ANALYSIS OF IGOR STRAVINSKY’S PIECE 2 FROM “3 PIECES FOR ”

Gonzalo Varela

Original language: Spanish. English translation by the author. Finish date: 24 June 2013. Revision: 14 May 2020. [email protected] / www.gonzalovarela.com

Study done for the course “Análisis 1” (“Analysis 1”), lectured by prof. Marcelo Rilla at the Escuela Universitaria de Música (University School of Music) of the Universidad de la República (University of the Republic), in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is recommended to read the analysis while also reading the original score.

Form of the composition

The form of this piece can be considered A - B - A’, such that:

A (mm1-25) alternates between a variety of well differentiated and recurring behaviors, mostly monophonic or heterophonic, which are almost always articulated by juxtaposition. For this analysis I have named these behaviors Aa, Ab, Ac, Ad and Ae. The different appearances of these are not exactly alike, and have different duration, maybe as if these layers were developing without interruption throughout the whole section but the almost always allowed us to listen to only one of them at any particular moment.

B (mm25-45) also includes different behaviors, which for this analysis I have named Ba, Bb and Bc, but these are developed more freely than those in A. This section also makes much greater use of polyphony (overlap of clearly distinguishable strata).

A’ (mm45-61) consists of reappearances of all the behaviors heard in A, with some changes.

The following diagram shows the different sections and behaviors identified throughout the composition, considering as measure 1 the first complete (not pickup) measure of the piece.

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Behaviors inside sections A and A’

Aa: Appearances

Aa1 in mm0-3:

Aa2 in mm6-12, excluding the :

Aa3 in mm48-51 (viola and violoncello are in treble clef):

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Aa4 in mm56-58:

Aa: Description

It is a strictly periodic behavior, which is repeated after each quarter note. Consists essentially of a version of the pitch-class set [0,1,5,6] and its transposition to a semitone below, but this quality is “hidden” because the voices perform oblique, similar and parallel motions, instead of presenting all of them descending parallel motion (which would motivate a more monophonic way of listening than the heterophonic one here favored). Another factor that adds complexity has to do with the accents, because upbows are used in the gravitatory metric places, and vice versa.

In Aa1 the movement of each voice is:

Violin 1: F4 - E4 2: Bb3 - Ab3 Viola: E3 - Eb3 Violoncello: A2 - A2

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In Aa2 the only change is that the plays not only the notes that it already played in Aa1, but also the notes that in that section were played by the viola (this is a necessity, because here the viola will be busy with a different behavior). However, in Aa3 the change is more perceptible, because it consists of the same pitches but played an 8ve higher. Once again, this is in some way hidden, because the roles of the instrument are mixed so that they don’t each simply play what they played before an 8ve higher. The voice motions in Aa3 are:

Violin 1: E4 - D#4 Violin 2: A3 - A3 Viola: F5 - E5 Violoncello: Bb4 - Ab4

Aa4 is a return to the behavior of Aa1, only changing the ending.

Ab: Appearances

Ab1 in mm4-5:

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Ab2 in mm9-10, only the viola (which is in treble clef):

Ab3 in mm45-46, viola and violoncello:

Ab: Description

Ab1 shows a melodic motif E | A-E-E-A (eighth notes). In spite of all the instruments playing the same pitch classes at each moment, the result is heterophonic because of the overlap of different articulations (arco, , near the frog, harmonic, upbow and downbow), different octaves, different relative motions, and the fact that some of the instruments articulate the notes in sixteenth notes.

In Ab2 the motif is done only by the viola (who superimposes it over Aa2), because of which it lacks the heterophonic character. In Ab3 the motif is transposed a descending major 6th, resulting in G | C-G-G-C.

Ac: Appearances

Ac1 in mm13-14:

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Ac2 in mm17-19 (viola and violoncello begin in treble clef):

Ac3 in m52:

Ac4 in mm54-55:

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Ac: Description

Of the behaviors present in A, this is probably the most monophonic one. Ac1 is a melodic sul tasto motif in dynamic and mostly in eighth notes: C-E-B-Eb- | Db (quarter note)-Bb, which is doubled two octaves higher.

