Learning Objectives
- Explain form as a musical concept.
- Identify visually and aurally forms that are based on the principle of repetition.
- Identify visually and aurally forms that are based on the principle of contrast.
- Identify visually and aurally forms that are based on both repetition and contrast.
- Examine how the performer acts as a bridge between the composer and the listener.
- Recognize how the performer conveys the composer's intent by using their own individual style and emotional approach to the printed score.
- Examine the role of the performer by listening to and interpreting the spiritual.
- Define the following musical terms: composer, notation, performer, score, spiritual, technique.
Form
Strophic Form
Strophic form is mainly used in songs that contain verses (strophes), usually four to eight phrases long. In this form, each verse is sung to the same music with the melody and harmony unchanged. Joseph Joubert, the arranger of the spiritual "My Lord What a Morning", introduces two unusual elements of variation into the piece: an introduction (prelude) and a closing statement (postlude). These create interest without altering the basic form of the work. Listen also to the slight variations in the melody that vocalist Barbara Conrad uses to introduce Barbara Parker, the soprano that joins her. Can you detect where the changes occur?
Composer: Anonymous
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"My Lord What a Morning"
In "My Lord What a Morning," the first verse—the refrain—comes back after each subsequent strophe. Each strophe is made up of two phrases. The form of the song may be summarized as follows:
Instrumental Introduction
My Lord, what a mornin'
when the stars begin to fall.
The rest of the spiritual uses the same two-phrase structure for each strophe:
Instrumental Introduction
to wake the nations underground,
Lookin' to my God's right hand,
when the stars begin to fall
My Lord, what a mornin'
My Lord, what a mornin'
when the stars begin to fall.
to see the righteous marching home.
Lookin' to my God's right hand,
when the stars begin to fall.
My Lord, what a mornin'
My Lord, what a mornin'
when the stars begin to fall.
to wake the nations underground.
Lookin' to my God's right hand,
when the stars begin to fall.
My Lord, what a mornin'
My Lord, what a mornin'
when the stars begin to fall.
Many folk songs, spirituals, and hymns are strophic. Examples include the lullaby "A la Nana" and the spirituals "Amazing Grace" and "Deep River".
Composer: Anonymous
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"A la nana"
Composer: Anonymous
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"Deep River"
Composer: Anonymous
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"Amazing Grace"
Strophic form is perhaps the easiest musical form to understand. However, it is rather limited since the verses may become so repetitive that the listener loses interest. This is where variation helps to maintain the attention of the listener.
Theme and Variations
In the theme and variations form, composers present a basic theme several times over and then use subsequent variations to modify or alter different elements of that theme, with different elements modified each time. With each presentation, changes may occur in any of several areas, including melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics, and rhythm. Changing chords, adding accompaniment, or increasing the texture by including more voices or instruments may vary harmony. Altering the tempo (speed), beat, meter, or accompanying patterns may vary make rhythm and style more varied.
Usually, the main theme (or melody) introduced at the beginning of a theme and variations work serves as the unifying element throughout a composition. That theme may be an original idea or be borrowed from another composer such as in The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, where Benjamin Britten used a theme borrowed from a much earlier work by Henry Purcell.
Composer: Benjamin Britten
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"The Young Person s Guide To The Orchestra, Op. 34"
Borrowing a musical idea from another composer or composition has been an accepted practice for many centuries. Between 1781 and 1782, Mozart wrote a delightful set of Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", based on a French song better known to American listeners as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Here is the theme and its 12 variations:
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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"12 Variationen über "
