20th and 19th Century Music Comparison

Comparative analysis of twentieth and nineteenth century orchestral work Musicology – Subtopic 1 I have decided to comparatively analyse the pieces; Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor by Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Symphony no. 1 in G major by Felix Draeseke. Fridrich Kalkbrenner’s composition, ‘Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor’ is a nineteenth century work, and Felix Draeseke’s composition, ‘Symphony no. 1 in G major’ is a twentieth century work. As the aim of the task is to compare the two works, I have chosen to use the set format of columns to effectively distinguish these contrasts and/or similarities. PITCHPiano Concerto No. 1 in D minor by Friedrich Kalkbrenner | Symphony no. 1 in G major by Felix Draeseke| * Minor key * At the start of the piece, the string section comes in with a melodic sequence, shifting up 2 tones and then leaping down to the third note, creating a motif at the introduction. * The modal is sprightly rondo in the la ter half of the first movement. The piano soloist plays a light melody over an orchestral wash of colour. | * Major key * The start of piece is dominantly strings, with a woodwind instrument playing a floaty melodic sequence, again going in a downward sequence of steps. DURATION * Before any instrument comes in, there is a 14 second duration of a pause at the start of the piece. * Durational patterns of the chord changes near the start of the piece, tend to repeat themselves as the piece progresses. These chord changes, create temporary regularity and structure till the piece changes it’s durational patterns which can be found at; 34 seconds in, the chord transitions become metso staccato and then go into a sustained chord till the next change occurs. * From the excerpt I have taken out of this piece, which is; 0. 0-2. 00 seconds, the tempo throughout the entirety of this first movement is the same. The tempo of the rhythmic pulse through the entirety of this excerpt would be roughly, 120bpm. | * There are at least 2-3 melodic motifs occurring at the start of this piece being played by strings. * The most dominant melodic pattern consists of sustained chords, spanning out over a bar, sometimes even two. * The durability of the chords at the start of the piece are long and sustained, where as ‘Piano Concerto No. ’, the chords change fairly quickly, and the melody in turn, does too, in order to keep up. * The excerpt for this piece that I have chosen which is; 0. 00-2. 00 has a slow pulse to it. * The tempo of the general piece is quite slow, whereas ‘Piano Concerto No. 1’ is quite fast. | STRUCTURE * Split up into different movements. * With every new movement, comes a change in theme or dynamics. The pattern breaks and starts a new, or continues on. * Both pieces are separated into 3 movements. * Split up into different movements also. * The structure in these two songs are similar, except instrumental queues and performing med ia are played differently, causing the themes and patterns to vary, but still keeping a similar scaffold for the structure, the same in both pieces. | TEXTURE * Sea of orchestral instruments created dominantly by the strings, creating the background and foreground dominant melodies. The woodwind instruments seep in, creating another layer of sound. This creates further melodies, making the texture thicker, richer and making it sound like a wash of melodies. | * The instruments pile in, one by one, to a crescendo near the start of the piece. This also includes a thicker texture being created through the techniques in which the instruments are being played. * The texture would be described glistening and dazzling, with very little profundity. | TONE COLOUR * Some of the expressive techniques used in this piece include the piano solo played throughout the| * |