In Ac2 the motif is expanded with the addition of material in the middle of it, most of which is a repetition of the beginning measure of the same motif. In addition, the violin 2 and viola double at the unison the violin 1 and violoncello respectively. The motif is also preceded by a pizzicato sforzando attack of a harmonic at unison (played by the viola and the violoncello).

Ac3 is composed of the middle measure of Ac2 and the resolution measure from Ac1 (or, said in a different way, it is the same as Ac1 but with an eighth note of the note A preceding it).

Ac4 is a small variation with permutations of the notes in the previous appearances: C- B-Eb-F- | Db (quarter note)-Bb.

Ad: Appearances

Ad1 in mm15-16:

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Ad2 in mm20-21:

Ad3 in m23:

Ad4 in mm60-61:

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Ad: Description

Ad1 can be seen as a succession of accented attacks of the 4th F-Bb, to which “roughness” (heterophony) is added through rhythmic displacements and the presence of notes near Bb (C y Cb). These notes nearby tend to be in more of a background (which difficults a polyphonic way of listening) because of them being played at less intensity, lasting less time and/or being played pizzicato, which makes their pitch stand out less. The rhythmic (and sometimes pitch) characteristics vary in the successive appearances, but what stays the same is that the last of Bb of the motif generates a sort of simulation of resonance, played arco on the violin 2.

Ae: Appearances

Ae1 in m22:

Ae2 in mm24-25:

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Ae3 in m53 (viola and violoncello are in treble clef):

Ae: Description

Simultaneous or almost simultaneous forte attack(s) articulated by separation, of the pitches:

(pitch-class set [0,1,2,4,7,8])

The violin plays arco and always performs a double stop acciaccatura before each attack, while the other instruments play their notes pizzicato and thus stand out less.

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Behaviors inside section B

Section B of the piece is articulated with the preceding A through elision at m25 (end of Ae2). As was mentioned, it goes through a less systematic process in which different behaviors continuously overlap, not only juxtapose, and I think it can be divided in the following sections.

Ba (mm25-28):

This section presents a sort of three-voice polyphony.

The last attack of Ae2 derives in a descending chromatic movement of (violin 1) interfered by another descending movement (violin 2), and after traveling different distances these arrive at the same time to a same place (in the first verticality of the second measure shown above). Here, the behavior is continued by the violin 2 and the viola, which always perform different motions (a sort of ascending trill in sixteenth notes in violin 2, and a continuous alternation between steps and skips of 3rd in the pentachord A4-E5 in the viola). Perceptively, these instruments are fused in a same heterophonic stratum because of their closeness in range and due to sharing the same rhythm and type of articulation.

Above the violin 2 and viola the violin 1 overlaps a descending slur motif of a major 7th in the high register, which involves both arco and pizzicato, and that inevitably reminds of the ones produced by that same instrument in that same register in Ae.

The third layer, which stands out less, is that of the cello, which performs an of the pitch-class set [0,2,5,7] (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db) that could be related to the performed in Ac.

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Bb (mm29-35):

This section could be described as a sort of micromontage of moments of heterophony (for example in the ascending lines of the fifth measure shown above, which are very similar), monophony (sometimes accompanied, as in the third measure shown) and polyphony (mainly when arco and pizzicato are overlapped, because they are perceptually very different).

Bb’ (mm43-45) (viola starts in treble clef):

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This fragment is temporally separated from the original Bb, and culminates the B section. It relates to Bb because of its textural instability and its similarity in melodic motives, in addition to it including the same ascending gesture of violin 1, violin 2 and viola (and the same continuation to the gesture in violin 1).

Bc (mm36-43):

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This can be seen as an accompanied melody (though seeing it this way implies an arguable hierarchic consideration), being the melody what the violin 1 plays and the accompaniment what the rest of the instruments play together. Inside that accompaniment there is a stratification between the cello playing arco (“almost pizz.”) and the pizzicato octaves that are interspersed by the violin 2 and the viola.

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