Question 17 (12 Marks)

Work: Trilogy, movement 3 (excerpt)

Composer: Don Banks

Track from the album: Toward the Shining Light: orchestral works by Conyngham, Broadstock and Banks (ABC Classics)

Analyse ways in which expressive elements of music are used in this excerpt. In your answer you must refer to at least TWO of the following:

• tone colour
• blend of instruments
• articulation
• dynamics

Expressive elements create a character

Tone colour:

Extremes of tone colour used – nasal piercing TC of muted trumpet, woody, hollow TC of marimba, breathy airy trill of the flute, mellow, dark TC of lower brass and strings. Pizzicato dull thudding TC creates an unsettling effect by having random notes played in this manner which creates a sea of sound over which more nasal twangy muted trumpet interjects and the smooth clarity of woodwind elongated chords hangs. Great contrast.

Juxtaposed to create an unsettling, threatening character. Overlapping and interrupting each other, mainly used for short periods of time.

Blend of Instruments:

Most instruments do not blend, which aids in the threatening character. Nothing is trusted. The unifying force in blend is the drone. There is usually a drone of some kind, whether the drone is forward in the mix through a more strident tone colour and higher pitch or low in the mix through lower sonority and more mellow blended tone colours… this is aided too by DYNAMICS. Dynamic swells makes this drone come forward in the mix at times so it asserts prime prominence.

Dynamics:

Use of silence which interrupts the cacophony of instrumental voices, all competing for prominence and overlapping in the blend. Dynamics change suddenly – from forte to silence at the end of high phrases and utilise a change in texture – from highly polyphonic complimented by a loud dynamic to biphonic with a softer dynamic and at times homophonic, mf dynamic, complimenting the ‘fanfare like’ trumpet call. Rhythmic unison in this section.

Dynamics change vastly to be more predictable and less shocking in the excited energetic section of the excerpt. As soon as the beat is established the dynamics drop to soft. Use of instrumentation (percussive instruments providing dance like rhythms) and what has come before, gives the suspicion this will build up over time.

Dynamics are rarely unified in the whole ensemble. Dynamic swells occur at different times reflecting the chaotic character of the work. Crescendos are emphasised through the use of forte accented note immediately after.

Articulation:

In keeping with the shocking, dramatic character, articulation compliments with short, sharp attack and unexpected/interrupted decay.  Pizzicato articulation used in strings contrasts greatly with arco sections. Drone that overlaps uses similar articulation in different instruments – sf accent at the start then immediately soft before building up again. This effect repeated adds to the drama of the piece. Decay is sometimes naturally fading when it is not abruptly cut off. Contrasting articulation of smooth, legato drone notes with staccato, detached articulation of overlapping parts helps create the sense of insecurity. The fact the pizzicato notes begin with fast rhythms and slow down changes the feel of this section even though the articulation stays the same. Pizzicato is accented at times. The use of trills and flutter tonguing creates a similar buzzing effect through different techniques in articulation.  The piece highlights extremes – legato sustained notes with short sharp articulation attack and decay.

The final percussive section uses sudden attack but the echo elongates the decay longer than is natural. Brass contrast in articulation through the use of legato drone figure and staccato accents overlaid.