Aequale "Romanza senza parole" [Philip Daniel; 2020]

By PhilipDaniel | Musica Melopoetica | 28 Jul 2020


 

 

 

 

A lyrical yet uncanny Aequale for Horn in A, Mellophone, Tenor Trombone, and B♭ Bass Ophicleide. In ternary form, the work is suffused with a moody melodicism throughout.

 

 

 

 

Below you will find the "conductor's score":pg. 1-2

pg. 3-4

pg. 5-6

pg. 7-8

pg. 9-10

pg. 11

 

 

 

Some notes on the theme of the first section, below:

 

 

 

 

 

The theme of the "A Section", a long-limbed bel canto melody, mostly resides in the Mellophone:

fig. Ia

fig. Ib

fig. Ic

fig. Id

fig. Ie

 

 

 

 

 

However, this melody passes to the Horn in A as the "A Section" comes to a close:

fig. IIa

fig. IIb

 

 

 

 

 

The "antecedent" portion of the melody consists of a steadily rising figure, tracing out a minor sixth:

fig. IIIa

 

 

 

 

Answering this "antecedent" is a  "first consequent":

fig. IVa

fig. IVb

 

 

 

 

 

Observe that the figure with which the "antecedent" opens ... :

fig. Va

 

 

 

 

... reappears at the beginning and the end of the "first consequent" -- each time tracing out a tonality-affirming perfect fourth, situating the melody solidly within its tonal landscape ... :

fig. Vb

fig. Vc

 

 

 

 

The "second consequent" of the bel canto melody further intensifies the melodic line, introducing more rapid harmonic changes, interposing chromatic neighbor notes and even inversions, elaborations, and pitch set transformations of the foundational "rising perfect fourth" motif:

fig. VIa

fig. IVb

 

 

 

 

The "second consequent" leads to a more or less exact recapitulation of the melody (barring rhythmic irregularities), aside from its ending as the first section comes to a close. Thus, the "second consequent" reappears in the Mellophone ... :

fig. VIIa

fig. VIIb

 

 

 

 

 

... only, as stated above, for the melodic line to pass to the Horn in A, which at first mirrors the immediately preceding statement of the Mellophone ... :

fig. VIIIa

 

 

 

 

... but afterward rounds out this first melody, while smoothly transitioning into the succeeding "B section" melody [which is first stated in by the Horn in A], with a sequential passage ... :

fig. IXa

fig. IXb

 

 

 

 

... that reduces the eighth-note perfect fourth motif to minor seconds (arguably the most dissonant, and thus a highly expressive and unstable interval even when sounded in succession rather than as a simultaneity) ... :

fig. Xa

fig. Xb

 

 

 

 

... and pairs this in sequence with the motif, discussed earlier, tracing the traditionally mellifluous interval of a minor sixth. This motif appears twice, the second iteration a whole step (major second) lower than the first:

fig. XIa

fig. XIb

 

 

 

 

 

The painting in the video is "Salammbo" by Gaston Bussiere.          

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this, please consider becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/philipdaniel or https://www.subscribestar.com/philip-daniel                            

How do you rate this article?

1


PhilipDaniel
PhilipDaniel

I am a young composer working in a highly personal Late Romantic idiom.


Musica Melopoetica
Musica Melopoetica

Music theory and composition, music history, (ethno)musicology, aesthetic philosophy, and much much more, presented in a readily accessible manner.

Send a $0.01 microtip in crypto to the author, and earn yourself as you read!

20% to author / 80% to me.
We pay the tips from our rewards pool.