the same length except for the last one. This may due to the extension of the development so as to prepare the audience for the next verse.
5 comments:
Hi QT, your analysis was good and I would agree with you on most parts :)
Here's just some of my feedback:
I feel that the introduction (bar 1to 9)was made up of a pair of sentence forming a period. The antecedent phrase (bar 1-5) and consequent phrase (bar 6-9) follows the short-short-long structure as you rightly pointed out. I share the same view that the arpegic bass line repeated an octave lower in the consequent phrase serves to perhaps differentiate the two similar melodies or add emphasis on the latter.
Although the first chord we heard in bar 5 is in the tonic, there seem to be a sense of non-closure. This could be due to the doubling of the 3rd, where usually the root or the 5th is doubled.
The arpegic chord before bar 6 is thickened with more accidented notes perhaps to create a different feel to the music. Listeners could be drawn to anticipate more musical interest that is to come.
~Eileen
Hi Eileen ^_^
with regard to the first chord in bar 5, I agree with you that the doubling of the 3rd gave a sense of non-closure. Another reason might be the D in the left hand part. I would think that the D serve as a passing note and it gave the audience a feeling that the music must carry on to the next note, which is a E (appeared on the right hand).
QT,
You intuitive response to how the notes connect in the opening bars is basically on the right track. To put it in voice-leading terms, you may think of the IV7 moving in parallel motion downward to iii7, in which the intervening 6/4 chord results from the staggered motion, i.e. upper two notes moving first then the bass.
The non-closure at b. 5 is due to the melody ending on the mediant, the doubling is besides the point. It is true, though, that the D in the accompaniment does help to drive the music forward, but this does not directly account for the non-closure.
The F# in the bass is striking. It is certainly not tending upwards as the enharmonic spelling suggests. You may hear it as a kind of upper chromatic neighbour to F (i.e. as Gb). Now, can you make sense of the G# at b. 9?
None of you recognize the tonicizations? Can you consider the function of the Bb at b. 5 and G# at b. 14?
Finally, is the pencilled in final melody note C?
[Eileen, plse note the spelling for "arpeggic"]
Dr Chong,
Firstly, the final melody note is a C.
For the G# at b.9, I would think that it actually helps in expanding the tonic chord. This is because the previous upbeat sounds ended. However, with the introduce with the G#, it sort of created an unfinished feeling and lead the audience forward. It only sounded end at the next tonic chord, where the G# is back to natural.
As for the Bb at b.5 and b.13,I've previously thought it to be as the 7th note of the tonic chord. Though the 7th note in the tonic chord should be a B instead of a Bb, I thought of using it as a diminished so as to create a "sad" tone in the music. With the Bb at there, it would a tonicization to F major. The chord would then be a V7 in F major. However, it doesn't sound chord V to me. Hence, I would still think that it a tonic chord in C major.
As for the G# in b.14, I would think that it's a tonicization to A minor, and it actually last till the first 2 beat of b.15. Hence the chord from b.14-b.15 would become V7-I. I actually think that it matches the melody as the short phase ended at the second beat of b.15.
This is what I feel at the moment, Will update again if I discovered something new.
I realise some of the stuff that I wrote is incorrect. I will correct it when I submit the final hardcopy.
QT
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