C R E A T I N G T H E C O M P O S I T I O N
In it's early stages, my Lieder went through several iterations, each one trying to find a style or idea that I liked. One in particular that stuck around for more than a few minutes was this 6/8 piano rhythmic idea seen to the right. This idea was stylistically sound, developing an idea which would be fit for a Lieder, however, I found it's playful nature to not fully capture the more somber feeling of the text provided. |
C O N V E Y I N G T H E T E X T
After this compositional trial and error, and after listening to several of Schubert's Lieder to fully understand the style, I finally settled on a very simple, crotchet driven idea which I felt captured the right stylistic feeling, as well as correctly setting the mood and tone for the piece. The simple crotchet rhythm is designed to represent the stark, deserted nature of the barren hight described in the text. This motif can be seen to the top right. After painting the scene as barren with simple chords, the height needed to be represented aptly as well. This is done by simply raising the vocal line to an Ab and keeping it held there in order to convey the loneliness and the height on which the spruce tree stands. In order to show the spruce tree sleeping, I inserted a quaver rest after a quaver on the word sleep. This rest is a metaphor for a rest in real life, conveying the idea of sleep. The dynamic marking of piano is also representative of sleep itself. These can be seen to the right. |
One of the most vivid scenes described in the provided text was the depiction of snow flakes, swathing the tree. There were two main elements here I wished to convey. The first being the obvious imagery of snow falling and the second being the cold that would be felt by the tree.
The sporadic, falling and unconventional nature of the right-hand melody aims to portray the unpredictability and wild nature of snow flakes adrift in the wind, often moving up and down melodically repeatedly to create the 'folds' of white described. The 3rds harmony works in order to increase the texture as if the entire scene is being dominated by snow.
The sporadic, falling and unconventional nature of the right-hand melody aims to portray the unpredictability and wild nature of snow flakes adrift in the wind, often moving up and down melodically repeatedly to create the 'folds' of white described. The 3rds harmony works in order to increase the texture as if the entire scene is being dominated by snow.
The odd chords that dominate the left-hand are hoping to 'stick out' in an atonal way, just in the way that the icy touch of snow on branches would, thus conveying the coldness of the scene. The melodic idea finally ends abruptly, as if the entire scene has been dominated with white, leaving once again the bleak feeling established at the beginning by the crotchet chord motif.
Following the snow depiction, I continued the motif until an abrupt key change from Ab minor to the relative F major morphs the music into the dream sequence, while still not modulating the key so far as to lose touch with the dreamer itself. The fast modulation is an attempt to portray the mind slipping into the subconscious effortlessly as to get away from the bleak setting it left behind. The motif also begins to pick up movement, excited to escape into a sun-filled paradise.
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The dream sequence is dominated by a repeated triplet pattern in the bass accompanied by a higher, steady melody in the right hand. The vocal line remains on one note for the first two lines to represent the tranquility of this new scene, only moving up in pitch to paint the words "far in..." showing the journey made. In bar 18 the word "land" is sung using melisma between the notes G and C. "G" representing the Ground or Land and "C" representing the sea, displaying how close they are together and musically creating a beach setting. Just as the beach sand submerges smoothly into the sea water, the word land flows onto a C.
To sufficiently convey the meaning of the lyrics when it is sung; "Lonely and silent longing", there is a semi-tone shift on the word longing from an F to an F# to demonstrate longing, while still refusing to embellish the melody beyond that as to keep the loneliness relevant. The triplets in the bass end suddenly upon the word "burning", a relatively harsh word in amongst the tranquil language that precedes it. The flow of the music stops on this strong word to remind the audience that this is merely a dream and so the music returns, to the bleak crotchet chords, still in a major key, but solemn enough to remind the listener of the barren height upon which this piece takes place.
R E F I N I N G T H E C O M P O S I T I O N
Many of the word paintings and ideas portrayed were not an immediate effort. Instead many new ideas were added and removed to refine the composition over time. Firstly, one of the most important aspects of the composition for me was dynamics, and so, care was taken to input enough dynamic markings to guide the performer, but not control them, allowing for personal artistic expression while still fitting with the intended dynamic movements of the composition.
One of the most dramatic adjustments of this kind was the removal of a grand crescendo that started from bar 7 and spanned until the culmination of the snow scene at the end of bar 10. While this may seem like a relatively short period of time, much of the suspense and energy of the music was lost, and there was no variety.
When composing the dream sequence, I originally had placed the rhythmic 6/8 rhythm from the earlier ideas in the piano accompaniment. As it was in the Lieder style, I assumed it would fit in nicely as well as demonstrating an interesting motif. However, in practice, this did not work out and made the second section of the composition feel very jolted and unnatural, far from the flowing, tranquil nature the dream was supposed to be. And so, the simpler but more effective triplets replaced the 6/8 rhythm. |
The ending of the piece was another section that was dramatically changed. After putting it off I came up with a very stylised and dramatic ending utilising octave tremolos in the bass and a large arpeggio in the treble. However, like most of the rejected changes, it failed to fit with the overall mood of the piece, and felt more like a beginning to a different piece, rather than the end to my composition. And so it was replaced by the much more humbling chordal sequence ending with a low bass octave. |
I N S P I R A T I O N
Many of my original ideas were created without any previous knowledge of the "Lieder" style. As inspiration and as a way to understand the way they were composed, I listened to several of Schubert's pieces, most noticeably the video to the right. I noticed many of the rhythmic ideas were much more repetitive and simple than my earlier compositions and so this listening was a valuable learning experience. |
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